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Quote by Etgar Keret

“I think that, in Israel, the greatest fear that people have, and I have it, too, is fear of genocide.”

Quote by Etgar Keret

Author

Etgar Keret is an Israeli writer known for his unique humor and profound emotional depth. His works are typically short stories that explore themes of personal identity, family relationships, and social reality. Born on August 20, 1967, Keret's writing style has been well-received by readers worldwide, with his works translated into multiple languages. more

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“When my books were translated, it was always about the characters, because the unique language aspect was lost in translation.”

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“You don't need to use the language of God to ask where the restrooms are.”

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“What happens when you speak colloquial Hebrew is you switch between registers all the time. So in a typical sentence, three words are biblical, one word is Russian, and one word is Yiddish. This kind of connection between very high language and very low language is very natural, people use it all the time.”

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“People in Israel would write in a high register, they wouldn't write colloquial speech. I do a special take on colloquial speech. When I started writing, I thought [the language] was telling the story of this country: old people in a young nation, very religious, very conservative, very tight-assed, but also very anarchistic, very open-minded. It's all in the language, and that's one thing that doesn't translate.”

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“I think that, in Hebrew, it's like the language creates a more unique and specific universe even before the story.”

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“I usually start writing stories from tone and not from content - kind of like people who create music and invent the lyrics later on.”

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“I often give this metaphor where I say that writing short fiction is like surfing, while writing a novel is like navigating with your car. So when you navigate with your car, you want to get somewhere. When you surf, you don't want to get somewhere, you just don't want to fall off your board.”

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