Dror Burstein – författare

Emil, the unwanted child of two young parents, is adopted by Yoel and Leah, a childless couple. Yet, as the years pass, it becomes clear that Emil doesn''t bear much resemblance to the parents who''ve loved and raised him. Is his name the only thing his real parents have left him? Kin traces the movements of Emil and his four parents as they walk through the same city, nearby but apart, searching for each other in the faces of passersby; until Yoel, now old, becomes determined to do the impossible: return his grown son—a lonely man approaching middle age—to his birth parents. In prose that is both minimal and subtly off kilter, acclaimed Israeli novelist Dror Burstein introduces us to an Israel that is as peculiar, and poignant, as Donald Barthelme''s America: ranging from an apocalyptic future to the petty annoyances of daily life, from shifting continents to tiny heartbreaks.

The "plot" of Dror Burstein''s dazzling meditation consists of nothing more than the author''s lying on a bench, looking up at the night sky. What results from this simple action is, however, a monologue whose scope is both personal and cosmic, with Burstein''s thoughts ricocheting between stories from his past and visions of the origin and end of the universe. The result is a fascinating blend of reminiscence, fiction, and amateur science, seeking to convey not only a personal story but the big picture in which the saga of life on Earth and of the stars that surround it have the same status as anecdotes about one''s aunts and uncles. With a tip of the hat to W. G. Sebald and Yoel Hoffmann, Netanya seeks to transform human history into an intimate family story, and demonstrates how the mind at play can bring a little warmth into a cold universe.

Seit Emil acht Jahre alt war, ist Joel mehr oder weniger allein für seinen geliebten Sohn zuständig, weil Lea, Emils Mutter, bei einem Unfall ums Leben gekommen war. Ziemlich hilflos war Joel mit der Situation am Anfang, aber irgendwie hat sich im Laufe der Zeit doch alles ganz gut ergeben. Nur dass Emil seinen Eltern so gar nicht ähnelte, konnte niemandem, auch dem Kind nicht, verborgen bleiben. Emil wurde als Säugling adoptiert. Seine leiblichen Eltern, damals selbst fast noch Kinder, verweigerten jeden Kontakt. Aber man wandelt ja durch die selbe Stadt! - und ist es nicht wahrscheinlich, dass man sich irgendwann wenigstens zufällig begegnet? Würde man die Eltern erkennen? Würde man erkannt werden? Suche und Abwehr laufen nebeneinander her und zugleich spannungsvoll ineinander.Als Joel im Alter den Tod nahen fühlt, verfällt er der verrückten Idee, diese Leerstelle in Emils Leben, der inzwischen 38 Jahre alt ist, zu füllen. Er will Emil seinen leiblichen Eltern zurückbringen.Die Kritik nannte Emil ein "stilistisches Meisterwerk des begabten jungen Autors".

Emil, the unwanted child of two young parents, is adopted by Yoel and Leah, a childless couple. Yet, as the years pass, it becomes clear that Emil doesn't bear much resemblance to the parents who've loved and raised him. Is his name the only thing his real parents have left him? Kin traces the movements of Emil and his four parents as they walk through the same city, nearby but apart, searching for each other in the faces of passersby; until Yoel, now old, becomes determined to do the impossible: return his grown son--a lonely man approaching middle age--to his birth parents. In prose that is both minimal and subtly off kilter, acclaimed Israeli novelist Dror Burstein introduces us to an Israel that is as peculiar, and poignant, as Donald Barthelme's America: ranging from an apocalyptic future to the petty annoyances of daily life, from shifting continents to tiny heartbreaks.