of the stories in The Bus driver Who Wanted to be God are very serious, while others seem simply bizarre. Etgar Keret truly has a unique writing style, one that I am not sure if I have ever encountered before. His work seems somewhat dream-like. The stories are highly imaginative and some are very unrealistic, but it's exciting to read each story.The story that gave me some trouble, was "Cocked and Locked." The story seems like it will have a hopeful ending because the Israeli soldier and the Arabic man come closer together when the rifle is thrown between them, and the soldier puts on a scarf like the Palestinian wears his keffiyeh . At the end however, the soldier beats up the other... I wonder why Keret does that??
"Shoes," a story about a boy who goes to a Holocaust museum with his class where they meet a Holocaust survivor. The survivor is angry and tells the young students to never buy anything made in Germany. He says that people should never forget that the Holocaust happened in Germany. "People have short memories... especially where bad things are concerned" (p.57). At the end of the school day, the boy goes home. His parents, just back from a trip, give him Adidas sneakers, which is a German brand. As the boy wears them to play soccer, he thinks of his grandfather, who died in a concentration camp. He speaks to his shoes as if they are his grandfather. Keret shows that forgetting can be comfortable, because it's not really forgetting, but rather forgiving or continuing living.
I, too, was a little *disturbed* by the "Cocked and Locked" story in The Bus Driver Who Wanted to be God. I think between the unique (and blunt!) writing style and the content of the story, it was just a lot to process and take in! Very interesting though!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting you pointed out the shoe story. I thought it did a great job of discussing the fine line between not forgetting...and forgiving, or at least living.
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