Suddenly, a knock on the door is a fairly obscure short story collection crafted by Tel Aviv based writer Etgar Keret. I chanced upon it by accident while looking to replace another book I wanted to get that ran out of stock. And through the piles of discount self help books and cheap thrills romance novels I spot this rather strange book - with its colourful mosaic paper like craft title. I thought it was too pretty just to leave it there so I brought it home. I wasn’t familiar with the book much less any of Etgar Keret work prior so it was a blind read for me. And the stories featured in this collection didn’t prove to be any less enigmatic, its stories deliberately abstract with Vonnegut-like tropes.
It also sort of reminds me of something by Joseph Heller as well, another pioneer of the genre. It shares the same sort of twisted wit - but without the heavy social commentary and maybe also a little bit less of a chore to read. Its stories are brief, but effectively so. What I appreciate about Etgar Keret’s prose is just how sharp it is. It wastes not with useless adjectives or overly complex narratives. His stories span no more than a couple of pages, some running as little as 3. But he puts a lot of thought into every story, each so carefully crafted. And they pack a punch, every word delivering pound for pound. The book is truly greater than the sum of its parts. It is the post modernist literature equivalent of a bite sized protein bar 12 pack.
One of the standout stories, “Unzipping” catches an intimate moment between a man and his wife. The wife cuts herself on a metal zipper protruding from her husbands body. She pulled on it later only to reveal another man under the skin of her husband. The new man was completely different, unkempt loud and also an alcoholic. He ends up running off and she finds herself in front of a mirror, looking deep into herself. She too finds a zip and for the remainder of the story is spent on the woman fantasizing about what her newer self would be like.
The headlining story, “Suddenly a Knock on the Door” tells the tale of a man being held at gunpoint, forced to tell a story to the gunman. Another story “Lieland” tells of a world where all of the protagonists lies materialised into existence and looked back onto him. What ties these absurd stories together is the ordinary; musings based on acute observations made by Etgar from his life in Tel Aviv. As distant as most of his fables seem from reality they all hit too close to home.
The books title certainly works well metaphorically here, as you enter into through the door into the realm of bizarre that is Etgar Keret. And from one cocaine induced fantasy into the other Etgars quick wit and lightning prose would keep you staying over for dessert.
Favourite story: What do we have in our pockets.
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