Reviews

The Book of Gaza: A City in Short Fiction by Atef Abu Saif

andnsaa's review

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4.0

Lebih tepatnya, 3,5 bintang.

Dari awal lihat buku ini udah tertarik banget pengen tahu apa sih yang diceritain sama penulis-penulisnya soal Gaza. Penasaran kan apalagi sekarang lagi rame soal konflik sepanjang masa mereka yang belum juga menemukan titik terang :(

Ternyata, buku ini ga pas sama apa yang gue harap. Tapi, ceritanya tetap menarik dan gue suka sama sebagian besar penulis menuliskan kisahnya dengan bahasa yang puitis. Perasaan yang ingin disampaikan sama penulisnya sampai ke pembaca meskipun harus melewati penerjemah dulu :"

Salut juga sama penerjemahnya yang masih bisa membawa khas penulisnya. Kudos!

Anyway,
Aku paling suka sama yang judulnya Red Lights dan When I Cut Off Gaza's Head. Yang Red Lights ceritanya singkat banget daripada cerpen lain, tapi pesan yang ingin disampaikan cukup dalam dan aku tersentuh sama supir si pemeran utama yang diceritakan dari sudut pandang orang kedua. Selain itu, untuk cerpen When I Cut Off Gaza's Head suka banget sama endingnya yang plot twist! I should have seen that coming, tapi tetep aja gue syok :"

Rekomen buat yang suka sama kumpulan cerpen yang unik dan berbeda dari biasanya.

thbk's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

bookifiction's review

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4.0

cookiemonster's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

mjbeens's review

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4.0

This is a powerful collection of short stories written by authors of a Palestinian background. Some stories were more hard-hitting than others, and in one or two cases the story seemed to get slightly lost in translation. However, you read this not for its quality of writing but for what it portrays, a glimpse into every-day life in a city under much media scrutiny. Together these stories tell tales of oppression, hope, friendship and love, reminding us that there is so much more to Gaza than war and struggle.

‘Gaza became known as the exporter or oranges and short stories’.
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