There is a sort of collective conscience in this collection of short stories. Even if set in different places of the world, they bring a common message: the call for peace, the invitation to love, and the rejection of war.
Written by a mysterious author who chose K as a pen name, these stories are a group of twelve fictional tales in English, which take place in tormented war zones, such as Gaza, Iraq, Yugoslavia and Crimea. Readers will also find a story set in Canada, which is the Country where the author is currently living.
This literary work is the clearest example of how it is not the name or popularity of the writer to determine the success or the interest towards a book, but the ability to convey a message through a lyrical prose like the one used in these stories.
It has been the first tale that struck me particularly, namely the one set in the current scenery of the war between Israel and Palestine.
It was this tale that gave me a clue about the provenance of this author. The profile, but not the real name, is described at the end of the latest story, set in an imaginary garden where humans thrive to find the ultimate path of freedom and deliverance from evil.
But the opening tale inspired so deep emotions that I was about to cry. Image the local market in Gaza.
Imagine mothers and children blown up by a sudden and awful explosion. Imagine the solitude generated by the loss of your parents, brothers and sisters, killed by the blind violence of the war.
I would have preferred the author wrote a whole novel about this topic, but, afterwards, when I read the subsequent short stories, I understood that the intention was not to discuss the war, but erase the horror of this reality with the power of love.
And so, Resistance, Revolution and Other Love Stories becomes the fertile soil for women and men who fall in love; for girls who dream the charming prince; for unsatisfied husbands who cheat their wives; for a futuristic realm where our world is dominated by machinery, and where love is forbidden and practiced in secretive hideouts.
Here and there, the tales are seasoned with sexual details, but the writing style is so vey lyrical and poetic that sexual descriptions become unnecessary, in this case. There is a trend in contemporary literature that aims to enrich fiction books with sexual words as if these had the power to increase the appeal of a story. Most of cases, that is a misconception.
An anti-war advocate, here is who is the author named K, because as the latter writes in the book: “We speak too much and act too little. … evil is a form of cowardice, as is the unwillingness to confront it. … This life is meaningless. It is only a test for the next. The goal of this life is to struggle against evil. Nothing more”.
While you are reading the book, you can’t help but wonder who is K. Is this writer a man or a woman?
But what matters is not the author’s name, gender or identity, but the words delivered to the world through a book. The first book, moreover. That is why you could try to take a reading. 170 pages against the war, which will make you think of the anti-war song of John Lennon: Imagine all the people Livin’ life in peace… Happy reading of this book. For Peace and No War.
Rosalba Mancuso is the journalist, born in Sicily, who founded three online magazines in English. On Advicebooks Book Reviews, Rosalba shows her great passion for books, helping readers and book lovers choose and buy the best books she read and reviewed. She also worked as a contributor to print and online magazines and as a bilingual Italian-English writer. Here, Rosalba also offers room to authors and publishers who want to get their books reviewed through the voice of an avid reader like her. You must also know that this book review magazine lives thanks to your help. Rosalba, in fact, earns a small commission, with no cost for you, when you buy books through the affiliate links you find in her book reviews. This book review magazine is also funded by services of editorial reviews and book press releases.
