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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
This was a reread --- I bought the GN when it came out and read it then, but I didn't remember much about it. Having throughly enjoyed Guy DeLisle's [b:Chroniques de Jérusalem|13037817|Chroniques de Jérusalem|Guy Delisle|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327882244s/13037817.jpg|18201569] and looking to cull my GN collection, I took a second read.
The focus here is Sarah Glidden's birthright trip to Israel --- a free trip sponsored by a non-profit organization to help non-Israeli Jews connect with the state of Israel. Glidden starts the story highly skeptical of the entire process and deeply concerned that the scripted experiences she will go through will mask or omit the "situation". That focus stays through the book, even as Sarah runs into more balanced discussions than she expected.
Because of the tourist focus of the trip, the story itself mostly alternates between speeches Glidden hears at various sites and her emotional and intellectual responses. To avoid the talking heads syndromes, Glidden does a lot to liven up the talks. My favorite is when a tour guide describes the different levels of Jaffa built on top of each other by piling baseball caps on a tourist. Glidden then illustrates each different culture on the brims of the caps.
There's not a definitive conclusion --- at the end, Glidden is still concerned that Israel's policies are making the situation worse. There is, however, a deeper understanding on her part of how people disagree. I don't think the GN shows the same level of complexity that you see in Delisle, but I think it's worth it to see the birthright trip process and how non-Israeli Jews react to being in Israel.
The focus here is Sarah Glidden's birthright trip to Israel --- a free trip sponsored by a non-profit organization to help non-Israeli Jews connect with the state of Israel. Glidden starts the story highly skeptical of the entire process and deeply concerned that the scripted experiences she will go through will mask or omit the "situation". That focus stays through the book, even as Sarah runs into more balanced discussions than she expected.
Because of the tourist focus of the trip, the story itself mostly alternates between speeches Glidden hears at various sites and her emotional and intellectual responses. To avoid the talking heads syndromes, Glidden does a lot to liven up the talks. My favorite is when a tour guide describes the different levels of Jaffa built on top of each other by piling baseball caps on a tourist. Glidden then illustrates each different culture on the brims of the caps.
There's not a definitive conclusion --- at the end, Glidden is still concerned that Israel's policies are making the situation worse. There is, however, a deeper understanding on her part of how people disagree. I don't think the GN shows the same level of complexity that you see in Delisle, but I think it's worth it to see the birthright trip process and how non-Israeli Jews react to being in Israel.
A nice little memoir that captures a lot of valuable insights and challenged a lot of my perspectives on life and politics in the levant. Questions on how to resolve and move forward on issues of occupation, imperialism, and settler colonialism are not easy and this book doesn’t have really any answers. A book the starts in political certainty and ends in uncertainty feels apt but maybe unsatisfying. and somehow the book can’t state the obvious in its conclusion: Apartheid in israel must be ended.
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Antisemitism, War
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Sexual assault, Islamophobia
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
No, non si capisce Israele in 60 giorni. Sarah partecipa a un viaggio gratuito per far conoscere la Israele ai giovani ebrei, in questo caso americani. Teme le faranno il lavaggio del cervello, il che mi sembra un pensiero ingenuo: Sarah, ti pagano viaggio e alloggio, ti portano a conferenze, ti mostrano posti e ti raccontano i miti relativi alla creazione dello stato... il meno che si possa pensare è che abbiano un punto di vista fortemente istituzionale.
Sarah è progressista, di sinistra. Sa che gli ebrei stanno facendo qualcosa di cattivo nei confronti degli arabi, ma non sa bene cosa. O meglio: quello che sa è pur sempre filtrato dai giornali, da un altro tipo di propaganda. Vuole toccare con mano e farsi un'idea propria della situazione. Secondo me non ci riesce, anche perché alcuni pregiudizi si sono ormai affermati in tutto il mondo e nemmeno lei ne è pulita.
Il viaggio se lo gode maggiormente l'amica, ebrea di nome ma non di fatto, che si trova in quello stato di "ho trovato le mie radici".
Piacevole, ma un po' insipido.
Sarah è progressista, di sinistra. Sa che gli ebrei stanno facendo qualcosa di cattivo nei confronti degli arabi, ma non sa bene cosa. O meglio: quello che sa è pur sempre filtrato dai giornali, da un altro tipo di propaganda. Vuole toccare con mano e farsi un'idea propria della situazione. Secondo me non ci riesce, anche perché alcuni pregiudizi si sono ormai affermati in tutto il mondo e nemmeno lei ne è pulita.
Il viaggio se lo gode maggiormente l'amica, ebrea di nome ma non di fatto, che si trova in quello stato di "ho trovato le mie radici".
Piacevole, ma un po' insipido.
But how does the Israeli - Palestinian conflict affect a 27-year-old, middle-class girl from Brooklyn?!
For those that want to know what to believe, this will not give you a definite answer which is good, but at the same time the narrator is a little too angsty at times, which might appeal to someone closer to her age group, but not to me necessarily.
Really nice reflection of what the trip is like and definitely might make one want to go to visit
Really nice reflection of what the trip is like and definitely might make one want to go to visit
I previously knew nothing about Israel. I now know more than nothing.
An interesting peak on the other side makes you rethink that the situation is not as simple as we tend to think it is