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4.29 AVERAGE
4.29 AVERAGE
dark
tense
fast-paced
Jarring. A disturbing look into past war crimes and present day life for a Palestinian. Haunting story. It was relatively short but such a powerful book.
Short but powerful.
I found out about this book through the news as the Frankfurt book fair cancelled the award ceremony for this author and her book due to the conflict in Israel and Palestine. Given all that is happening to Palestinians it felt important to read this book.
Reading the officer’s chapter was definitely the hardest of the two. What struck me most about his chapter was how emotionless and detached he was. Reading what he did to the girl and let his soldier’s do made me genuinely feel sick. It also stuck out to me how he saw the girl as ‘other’ and would barely acknowledge her as human. When I finished his chapter I was left confused and uncertain what his mindset and motivations were when it came to raping the girl.
Reading the woman’s chapter, although easier than the officer’s, was still very powerful. The first part gives a glimpse for what everyday life is like for Palestinians.
Something I kept noticing in this chapter was a lot of parallels to the officer’s chapter. For example the girl’s dog would always bark when he wasn’t with the girl and of course with the girl’s murder they’d never be reunited. And it was a howling that kept the woman up at night, thinking about the girl. When the woman was looking at the Israeli map then the old Palestinian map, she snapped it shut because of how many Arab villages were gone. This reminds me of the reactions the officer would have when he looked at the infection on his leg, and saw that it had spread and gotten worse. The infection may have been a metaphor for Israeli’s expanding their territory in Palestine. The officer was also very focused with finding spiders in his hut, and the woman often used spider web imagery to describe her feelings.
The ending felt quite unsatisfactory for me. We never find out more about the girl, or the events itself. I wish this book was just a little bit longer and more developed.
The author is very effective with their words. The book is very powerful but not in a way where the author is trying too hard and using big words every other sentence. Their writing was very subtle and effective in helping show the discard for Palestinian life, the history of violence, and the lasting impact it has had.
Edit:
Reading other people’s reviews have pointed a few things out to me. One of them being that the woman’s death was foreshadowed. The officer and soldiers find the Arabs in the clearing by the spring and kill them. The woman arrives at the same spring and shortly after Israeli soldiers shoot her. History repeating itself. The other is that the author describes the officer’s life through minor details such as killing the spiders in his room and cleaning his wound. The author is very talented to be able to write this way and have it be effective rather than annoying and boring. Also the tense quiet that comes over you was not just felt by me. It’s hard to describe just why this book is so powerful and why it sits with you afterwards, which I suppose is in part to the author focusing on the many minor details in this book.
I found out about this book through the news as the Frankfurt book fair cancelled the award ceremony for this author and her book due to the conflict in Israel and Palestine. Given all that is happening to Palestinians it felt important to read this book.
Reading the officer’s chapter was definitely the hardest of the two. What struck me most about his chapter was how emotionless and detached he was. Reading what he did to the girl and let his soldier’s do made me genuinely feel sick. It also stuck out to me how he saw the girl as ‘other’ and would barely acknowledge her as human. When I finished his chapter I was left confused and uncertain what his mindset and motivations were when it came to raping the girl.
Reading the woman’s chapter, although easier than the officer’s, was still very powerful. The first part gives a glimpse for what everyday life is like for Palestinians.
Something I kept noticing in this chapter was a lot of parallels to the officer’s chapter. For example the girl’s dog would always bark when he wasn’t with the girl and of course with the girl’s murder they’d never be reunited. And it was a howling that kept the woman up at night, thinking about the girl. When the woman was looking at the Israeli map then the old Palestinian map, she snapped it shut because of how many Arab villages were gone. This reminds me of the reactions the officer would have when he looked at the infection on his leg, and saw that it had spread and gotten worse. The infection may have been a metaphor for Israeli’s expanding their territory in Palestine. The officer was also very focused with finding spiders in his hut, and the woman often used spider web imagery to describe her feelings.
The ending felt quite unsatisfactory for me. We never find out more about the girl, or the events itself. I wish this book was just a little bit longer and more developed.
The author is very effective with their words. The book is very powerful but not in a way where the author is trying too hard and using big words every other sentence. Their writing was very subtle and effective in helping show the discard for Palestinian life, the history of violence, and the lasting impact it has had.
Edit:
Reading other people’s reviews have pointed a few things out to me. One of them being that the woman’s death was foreshadowed. The officer and soldiers find the Arabs in the clearing by the spring and kill them. The woman arrives at the same spring and shortly after Israeli soldiers shoot her. History repeating itself. The other is that the author describes the officer’s life through minor details such as killing the spiders in his room and cleaning his wound. The author is very talented to be able to write this way and have it be effective rather than annoying and boring. Also the tense quiet that comes over you was not just felt by me. It’s hard to describe just why this book is so powerful and why it sits with you afterwards, which I suppose is in part to the author focusing on the many minor details in this book.
I truly don’t know what to say. I cried a few times while reading and listening to the audiobook. I will never even begin to understand the horrors that Palestinians face on the daily. This is a story of one girl, but there have been probably millions of these same crimes committed over the past 76+ years that Palestinians have been under constant attack at the hands of the israelis. It is a painful read, but one that needs to be read; we are privileged enough to only experience the heartache from reading the story instead of having to live it.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
1 hour 18 minutes - The second half of this book was brilliant, but unfortunately the first half I found a little tedious. It was incredibly necessary, but could have done with being a lot shorter - I don't think it required half the page count. The second half, however, was so raw and challenging, showcasing the Palestinian struggle and the brutality of the Israeli occupation.
dark
emotional
sad
tense
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Some of the story was very well written and flowed well but then other parts such as the journey to the incident site was extremely boring, constantly on about checking the maps and looking at the concrete. I expected more considering all the hype this book has. The female main character is insufferable. Like why are you shouting in English?
The story of the incident at the beginning also drew up some questions. Like a medic was mentioned several times yet this man didn't visit him once despite being very ill.
I couldn't wait to finish this, it is poorly written and there is so many other beautifully written books about the Palestinian people that showcase the Israeli occupation much better.
The story of the incident at the beginning also drew up some questions. Like a medic was mentioned several times yet this man didn't visit him once despite being very ill.
I couldn't wait to finish this, it is poorly written and there is so many other beautifully written books about the Palestinian people that showcase the Israeli occupation much better.