Closing the Sea

Readers were first introduced to Judith Katzir`s incomparably powerful, polychromatic, rich descriptions and language in this mature debut collection. Dreams, memories, cinematic reality and a fertile imagination all feature in each of the four novellas that comprise this volume. In “Schlaffstunde,” the author describes her first love, who is her cousin. During adolescence they discover together the joy of sex. Years later she approaches him in a silent monologue, and he introduces her to his pregnant wife. She realizes that she has refrained from living life to the fullest in favor of a childhood dream she alone cherishes. “Fellini’s Shoes” tells of a hotel waitress who dreams of becoming a movie star, who believes she can make her dream come true with the help of a failed director who once met Fellini. The romantic fantasy dissipates following the director`s inability to make good on his plans to produce a movie about his mother, a former actress. “Disneyel” is a daughter`s monologue to her unconscious mother who is lying in a hospital bed. The monologue teaches readers of the daughter’s empathy for her mother`s love for a daydreamer of a man. “Closing the Sea” tells the story of a mousy teacher who goes to Tel Aviv to meet a successful childhood friend only to be disappointed by the friend`s apathy. When the sweet fantasy bursts, she is left with her memories. Like the other heroines in these novellas.