And she loved a man who was made out of nothing. A few hours without him and right away sheโd be missing him with her whole body, sitting in her office surrounded by polyethylene and concrete and thinking of him. And every time sheโd boil water for coffee in her ground-floor office, sheโd let the steam cover her face, imagining it was him stroking her cheeks, her eyelids and sheโd wait for the day to be over, so she could go to her apartment building, climb the flight of stairs, turn the key in the door, and find him waiting for her, naked and still between the sheets of her empty bed.
Etgar KeretOften, the stories are very much like trust falls. You fall, and you hope the story's going to catch you.
Etgar KeretWhat you experience in the army, aged 18 to 21, is what you take through all your life. You cross invisible lines: you shoot someone, get shot, break into people's houses. It's naive to think you won't carry anything into your life.
Etgar KeretWhen you work on a graphic novel or a film with people you've been together through a lot and you've exposed your secrets and weaker sides to each other.
Etgar KeretI don't have Facebook or Twitter accounts yet. Being a compulsive storyteller, I always make up for myself discouraging stories about how such accounts will get me into embarrassing and time-consuming situations.
Etgar KeretThe moment that you have a child - that you know that when he'll turn 18, he'll join the Army and go there for three years of compulsory service - then you can't help yourself of thinking about the future - speculating about it, dreading it or even being - trying to be more active to change it and improve it.
Etgar Keret