Marek Halter's 'Je me suis réveillé en colère' explores prophetic anger through dialogues

Marek Halter's book 'Je me suis réveillé en colère' (Éditions Robert Laffont) documents a series of dialogues between the writer and an unidentified religious Jew he meets on a bench at Place des Vosges in Paris. The stranger, whom Halter calls 'l'Étranger' or 'l'Inconnu', initiates the conversation by remarking on Halter's visible anger, citing François Truffaut's observation that a Jew wakes up angry every morning. They agree to confine their talks to the square and to topics related to Halter's anger, discussing communitarianism, women's roles, terrorism, Europe, America, NGOs, and death. The stranger recounts that in ancient Israel there were schools for prophets where one learned to cry out and share anger, noting that the Hebrew word for 'prophet' derives from an Akkadian word meaning 'the cry'. Halter, born in Poland and raised in Uzbekistan and Russia, asserts 'My memory is Jewish'. The former art student turned essayist and philosopher weaves historical and contemporary references. One morning, the old Lubavitcher does not return. Halter reflects: 'Caught between the first and the last time, any brief encounter appears as a shortcut to this fabulous adventure that is life.' The book is also the story of that encounter.