I was writing a novel set in Jerusalem when the poisons of the world outran me. I had no way of anticipating the massacre and kidnappings of October 7 2023, or Israel’s devastation of Gaza in revenge. Overnight, my novel became radioactive. Even before October 7, it was questionable to try a comic novel about that region of conflict, pain and injustice. But after October 7, comedy seemed like sacrilege.
But I had something to say. I found I couldn’t stop. Now my novel is very close to finished. How long before people can read it without being chilled by history? The Civil War was almost 20 years in the past when the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn came out. It might have needed a generation’s distance from slavery to find enough space to make that book possible. Now it’s 140 years since Huck Finn (yes, really!) and still some of its humor reads as painful and wrong.
Me personally? Today I’m safe. Tomorrow may be different, but for now I live in a time and place without bombs, without rockets, without mass starvation. I have the opportunity to write something true. The task I’ve taken for now is to write about an absent God of comedy and tragedy combined, a God whose laughter is also rich with grief and astonishment.
It’s a strange thing how we expect writing, or really any art form, to encompass the whole picture. We need writing that directly address and grapple with the monstrosities of the present and of history, that’s undeniable – but does that mean the other stories, the ones that of course exist in the larger context of those huge injustices but deal with other questions, other aspects of life, don‘t or shouldn’t have a place? It’s a big question with no easy answer. In any case I think we need comedy in order to understand the tragedy. I hope your novel finds a publisher!