Meir Shalev, whose novels made him one of Israel’s leading writers, died on April 11 at his home in the village of Alonei Abba in northern Israel’s Jezreel Valley. He was 74.

Often compared to Mark Twain for the humor lacing his novels, and to Gabriel Garcia Márquez for his use of magical realism, Mr. Shalev focused most of his seven novels on the half century before Israeli independence in 1948. He also wrote eight works of nonfiction and 14 children’s books, and was translated into more than 30 languages.

“What distinguished his prose was its vitality;,” said literary critic Leon Wieseltier. “Everything about his writing is so vivid and alive. And he was wickedly funny.”