The Tunnel

I have read and enjoyed previous novels by Yehoshua. The cultural lore and the backdrop of Israel and its people are very interesting to me. However, I felt something was missing for me in this book. Perhaps it was all the focus on road engineering, a subject I have no interest in. I wanted to read the novel because of my interest in the protagonist’s dementia but this aspect of the book takes second chair to the engineering part.

Zvi Luria is a retired road engineer who has been having trouble remembering first names., days of the week and his car ignition code. His family has noticed his forgetfulness and his wife takes him to a neurologist who finds that a small part of Zvi’s brain is atrophied. This indicates dementia and cognitive decline but there is no telling how fast it will progress.

Zvi”s wife, a pediatrician, wants Zvi to stay active and engaged in life, a recommendation seconded by the neurologist. She helps him get a job as an unpaid assistant to a road engineer who is in charge of building a road in a crater in the Negev Desert. This is considered a covert military operation. What Zvi didn’t bank on was the family of Palestinian nomads living in the crater under the protection of Shibbolet, an archeological anthropologist.

I was most interested in the family dynamics of this novel, especially the tender and loving relationship between Zvi and his wife. They are portrayed as a dedicated and caring couple, still passionate after decades of marriage.

Yehoshua writes well but, like all books, I have to be able to relate to the narrative and the topics. Unfortunately, I could not make myself care about the building of this road and the engineering aspects of turn-outs, curves or tunnels. The problem is likely with me more than with the book. Perhaps if I’d started it six months ago or six months from now, I’d have had a more positive impression.

A. B. Yehoshua’s novels are always insightful explorations of the human condition. “The Tunnel” is of that ilk but from a different perspective; here a seventy-something civil engineer is diagnosed with early dementia that has already started to chip away at his cognitive skills. Dealing with the progress of his illness is an experience he finds he has to share with a lot of people, beginning with his wife of many years who herself is facing retirement from practicing Medecine. There is a kind of parallel plot here which pulls in one of Yehoshua’s favorite themes–the close connection of Israelis and Palestinians–but it is secondary to main thrust of the book that forces the reader to consider an existential threat that all face when growing older.

There is wonderful wit, humor and affection in this story. Truly lovely people facing momentous problems, but also just dealing with what life throws in their paths. The language is thoughtful and moving. A book to read more than once.

If you like “The Tunnel”, please try some of Yehoshua’s other books. Some of the best (in my opinion) are “A Journey to the End of the Millennium”, “The Liberated Bride”, “The Retrospective”, and “The Extra”.

Only AB Yehoshua can make a loving, boring retired public works engineer into an engaging story.
It is the relationships, the pathos of life that AB excels at. The love he feels for his wife; the loss of that special relationship is examined and felt throughout the book.
There is a Palestinian-Israeli backstory that permeates the story and introduces additional relationships. With grace, sometimes a bit overdone but he manages to weave a bunch of random storylines to explore other relationships. Not all are successful but the protagonist is thought-worthy. Always with the Israeli anxiety provoking thoughtfulness, the characters come to life and become people who we know intimately and care about.

When Zvi Luria is diagnosed with dementia, his doctor and his wife decide he needs a project to slow the disease down. The retired (the translation uses The British term pensioner throughout) Road engineer becomes an unpaid assistant to Maimoni, the son of a former colleague, and together they make a plan to build a tunnel through a hill in the south rather than demolish it, because of a Palestinian family living in limbo on top of it.

This all sounds like its complicated plot wise but actually this is a very sweet simple book. We see a lot of Gloria in his car, shopping, interacting with his beloved wife of 48 years. The dialogue is fantastic, and it has that direct, rye is really tone that is unmistakable.

It is such a gentle story that at times its hard to stick with it, not a lot seems to be happening. But it is beautifully written with a fantastic sense of atmosphere. If you cant afford a quick trip to Israel, this will take you there.

I love reading Israeli writers. I have read and enjoyed all of a.b. Yehoshuas books. This one as usual is very metaphorical and political. I only wish a writer like this could make political decisions in Israel.

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