Scan barcode
A review by taryn_araksi
On Fragile Waves by E. Lily Yu
4.0
what a book. if you haven't read it, you should give it a whirl.
"All God wants is for us to submit. Haven't I submitted? Hasn't my whole life been one punch in the mouth after another? At what point am I allowed to fight?"
On Fragile Waves is the story of a family's journey from an Afghanistan fractured by war to what is supposed to be their saving grace - Australia. The story is narrated, in majority, by a child. Normally, I am not a fan of this -- it always comes off as either inauthentic or hard for me to relate to, but I think it really worked for this book. I honestly saw this more as a heartbreaking coming of age than than anything else.
"Don't let them break you or turn you hard. This world is a harsh place and not made for you."
We follow Firuzeh and her family as she is forced to see grown up things and deal with grown up issues until she is eventually forced into a pseudo-adulthood.
"The world had bruised and gone soft, and now impossible things teemed and wormed out of it."
I also loved that the author wrote herself into the story, as a journalist, and addressed the question of whether or not she was the right person to tell this story. And when she questions whether or not she was asking the right questions of the refugees and their families. she got some really great advice: "Anyone can suffer. But joy - that's hard. Ask about joy."
Overall, I think it was almost painful how light and airy much of this heavy subject matter felt, which really made it all the more interesting to read. I think using the child's perspective allowed this story feel both incredibly close but far away, sad but hopeful.
"All God wants is for us to submit. Haven't I submitted? Hasn't my whole life been one punch in the mouth after another? At what point am I allowed to fight?"
On Fragile Waves is the story of a family's journey from an Afghanistan fractured by war to what is supposed to be their saving grace - Australia. The story is narrated, in majority, by a child. Normally, I am not a fan of this -- it always comes off as either inauthentic or hard for me to relate to, but I think it really worked for this book. I honestly saw this more as a heartbreaking coming of age than than anything else.
"Don't let them break you or turn you hard. This world is a harsh place and not made for you."
We follow Firuzeh and her family as she is forced to see grown up things and deal with grown up issues until she is eventually forced into a pseudo-adulthood.
"The world had bruised and gone soft, and now impossible things teemed and wormed out of it."
I also loved that the author wrote herself into the story, as a journalist, and addressed the question of whether or not she was the right person to tell this story. And when she questions whether or not she was asking the right questions of the refugees and their families. she got some really great advice: "Anyone can suffer. But joy - that's hard. Ask about joy."
Overall, I think it was almost painful how light and airy much of this heavy subject matter felt, which really made it all the more interesting to read. I think using the child's perspective allowed this story feel both incredibly close but far away, sad but hopeful.