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kendyle's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.0
mo_bookshelves's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
3.5
leavingsealevel's review against another edition
3.0
Educational, eye-opening and also a page-turner. These things rarely intersect all that well, but it works in Out of It. Of course, "page-turner" is totally subjective and "educational" probably is as well. Coming of age, love, family secrets, exile, intrigues of the political elite, life. Set in Gaza in (I think) the early 2000s (and also London and briefly Dubai).
misspalah's review against another edition
4.0
“...It was not a war, that it was more of a cage fight, where the other side could throw these flying kicks but their side was limbless or heavily disadvantaged in some way and kept getting disqualified for spitting”.
- Rashid, out of it by Selma Dabbagh.
.
.
I still remember when my economic professor asked my palestinian classmate, Rana to just leave and move elsewhere when the class was discussing about Israeli Attack on Gaza Strip in 2012? After all my classmate has been living in Malaysia for about 2 years at that time. I remember feeling absurd that such remark did come out from one whom we called professor but the way rana answered him back is exactly like how the author wrote in the book. “We can't just run away. It's our land.” As much as i wanted to love this book, i find myself disliking this book towards the end when it got disjointed. The beginning of the plot was so good. It explored the struggle of Palestinian Youth in examining their role in the liberation of their country but at the same time, finding it difficult to connect with most of the objectives of the freedom fighters in Palestine. The way this book was arranged may not up to my liking but i will not dismiss the whole book as even when the place has been shifted, we found Iman in the Gulf and Rashid in London, both carried a strong Palestine identity within them. Iman doesnt let people to simply palestine-splaining her when she has been living in a conflict throughout her life there and she just straight up confronting people who wanted to remain ‘neutral’ in the midst of Palestine under attack by Israel. I must say many of the issues dicuss in the book is ultimately relevant with what happened to Palestine recently. Rashid, on the other hands, is simply opposite of who Iman is. He simply just wanted to leave. He just couldnt stand all the killings and bloodsheds. He saw what happened to his older brother, Sabri whom both wife and his kid got killed due to car bomb. Rashid figured that anywhere else but Gaza is much better. Overall, this book did a good job in draw a paradox of both older generation of Palestinian with the younger one. The elder one will accuse the younger one did not lived long enough to understand their cause while the younger one felt they are being ignored and silenced. Author actually does a good job at showing how both characters deal with the violence, destruction, struggle, and uncertainty of their country. As much as i would like to recommend this to everyone, i will put this right after you have aware, understand and completely informed about Palestine. Only then you can comprehend both characters in their entirety.
- Rashid, out of it by Selma Dabbagh.
.
.
I still remember when my economic professor asked my palestinian classmate, Rana to just leave and move elsewhere when the class was discussing about Israeli Attack on Gaza Strip in 2012? After all my classmate has been living in Malaysia for about 2 years at that time. I remember feeling absurd that such remark did come out from one whom we called professor but the way rana answered him back is exactly like how the author wrote in the book. “We can't just run away. It's our land.” As much as i wanted to love this book, i find myself disliking this book towards the end when it got disjointed. The beginning of the plot was so good. It explored the struggle of Palestinian Youth in examining their role in the liberation of their country but at the same time, finding it difficult to connect with most of the objectives of the freedom fighters in Palestine. The way this book was arranged may not up to my liking but i will not dismiss the whole book as even when the place has been shifted, we found Iman in the Gulf and Rashid in London, both carried a strong Palestine identity within them. Iman doesnt let people to simply palestine-splaining her when she has been living in a conflict throughout her life there and she just straight up confronting people who wanted to remain ‘neutral’ in the midst of Palestine under attack by Israel. I must say many of the issues dicuss in the book is ultimately relevant with what happened to Palestine recently. Rashid, on the other hands, is simply opposite of who Iman is. He simply just wanted to leave. He just couldnt stand all the killings and bloodsheds. He saw what happened to his older brother, Sabri whom both wife and his kid got killed due to car bomb. Rashid figured that anywhere else but Gaza is much better. Overall, this book did a good job in draw a paradox of both older generation of Palestinian with the younger one. The elder one will accuse the younger one did not lived long enough to understand their cause while the younger one felt they are being ignored and silenced. Author actually does a good job at showing how both characters deal with the violence, destruction, struggle, and uncertainty of their country. As much as i would like to recommend this to everyone, i will put this right after you have aware, understand and completely informed about Palestine. Only then you can comprehend both characters in their entirety.
lynn_mans0ur's review
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
jayeless's review
2.0
I wanted to like this, but it couldn't even hold my attention. I was constantly having to backtrack to the previous page after realising I had no idea what had just happened. I had nothing invested in the story and now that I've finished the book, I can barely remember how and why everything happened.
The book also does this annoying thing where it flits from the mind of one character to another within the same scene, instead of settling on one at a time.
Aside from that I didn't dislike the book, but it just couldn't make me care about it.
The book also does this annoying thing where it flits from the mind of one character to another within the same scene, instead of settling on one at a time.
Aside from that I didn't dislike the book, but it just couldn't make me care about it.
pandemiclife's review
4.0
I received this book in a Goodreads Giveaway and I'm glad that I did.
This novel shows the Israel/Palestine conflict through the eyes of the twenty-something Palestinian protagonists, each with their own perspective of the world and the place where they live.
I will admit that I previously knew very little about what all was going on with those conflicts and this novel introduced me to aspects that get overlooked by the Western media and pieces of the history that I was unfamiliar with. As a result this book was a slow read because I frequently had to stop and think about what actual part of history was being referenced to. And the author did a great job of keeping me engaged despite my lack of knowledge.
This novel shows the Israel/Palestine conflict through the eyes of the twenty-something Palestinian protagonists, each with their own perspective of the world and the place where they live.
I will admit that I previously knew very little about what all was going on with those conflicts and this novel introduced me to aspects that get overlooked by the Western media and pieces of the history that I was unfamiliar with. As a result this book was a slow read because I frequently had to stop and think about what actual part of history was being referenced to. And the author did a great job of keeping me engaged despite my lack of knowledge.
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