If you’re looking for a light-hearted feel-good read, don’t pick up David Grossman’s A Horse Walks Into A Bar. (But then, if you picked up a title by David Grossman, chances are you’re not expecting a cheery stroll down a gentle memory lane.)

Still. You may be tempted to walk out on the act, as some of the customers do while the stand-up comic exhibits his psychic wounds. Personally, I put the book down and picked it up later when I needed a break from the comedian’s soul strip-tease. Over thirty years since I left Israel. All I can say: the walking wounded aren’t getting better – and how can they.

I read A Horse in French translation yesterday which may be why it inspires the word “grinçant” as title to this post. In literary terms, that would translate as “dark humor”. In the literal sense, the word refers to the creaking sound emitted by a rusty hinge. A whole lot of those around, and most of the squeaky ones aren’t getting the grease.

***

A walk outside after the boy leaves for another attempt to get his African paper trail straightened out, in order to have a chance at extending his French paper trail all the way to a paying job. Three months left before he turns eighteen, and the steps keep getting higher. He tells me the story of a friend back home whose mother “doesn’t know her A B Cs” and threw out all the useless papers cluttering up a shelf in their home.

***

Writing as it comes. Eating when it suits me. Sleeping – ditto. Those are the luxuries of unpaid holidays. But hey, I acquired some new clothes on sale in Albi, and books too. So onward in Dante’s version of the second book in his Comedy – Purgatory. My favorite. Dante’s Purgatory is all about art – the redeeming value of. In terms of belief systems, suits me better than many others.