"His collection of letters, "a sign of life inside the Gaza Strip," comes from a place where everything has been lost and "only our souls remain." He writes about his three-year-old twins-a daughter who can hold her parents' hands but has to grow up around bombings, and a son who is away from the devastation, separated from his family for medical care in Turkey."
"Friends and neighbours are killed "with every passing hour." Al-Shaer writes about wanting to stay alive, again and again. You can feel the exhaustion as his words repeat, mirroring a reality with no end in sight. But just as the horror of his days does not abate, neither does his hope: "If you are reading this, please don't let these words fade. Keep sharing. Keep this signal of life alive.""
Selection involves catalogues, galleys, private reading, deliberation, and the choice of ten books that demand repeated returns. Best books create immersive worlds, sustain compelling voices, and present ideas that invite continual reconsideration. A Year on the Abyss of Genocide records survival inside Gaza through a collection of letters that signal life amid devastation. The letters depict three-year-old twins, one growing up amid bombings, the other separated for medical care in Turkey. The narrative conveys yearning for normalcy, altered meanings of future and home, pervasive losses, exhaustion, and enduring hope that urges readers to keep the signal of life alive.
Read at The Walrus
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