The verbalization of grief in David Grossman’s Falling Out of Time

Abstract

David Grossman’s experimental text Falling Out of Time (2011) examines the theme of the death of a child and parents’ attempts to understand and cope with the loss. In order to represent and articulate the sense of unbearable pain and grief, Grossman employs several strategies and techniques related to both content and form which allow for a perspective that is both artistically engaging and sensitive. One of the obvious formal features of the text is his use of poetry, which seemingly represents the most natural means to express the raw emotions and pain of his characters. The paper seeks to examine Grossman’s techniques that help him verbalize the grieving experience of his characters while focusing on his use of poetic language. It seems that the capacity of poetry to rely on meaningful silences and a multilayered interpretive potential enables one to create a healing space which facilitates the process of reconciliation.