Friendly Fire: A Duet

It is Chanukah, and candles are lit for eight consecutive days. During this time Daniela, an English teacher in Israel, leaves her husband to visit her brother-in-law Yirmiyahu in Tanzania to more fully experience the death of her own sister Shuli.

This story develops as a duet by alternating chapters; one for the wife, one for her husband Amotz. While Daniela is in Africa, Amotz is left tending both family and work problems. Though Amotz makes light of his duties to everyone, the reader can see how heavily both weigh on him.

The tone of the book is melancholy with a few light moments, though those were brief. The saddest part for me was brother-in-law Yirmiyahu's total rejection of all things Jewish and Israeli. Knowing at the show more beginning of the book that Yirmiyahu's son had been killed by "friendly fire", the details of what really happened were totally disheartening and led to a pregnant Palestinian woman becoming a symbol of despair for Yirmiyahu as well as myself.

I didn't think I was going to like this book as much as I did. The story moved slowly and into many nooks and crannies (as well as an elevator shaft). By the time I finished it, however, I felt very satisfied with the eight days I shared with Daniela and Amotz. show less

Way too indulgent literature of decadence. Very weak. Yehshoua has apparently taken his status as grand old man of hebrew letters and ran with it as the entire novel feels phoned in. The narrative is lackluster and boring, the characters one dimensional and unsympathetic (and all slight variations of the same voice) and Yehoshua paints with such broad strokes (regarding Israel and ALL of Africa) that at times the story becomes nearly impossible to take seriously. The author's views apart from this disgust me, and I read this (along with two of his other works) while trying to remain objective. The Lover was good, Open Heart was fair and this is just sentimentalist trash.

Dopo questa lettura rimane la sensazione che "il libro non sia finito". E questo è forse tratto migliore del romanzo. Mi piace l'idea di una storia che viva e continui, da qualche parte, senza che io possa leggerla o conoscerla altrimenti.
E' come se si trattasse proprio di una storia vera: la storia di alcune delle molte persone con le quali la nostra vita s'intreccia, casualmente, per qualche ragione, per qualche breve momento, per poi allontanarsene.
Nello stesso tempo mi sento come una pettegola delusa: troppi nodi verranno al pettine (forse) lontano dai miei sguardi.
Complessivamente però questo romanzo non mi ha entusiasmato: alti e bassi sui toni dei grigi, fili narrativi di una esilità (?) poco esaltante.
Due stelline e mezzo show more potrebbe essere il suo peso: nell'impossibilità di farlo non arrivo però a tre. show less

Overall I really enjoyed this novel in which "nothing really happens" but everyday life. Interestingly the novel felt claustraphobic, enclosed, and intensely introspective even though much of the book takes place on the African plain. I found Ya'ari, the 60 year old husband of Daniela, endearing yet know that he would not be an easy man with whom to live . I don't feel that I came to know or understand Daniela although this might be a reflection of the author's skill in expressing her state of befuddlement and "fogginess" since the death of her beloved sister.
Ya'ari and Daniela each had specific expectations for the week that they were apart. Events, however, overtook each of them and their weeks were nothing like they expected. show more Ya'ari and Daniela were buffetted by memories, surprises, preconceived ideas, anger and misunderstanding.
Definately worth reading. show less

The storyline is nicely constructed, alternating between the husband staying at home in Israel and the wife traveling to Africa to grieve her deceased sister. Such a basis has promise for a compelling read; however, the reader's overall experience feels rather benign. There was no direct epiphany for any of the characters, and climatic moments were reduced to a few sentences. There were opportunities for greater dramatic tension, so it is unclear if the author bypassed such stark statements to make a statement in itself, or was simply neglectful. Occasionally the translation from Hebrew felt stilted, and subject pronouns at times alternated indiscriminately between "he" and "she." One character's name oscillated from his full Israeli show more name to "Yirmi" to "Jeremy," seemingly with no pattern. All these aspects totaled to a banal situation when more adventure could have easily ensued. show less

> Babelio : https://www.babelio.com/livres/Yehoshua-Un-feu-amical/63826
> Psychologies magazine : https://fr.calameo.com/books/000048378bf6d93a97b95