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nothingforpomegranted's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
The book begins in an isolation ward in an Israeli hospital in 1967. Teenage patient Ora develops a friendship with Avram, who shares her curiosity and challenges her cynicism with creativity and questions. Together, they wonder about fellow patient Ilan and how to support him before the plot flashes forward thirty years to the era of the second intifada in the early 2000s. Now reeling from the dissolution of her marriage to Ilan and the discovery that her son Ofer, whose army service was days from ending, volunteered to participate in a West Bank invasion with his unit, Ora decides to embark on a backpacking trip in the Galilee, hoping to escape both the realities of her life and the terror of her premonition of grief. To keep her company, she invites Avram, with whom her relationship has shifted dramatically over their decades of friendship and trauma.
The narration is complicated, shifting between perspectives, ample use of free indirect discourse, and snippets of dialogue.
The first section of the book was perhaps the most experimental, embracing a sort of shared stream of consciousness that was a bit disorienting to read and didn’t feel sufficiently developed or explained in the rest of the novel to justify it. However, only a few pages into the hike, I was fully immersed.
Slowly, decades of memories and tension are revealed as Ora and Avram make their way through the wilderness of northern Israel, described stunningly and meaningfully in Grossman’s text and Cohen’s translation. (Indeed, I was generally impressed with the translation, which managed to effectively capture several different moments of wordplay and exploration of language without feeling forced or false.)
The story was gripping and suspenseful, filled with complicated characters that all felt truly human. There was a depth to every one of the moments that honestly spoke to the complicated landscape—natural, political, emotional—of Israel that was thrilling and familiar.
The narration is complicated, shifting between perspectives, ample use of free indirect discourse, and snippets of dialogue.
The first section of the book was perhaps the most experimental, embracing a sort of shared stream of consciousness that was a bit disorienting to read and didn’t feel sufficiently developed or explained in the rest of the novel to justify it. However, only a few pages into the hike, I was fully immersed.
Slowly, decades of memories and tension are revealed as Ora and Avram make their way through the wilderness of northern Israel, described stunningly and meaningfully in Grossman’s text and Cohen’s translation. (Indeed, I was generally impressed with the translation, which managed to effectively capture several different moments of wordplay and exploration of language without feeling forced or false.)
The story was gripping and suspenseful, filled with complicated characters that all felt truly human. There was a depth to every one of the moments that honestly spoke to the complicated landscape—natural, political, emotional—of Israel that was thrilling and familiar.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, War, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
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