The People of Forever Are Not Afraid: A Novel

I had read a couple of reviews of this book and was intrigued by an excerpt that I saw on the Times of Israel website. I also read an interview with the author that included her speaking about writing it in English instead of Hebrew. The choice of language made a difference. I know very little Hebrew, but the cadence was familiar. I can see how someone not familiar with Hebrew at all, or Israeli culture could find this hard going. The viewpoints of women soldiers are often not heard and I am so impressed with Boianjiu's ability to let us see through her characters' eyes. Some of it is haunting and the theme of remembrance and trauma circulates throughout the book. Since the author has served, as most Israelis do, the voice was authentic. Her ability to express this unique experience through these very different characters is a stark reminder that each of these soldiers are individual women finding their way in a world that is messy, dangerous, but filled with the the things that young women think about every day. When I am again in Israel, I will see the female soldiers with different eyes. Tough reading sometimes, but worth the journey with these young women.

Shani Boianjiu’s outstanding debut novel entrances you with its vision and understanding of modern war. The central story chronicles the lives of three teenage Israeli girls—Yael, Avishag, and Lea—all of them seniors in high school and soon to be conscripted into the army. Brilliantly paced and structured, the novel allows for each of the girl’s distinctive perspectives to emerge. Oftentimes transitioning between the visceral and the surreal, the layering of stories within stories and the interconnectedness among characters over time, place, and events make for an exhilarating narrative that stuns and shocks with the unveiling of each of the girls’ experiences. Boianjiu addresses the fear and uncertainty of the girls and relates how their teetering despair fuels rebellion against their confusion and loneliness. As challenges surface throughout their two years of military service and beyond, their need to feel alive and meaningful in the world becomes obsessive. This need simmers with urgency and gathers into a searing force to confront the outrage of injustice and inhumanity and to achieve the desire to be independent. The People of Forever Are Not Afraid is a stellar literary work, full of energy, aplomb, and humor. It is fierce, enthralling, eye-opening, and ultimately life-affirming as it charts the lives of the three girls on the cusp of womanhood and a future for themselves yearning for direction.

Shani can certainly write, but the choice to write in a foreign language created a work that is bizarre rather than dull. I will explain:I'm a native speaker of Hebrew though I flatter myself to be a good reader of English. When reading the murmurings of these three uninteresting and indistinguishable protagonists - I was first drawn by their exotique language. However, at some point I got it - they speak hebrew, crudely translated into English. When translating it back to their (and mine) mother tongue none of the charme remained. It just felt like listening to schoolgirls on the bus.Let me just give you some examples:"The people of forever are not afraid" sounds funny because the mixture of banal language with pompous message. In reality it should have been translated into "The Eternal Nation has no fear (of the long way)".Other plain stupidities such as calling "Mount Scopus" by the name "Mount of the Scouts" serves nothing and seems like an internal pun. And, one last, Tel-Aviv is not situated anywhere near an OCEAN, it is the mediterranean SEA.So why two stars after all?If you take this "Novel" apart and call "Short stories" you will find a few good ones and one fantastic one: "Means of Suppressing Demonstrations": It is well written and very funny. Read this one and nothing else.

This story of a young woman who serves in the Israeli army was appealing in its description but reads in a disjointed style that mirrors the doubts and questions in the mind of its main character. She's a woman who seeks meaningful service and relationships but sees inappropriate behavior, death, questionable decisions of command and more. It also assumes the reader knows much about the issues behind the Israel-Palestinian debacle. There are sections where the protagonist assumes knowledge of thoughts and actions of others that foreshadow terrible deeds or misunderstandings to follow. Those who like this kind of existentialist (whether or not the author intended that belies how it comes across) will enjoy this novel that is really a dirge of what appears as a hopeless situation for the country and for the youth of this conflicted nation.

I was very excited for The People of Forever are Not Afraid, to be released. The description before its available date, fully captivated me. Some of the reviews were not well received but I made the choice to dive in regardless. I did not feel the author gave me enough to truly feel like I was in her characters head. At times I had to back back to earlier pages to realize which of the 3 main characters I was reading about at that moment. I did get taken in by some of the descriptions and learning of the girls feelings and life, just not enough. The transitions and stories of their lives just felt incomplete and unfinished. I did want to complete this book, but at the same time, could not wait to finish so I could dive into my next book. I am not upset I read this, nor feel like it was a waste of my time, however I will not be recommending it to my close friends. As an avid reader, I was very disappointed and this will not be a book that I will pass on.

The subject is interesting: the lives of three girls, Avishag, Lea and Yael, who start their military service in the Israeli army when they are eighteen: what it does to their character, both at the time and, in the last third of the book, after their military service is over. There is the sheer tedium of much of what they have to do: hours on check-points, hours watching a monitor or scanning the Egyptian frontier with binoculars; hours on night watch duty; one of the men in the story has to sit for hours by an emergency telephone which never rings. There are crushes, lots of sex and lots of talk about it. There is a lot of information about weapons, a good deal about military discipline (the girls had been undisciplined at school and are quite rebellious in the army, too), and about the punishments for transgressions. Every now and again the edgy peace is interrupted by sporadic wars: their home village near the Lebanese border is often shelled from the other side; the 2006 Lebanon war happens while they are in the army. There are telling incidents: thieving Arab urchins; the humiliation felt by Palestinians at check-points and the violent reaction of one of them, called Fadi, who kills a fellow-soldier of Lea’s; the nervousness of whether a fellow-passenger on a bus might be a suicide bomber. In the earlier part of the book, Lea has sympathy for the Arabs; but, after the Fadi incident, she becomes hardened and later deploys increasingly more serious crowd control measures against just three peaceful demonstrators who approach her checkpoint on successive days.The Wikipedia article about the book is glowing with praise, and the book has won literary prizes; but I found it so very badly written that I cannot understand how it could ever have found a publisher. Yes, girls of that age have mood swings and their thoughts will wander all over the place; but they are very hard to follow, and quite often I found them incomprehensible. The narrative moves from one girl to another, but it’s hard to remember which girl is which. It also switches backwards and forwards in time. One chapter, quite out of character with the rest of the book, alternates the story of Avishag (here called Person A) with one by Person B, a Sudanese refugee who is trying the cross from Egypt to Israel. What Person A says has one reference to the Sudanese but is otherwise in no way connected with Person B’s narrative.As the book progresses, it becomes weirder and weirder. The chapter after Lea and Yael leave the army is just plumb crazy and totally unbelievable. Later on, we see Lea holding Fadi shackled and tortured in her Tel Aviv apartment – also hard to believe – and there is no indication of how this episode ends.Avishag had been discharged early from the army because she had some kind of a breakdown; and, back at home, she became a hysteric and took to her bed: no explanation other than that he mother had at one time also been a hysteric. (But there is then a touching chapter in which her divorced father coaxes his daughter out of her hysteria into mere sadness for “her life ahead”. Again no further explanation.)A few years pass. There is another war, this one against Syria, some time after 2012. (I can find no reference anywhere to Israeli troops entering Syria during this period, as in this novel.) The three girls, young women now, have rejoined the army together. The narrative is more confusing than ever. The atmosphere is thoroughly nasty and there are veiled accounts of the male soldiers, after they return from Syria, violating the three women four nights running. End of story.Except that there is one last chapter – which has nothing whatever to do with the rest of the book. It is about Yael’s mother, who, in her youth, had been an air traffic controller and was on duty at the time of the 1976 hi-jack that ended with the Entebbe rescue.As I said, the subject is interesting, but the telling of it ruined the book for me, so much so that I felt a two star rating would be too generous.

I am not sure what to make of this book. I bought it because years ago I spent quite a lot of time in Israel. Not being Jewish there was no question of my having to do any military training but I did have friends who had to. Then, I was impressed by their commitment to doing what they thought was right, their sensitivity and sense of morality. This book has left me wondering if what I thought happened years ago was not true, whether it was and the people are now very different, whether this book is a valid account or not. I was horrified at the callous brutality and cold acceptance of many of the situations. It's not a case of physical rape but mental rape. If these immature and young girls wielding guns are in 'charge' of the every day lives of those around them, what hope is there for them to be 'normal'? (Not that the situation in Israel is 'normal' in any way that I can understand).I found the writing interesting, but not always easy to follow. However, it's bullet-like style did suit the subject. In places the story was disjointed and too erratic.Please can someone who knows what it is like in the IDF now, please respond!!

Imagine: you are a teenage girl and have just finished middleschool or highschool. In most western countries you go to college or university, or you start looking for a job. Not so in Israel. You are drafted to serve two years in the army. Unheard of in other countries as far as girls are concerned. Books about girls in the army seem non-existant. This book is unique. The story about the 3 girls who are conscripted is grim, but gripping. I was curious, picked up the book and started reading. At times I had to put it down to absorbe and reflect, then picked it up again since it is a compelling account. Non fiction seems to interact with fiction but the stories become real and are being honestly told. The scene keeps changing, from the dull and senseless duties to the tense situations and disturbing events, and back to memories from the past. You come to understand to what extend the IDF is part of everyday life in Israel and how everybody is affected. I find it hard to believe that politicians and senior officers are willing to expose 17- and 18-year girls (and boys) to situations like this and put them under this kind of pressure. Those in power and control let young people deal with the mess they are unable to solve themselves. It is obvious that the girls in the story are being affected for life if not traumatised. This book is a brave act of a young woman to give us this disturbingly vivid account of her life - and that of those serving with her - before, in and after her two years in the army. Bert

I tried really hard to get through this book but in the end I just did speed reading to get through the last quarter. I think I bought it because it was recommended in the Guardian and I felt like I should read it and enjoy it. But if I'm honest I cant say I did. Some funny bits in it.

This book is well written, captivating and memorable but I can't help feeling that something was missing. I can't actually describe why I feel that way, but that is how the book left me feeling! Worth a read to see what you think.