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Why Couldn’t I Understand This Book About War?

JL;DR SUMMARY Sruli Fruchter discusses the challenge of understanding the complex, poetic narrative of Anne Michaels' 2023 novel, "Held," which explores love, memory, and loss shaped by war. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

TraumaSoldiersMemoryLiteratureAnne MichaelsPoetic NarrativeYeshivat YeruchamUnderstanding War

Places mentioned

France
"It begins in 1917 with John, a French soldier fighting in World War I."
Yerucham, Southern District, Israel
"Just last Shabbos, I davened in Yeshivat Yerucham, a hesder yeshiva in the south of Israel"
Israel
"I live in Israel and am thus surrounded by war."

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Retrieved 2025-07-21 05:30:30 UTC
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