TOW #12: IRB "The Seven Good Years"

When reading a book which features the tragedies of terrorism in Israel, one can anticipate a dreadful theme, stocked with loss, fear and overall woe. In a country where terrorist attacks become as frequent and expected as Sunday night football games, it's hard to imagine any "good " to write about. However, Etgar Keret manages to craft a masterpiece of humorous, uplifting and mostly undeniably interesting memoirs which bring light to those catastrophic events. In his critically acclaimed book, "The Seven Good Years", he focuses around the time between the birth of his child and the death of his father, the part of his life that was happiest, but this is far from a memoir about Keret. This book strings together numerous unforgettable stories which allow the reader to see the root of violence, pain and love which continue to last even in the eye of a savage war in the Middle East.

What makes Keret such a sophisticated and enjoyable author is his ability to tell stories which truly captivate the reader. Any man trying to survive and raise a family in the middle of a war, inevitably faces disturbing loss and invariable sadness, but Etgar Keret transforms that pain into some of the most insightful and satisfying stories ever told. One way he achieves his purpose is through his ability to focus on what seems like miniscule details and transform them into mind altering entities for the reader. Of course one can expect that Keret would, for a book bonded by terrorism, emphasize on just that, but instead he focuses very little on attacks and violence, pulling the reader closer to the things that people often overlook. At one point in the text, Keret does focus on an experience with a bombing in Tel Aviv, where he, his wife, and his son, Lev, where forced to dive onto the pavement, and take cover anticipating the backlash. He only spent about two pages describing this seemingly horrific experience, going on to describe something as supposedly insignificant as Angry Birds explaining, "Under the adorable surface of the funny animals and their sweet voices, Angry Birds is actually a game in which you are prepared to sacrifice your life just so you can destroy the houses of unarmed enemies and vaporize their wives and children inside" for about five pages. This ability to point out deeper concepts and speculation to the reader creates several full and generous tales. Keret's use of satire also creates a more colorful and passionate piece. In this half of the book Keret at one point describes the birth of his son, Lev, particularly the wait for assistance in the hospital after a recent terrorist attack which highly occupied the aids. With gurneys flying by carrying individuals missing limbs and nurses rushing to their side, Keret and his wife simply wait, almost feeling outshined by this attack, claiming "even the baby feels this whole getting-born this isn't that urgent anymore." When describing something like the birth of someones first child, this is usually supposed to be a moment of great excitement and importance, but the way Keret describes it makes the reader enjoy and empathise for his recurring, coincidental, misfortunes. His description of the baby's emotions also have the same effect. The humor used in a calamity like this makes the topic of terrorism a little less heavy and further establishes the existing light in an environment of great darkness. Etgar Keret is a master storyteller with an unbelievable collection of experiences to share. He speaks to anyone interested in captivating tales of sadness and joy, bravery and fear, gain and loss, successfully producing an inspiring memoir of hope at the center of disaster.