A review by helterskelliter
Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminsky
5.0
“At the trial of God, we will ask: why did you allow all this?
And the answer will be an echo: why did you allow all this?” (40)
In this narrative collection of parables made poetry, a distant but familiar country reacts to turmoil and tragedy, a young deaf boy is shot in cold blood in the town square by an uncaring soldier. The boy is left to rot, the townspeople left to rage. Their rage becomes a demonstration, a protest against violence and cruelty.
The town is deaf but not silent.
Their grief is loud and unapologetic. How violence made public affects individuals is explored through vignettes about the private lives of these citizens. Their quiet pains, their deafening aches. It is a profound meditation on how war and tragedy, both so senseless, can taint a community.
This collections asks us how we can be silent in the face of unspeakable atrocities, how we can swallow our screams and pretend to forget. How can we live and love when war is in our streets, when innocent people are being gunned down in the streets by the very people who are supposed to protect them? How can we allow it? Too easily, unfortunately. Too quietly.
I HIGHLY recommend this collection!! It’s a must-read!
And the answer will be an echo: why did you allow all this?” (40)
In this narrative collection of parables made poetry, a distant but familiar country reacts to turmoil and tragedy, a young deaf boy is shot in cold blood in the town square by an uncaring soldier. The boy is left to rot, the townspeople left to rage. Their rage becomes a demonstration, a protest against violence and cruelty.
The town is deaf but not silent.
Their grief is loud and unapologetic. How violence made public affects individuals is explored through vignettes about the private lives of these citizens. Their quiet pains, their deafening aches. It is a profound meditation on how war and tragedy, both so senseless, can taint a community.
This collections asks us how we can be silent in the face of unspeakable atrocities, how we can swallow our screams and pretend to forget. How can we live and love when war is in our streets, when innocent people are being gunned down in the streets by the very people who are supposed to protect them? How can we allow it? Too easily, unfortunately. Too quietly.
I HIGHLY recommend this collection!! It’s a must-read!