Summary
Luiza Bouharaoua: Was it us
*The book is underlined in places with a ballpoint pen.
Luiza Bouharaoua's first book could be briefly described as a generational book of stories and an ode to friendship. Is it us? It tells about the growing up of that generation who, when asked the notorious question, where were you in `91? could answer: in kindergarten or in the lower grades of elementary school. This strong peer affiliation stood out and imposed itself as the most important identity determinant, a stronghold, and once literally a friend's hug. From story to story, we follow several friends: from childhood on the streets of Split and games on the beach, and even deeper into the past, into the darkness of roots, among ancestors and aunts, to unlocking the world and practicing life lessons, spreading along known elevations and unnamed meridians, discovering sexuality and initiation into the world of adults. Young heroines and heroes, often stuck and lost between everyday life and dreams - but always lost together - are bound and driven by a longing for love which, even though it is just around the corner, constantly eludes them. There is in this book unobtrusive wisdom, naive and touching kindness, insolence and acridity as well as sensuality and seductive melancholy of the south. So while in the background cars rush frenetically, alarms ring and neon lights flash, the sentences unfold in front of us slowly, almost wobbly and lead us through areas that are familiar and close to us, although we have never seen them like that in reality. Indeed, although it will seem to you that you have already been in the spaces of these dreamy stories, you probably have not read anything like it yet. - Olja Savičević Ivančević
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