The People of Forever Are Not Afraid
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Description
Yael, Avishag, and Lea grow up together in a tiny, dusty Israeli village, attending a high school made up of caravan classrooms, passing notes to each other to alleviate the universal boredom of teenage life. When they are conscripted into the army, their lives change in unpredictable ways, influencing the women they become and the friendship that they struggle to sustain. Yael trains marksmen and flirts with boys. Avishag stands guard, watching refugees throw themselves at barbed-wire fences. Lea, posted at a checkpoint, imagines the stories behind the familiar faces that pass by her day after day. They gossip about boys and whisper of an ever more violent world just beyond view. They drill, constantly, for a moment that may never come. They live inside that single, intense second just before danger erupts.
In a relentlessly energetic voice marked by caustic humor and fierce intelligence, Shani Boianjiu creates a heightened reality that recalls our most celebrated chroniclers of war and the military, while capturing that unique time in a young woman's life when a single moment can change everything.
Discussions
The People of Forever Are Not Afraid made me think of books like Yellow Birds and even Catch 22, the clash of absurdity and reflections on love and loss, hope and despair, dreams and reality is a powerful mix here. I hope that next time Shani agrees to have her book translated, but it is is well worth suffering through sometimes difficult writing to get the whole picture at the end of this remarkable literary debut.
We are reading and enjoying The People of Forever are Not Afraid. "The searing, riveting debut novel about young women coming of age in the military". This interesting novel was just recently long-listed for the 2013 Women’s Prize for Fiction (formerly known as the Orange Prize).
Sounds good - I've always tried to read as many of the Women's Prize for Fiction books before the winner is announced (and always failed miserably). I'll put this one up the list :)
Boy, scary because it's true,but couldn't put it down












I am now reading


