TOVLI SIMIRYAN

Raving Dove--Review

 

4th Anniversary edition

Number 13

Summer 2008

 

Raving Dove is like an impressionist painting that you have continuously observed in order to view obscured or distant images or ideas that you may have missed at first glance. Its literary sensibility seems to be one of simple and precisely written elegance to evoke serious political ideas, such as the affects of war, a central focus in this issue, and how it defines our “humanity,” whether it is in the form of nonfiction, poetry, fiction or photography.

 

In the story “Sarah” by Tovli “Linnie” Simiryan, Sarah, an Israeli, encounters a young boy who appears to be a suicide bomber on a bus:

 

Scorched air amid chaos smothered the quiet hysteria invading her soul. Soon Jerusalem, the holy city, would demand vengeance, like a lioness protecting her cubs. Sarah’s body dictated a need for stillness. She calmed herself with a sigh that answered her rescuer’s frantic calls. She was that kind of woman, concerned for the success of others. She was not interested in retribution. There would be time for anger when the missing emerged unscathed from darkness and fire.

 

Here, Simiryan manages to invent a character that is not only noble but courageous and profoundly concerned with the welfare of others too. And, we the reader are convinced of Sarah’s sincerity.

 

This is why we continue to read these short fiction, nonfiction and poetry works in Raving Dove. They offer a singularly direct clarity and vision that immediately connects you with a character and idea until you are immersed in their experiences and are affected by their emotions, painful or otherwise. Here, you are always at war, and always displaced whether you are in your own homeland or on foreign ground.

 

Review by Micha Zevin  Online Triannual  Summer 2008