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anditsreal's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I read fiction to understand the world. This book reminded me how powerful the creative act can be.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, and Police brutality
cassielaj's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This book offered a perspective I’ve never encountered and a great insight into a small sliver of lived experience in Palestine. I appreciated the theme of art/theatre as revolutionary and the bleeding of the play’s themes into the characters real lives.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Gun violence, Infertility, Miscarriage, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Abortion, Colonisation, and War
booksillremember's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Really interesting to learn about the everyday life of Palestinians and the layers of privilege and oppression that affect different Palestinians differently depending on what class they belong to, what languages they know, where they live, and what ID they hold.
The book also makes you think about the complex connection between art, audience and resistance.
However, I almost DNFed this because I couldn't connect with the narrator - she's too much of a teenager for a 38-year-old woman which feeds into the cliché of the self-absorbed and vain actress. The relationships between Sonia and her sister (and wider family) and Sonia and director Mariam were really promising but ultimately underwhelming. I think this novel would have benefited from multiple POVs.
The book also makes you think about the complex connection between art, audience and resistance.
However, I almost DNFed this because I couldn't connect with the narrator - she's too much of a teenager for a 38-year-old woman which feeds into the cliché of the self-absorbed and vain actress. The relationships between Sonia and her sister (and wider family) and Sonia and director Mariam were really promising but ultimately underwhelming. I think this novel would have benefited from multiple POVs.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Police brutality, and War
Minor: Miscarriage and Abortion
dragongirl271's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
“'Sometimes a play is like an operation from the old days....You plan it, there's a script, but you never totally know how it's going to go. It's there. It's gone. It's like a firework.’”
I need more of Hammad's writing in my life. I need a physical copy of this book to read again, annotate, and analyze like a literary assignment from an English class. I want to reread this and also reread Hamlet along with it so I can analyze the play with the cast. I want to throw this book at others and listen to their takeaways to see what they caught that I missed. This is going to be one of those books that my future grandchildren are going to find among my things beat up and full of sticky notes and underlined passages.
In this book, we follow Sonia Nasir's summer journey from her home in London to visit her sister in Haifa. While there, she meets Mariam who convinces her to play Gertrude in an Arabic production of Hamlet in the West Bank. Like any theater production, the following weeks are full of bonding, philosophizing, drama amongst cast, and finding pieces of yourself in the characters. Sonia's return to Palestine after years away also leads to personal discovery and reconnection to her family and identity.
I loved Hammad's use of mixing 1st person POV for Sonia and using a 3rd person script layout for the rehearsal scenes. I also enjoyed how smoothly Hammad writes complex discussions between multiple characters. From the start of rehearsals, the cast discuss what message they want to convey with their production and what it even means to perform Hamlet in the West Bank. The reader feels as if they are part of the discussion and it truly feels nuanced and organic. That's not an easy feat.
The ending! Entire panel discussions could be held just on the last few chapters.
“The Play's the thing / Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King.”
I need more of Hammad's writing in my life. I need a physical copy of this book to read again, annotate, and analyze like a literary assignment from an English class. I want to reread this and also reread Hamlet along with it so I can analyze the play with the cast. I want to throw this book at others and listen to their takeaways to see what they caught that I missed. This is going to be one of those books that my future grandchildren are going to find among my things beat up and full of sticky notes and underlined passages.
In this book, we follow Sonia Nasir's summer journey from her home in London to visit her sister in Haifa. While there, she meets Mariam who convinces her to play Gertrude in an Arabic production of Hamlet in the West Bank. Like any theater production, the following weeks are full of bonding, philosophizing, drama amongst cast, and finding pieces of yourself in the characters. Sonia's return to Palestine after years away also leads to personal discovery and reconnection to her family and identity.
I loved Hammad's use of mixing 1st person POV for Sonia and using a 3rd person script layout for the rehearsal scenes. I also enjoyed how smoothly Hammad writes complex discussions between multiple characters. From the start of rehearsals, the cast discuss what message they want to convey with their production and what it even means to perform Hamlet in the West Bank. The reader feels as if they are part of the discussion and it truly feels nuanced and organic. That's not an easy feat.
The ending! Entire panel discussions could be held just on the last few chapters.
“The Play's the thing / Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King.”
Content Warnings
Moderate: Miscarriage, Violence, Police brutality, Pregnancy, and Colonisation
Minor: Death, Infidelity, and Torture
alyssabookrecs's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
4.5 stars - I really dug this.
Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad is a novel that perfectly encapsulates so much of what I love to read about. The book takes risks with its prose, sliding into script when you feel the main character Sonia sort of detach from her body as though she is watching a play of her onstage and offstage experiences while acting in a production of Hamlet in the West Bank. Hammad weaves together the story of the production, Sonia’s personhood and life, her family’s past, her complicated relationship with her sister Haneen, living under occupation, and so much more. Hammad thanks members of the Freedom Theatre in her acknowledgments, so I’d like to include here that the Freedom Theatre in Jenin was raided by the Israeli Occupation Forces in late 2023 and most recently the IOF also destroyed the road in between the theatre and the artistic director’s home, among other horrible things while invading Jenin. Theatre, art, and literature are ALWAYS political; targeting writers, artists, and their institutions is something the IOF continually does in a multitude of ways, explored in part by Hammad in Enter Ghost. Support Freedom Theatre in Palestine now: thefreedomtheatre.org
Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad is a novel that perfectly encapsulates so much of what I love to read about. The book takes risks with its prose, sliding into script when you feel the main character Sonia sort of detach from her body as though she is watching a play of her onstage and offstage experiences while acting in a production of Hamlet in the West Bank. Hammad weaves together the story of the production, Sonia’s personhood and life, her family’s past, her complicated relationship with her sister Haneen, living under occupation, and so much more. Hammad thanks members of the Freedom Theatre in her acknowledgments, so I’d like to include here that the Freedom Theatre in Jenin was raided by the Israeli Occupation Forces in late 2023 and most recently the IOF also destroyed the road in between the theatre and the artistic director’s home, among other horrible things while invading Jenin. Theatre, art, and literature are ALWAYS political; targeting writers, artists, and their institutions is something the IOF continually does in a multitude of ways, explored in part by Hammad in Enter Ghost. Support Freedom Theatre in Palestine now: thefreedomtheatre.org
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Grief, Abortion, and Colonisation
tashtasher's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Racism, Violence, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Grief, Pregnancy, and Colonisation
Moderate: Death, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, and War
Minor: Abandonment and Alcohol
evaverm's review
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Relevanter dan ooit.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Police brutality, and Colonisation
serendipitysbooks's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I found Enter Ghost to be a really well-written and thought provoking novel. Reading it now at a time when violence in the region is at an all time high added an extra layer of poignancy, depth and meaning to my reading experience. The plot begins when Sonia, an actress of Danish- Palestinian descent, travels to Haifa to visit her sister, a trip she hasn’t made for eleven years. While there she is persuaded to join a production of Hamlet which is being planned for the West Bank. I especially appreciated the parallels which were drawn between Hamlet and the political situation faced by Palestinians. Links could also be drawn between Hamlet and its staging for this performance, and between Hamlet and issues in Sonia’s life. Those parallels and the way the play was used as a form of political protest shows why Hamlet is considered a classic and highlights the importance of the arts and what they offer to society. I was struck by the many differences between the Palestinian characters - some lived in refugee camps, some in Israel, some in the West Bank, some were born there, some were born elsewhere, some had left and some had chosen to stay. Sonia, only ever a visitor and one who had been long absent, had to negotiate her identity as a Palestinian personally and politically. The difficulties of everyday life in Israel for Palestinians was undeniable - the passports, the checkpoints, the restrictions on who would go where, the ever changing roadblocks - and frequently exacerbated by the capriciousness of Israeli authorities and soldiers who seemed to enjoy exerting power simply for the sake of it and appeared far too willing to reach for the trigger on their ever present, prominent gun. In the wider scheme of things - and certainly compared to the current situation - these aggressions were relatively minor. And yet they still made me think; they are all part of the same continuum. The prose was excellent, some sentences exquisite, and the fact that some parts were written as a play script and unexpected bonus. All in all an excellent reading experience and one I’d recommend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Violence, Police brutality, and Islamophobia
jenmcreads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Xenophobia, Abortion, and War
Moderate: Genocide, Hate crime, Sexism, Torture, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Colonisation, and War