TOW #16: IRB "The Seven Good Years"- Second Half

          For this week's TOW, I will revisit and analyze the second half of Etgar Keret's notorious memoir, The Seven Good Years. Keret has a reputation of  delivering powerful messages while also managing to make his readers laugh, this book was no exception. His collection of essays covering birth, death, and every surreal experience in between successfully sheds light on both the tragedies in Israel, and the beauty of life itself. The interesting thing about this book is that the plot is far from evident. When reading, it seems like nothing more than a series of events, most very humorous, but seemingly lacking direction and meaning. What I came to find is that the beauty in this book is that it really does not need a plot as each story ends up telling you more and more about Keret, his loved ones, and the world around us that so few of us are ever actually exposed to. Keret's message is to value the good times even in the face of disaster such as terrorism or death. This is something which he successfully displays to the reader through his use of satire and blatant remarks in the face of despair.

          Keret is most known for his humor, whether it is through his popular podcast channel, his books or his personality, he always finds a way to express the person he is. This is something which he never lacks, even when he is in the midst of disaster. Though the majority of his story covers the uplifting or happy times in his life, most of the events occurred during a brutal war in Tel Aviv where Keret was exposed to gruesome things while trying to protect his family and raise his son. Keret makes this an enjoyable series of stories by allowing the reader to see how he looks at things. Keret spends one small chapter describing why he no longer writes book dedications which leads to his own creation of a seminar called, " fictitious book dedications". He explains that he would write things such as, "To Danny, who saved my life on the Litani. If you hadn't tied that tourniquet, there'd be no me and no book." These are untrue statements, but they represent Keret's humor and personality. This is balanced well with his blunt perspective at disaster. Toward the end, Keret starts talking about how good of a dad he has and immediately following he says, "Last week, I went to the hospital with him for a fairly routine test, and the doctors told us that he was going to die. Throughout the book Keret speaks of the great experiences he has with him father and then out of nowhere he says he is going to die. Keret does not dwell on death, which is an even better representative of what Keret's life is like. He is constantly surrounded by chaos, so much to the extent that the idea of death, even of his father, is numbed to him. This is something I appreciated as a reader because it made this story really about the "Good" even with all of the bad. It's inspirational, revealing and it really puts life as I know it into perspective.