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4.62 AVERAGE
4.62 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
I told myself that in Ramadan I wouldn’t allow myself to secularise my worship from understanding my connection to the plight of suffering people. Part of that is trying to better understand their stories of trauma and survival. Wendy Pearlman’s stunning collection of vignettes from Syrians suffering both historically and today is a testament to why we need to keep engaging with their words, so that their world never becomes reduced to mere facts. Their lives and their stories are the heart of why we must remain connected to their daily struggles, wherever they may be in the world. I highly recommend this book to all.
Wow. If you've been near me the past few days, I've undoubtedly talked to you about this piece.
Wendy Pearlman collected the interviews from hundreds of Syrian refugees. Under eight headings like "Hope Dissappointed" and "Living War", Pearlman extracts pieces -sentences, paragraphs, pages - and groups different interview messages together. What you get is a clear vision of the who/what/why of Syria.
I was struck over and over again by how similar their lives seemed - school, work, shopping, eating, weddings, birthdays - as if it could easily have been me born in Syria, trying to protect my family and get them to safety. The need for safety and security is universal.
Wendy Pearlman collected the interviews from hundreds of Syrian refugees. Under eight headings like "Hope Dissappointed" and "Living War", Pearlman extracts pieces -sentences, paragraphs, pages - and groups different interview messages together. What you get is a clear vision of the who/what/why of Syria.
I was struck over and over again by how similar their lives seemed - school, work, shopping, eating, weddings, birthdays - as if it could easily have been me born in Syria, trying to protect my family and get them to safety. The need for safety and security is universal.
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
So, so difficult to get through. I had to keep putting it down. Very overwhelming. I appreciate the authorѓ??s attempt to give voice to everyone, but I felt (and feel terrible saying this) it would have been more impactful if there were less stories? Or maybe give a larger piece of the book to pivotal and poignant stories, and maybe intersperse the others? Iѓ??m usually a fiction reader so maybe itѓ??s just me. But with all the voices with similar, horrifying stories, it was almost, can I say it, desensitizing?? Hard to rate. Even harder to read. Glad I did, even though it makes me feel more than a tad hopeless.
I received this book as part of John Green's Life's Library bookclub and read it in two sittings. Trigger warning for explicit violence, torture, death, war... If you do not feel up to read it, don't. If you can make it through, you will be rewarded with a very personal account of the Syrian conflict by those who have seen and lived through it.
The book is divided up into eight chapters, which chronicle what happened in Syria and with the Syrian people: Authoritarianism, Hope Disappointed, Revolution, Crackdown, Militarization, Living War, Flight, Reflections. The author, Wendy Pearlman, has interviewed Syrians all over the planet, e.g. some in refugee camps, some in neighbouring countries. With a team of twenty persons, the accounts of the eye-witnesses were transcribed and translated into English. Some persons can be found in all chapter, some only in some chapters.
The voices that can be found in this book are diverse: various religions, backgrounds and professions can be found. In the chapters each text will start with the name of the person, their profession and where they came from, e.g. "Ghayth, former student (Aleppo)" who writes: "Maybe we came illegally, but every other door was shut in our faces. What do they expect us to do? Isn't it enough our government destroyed us and we lost everything? We would prefer to stay in our country. If you don't want refugees, help us make peace in Syria." (272-273) All accounts are brutally honest, scary and reward the reader with unique insight into life in Syria before, during and after the Arab Spring.
But there is still hope, there are some utterly beautiful accounts of the human capacity to live through trauma whilst not giving up. As the book is called "We Crossed A Bridge And It Trembled" this book may yet be a book for those of us who didn't know much or enough (can one even?) about the Syrian conflict and to cross the bridge of misunderstanding, misrepresentation and stereotypical labeling of faceless 'refugees'. "It is not to late to listen now.", so please everybody, listen and honour what you hear.
"I wanted to feel this freedom forever. And I told myself that I would never let anyone steal my voice again. And after that day I started to join all the demonstrations." (80)
The book is divided up into eight chapters, which chronicle what happened in Syria and with the Syrian people: Authoritarianism, Hope Disappointed, Revolution, Crackdown, Militarization, Living War, Flight, Reflections. The author, Wendy Pearlman, has interviewed Syrians all over the planet, e.g. some in refugee camps, some in neighbouring countries. With a team of twenty persons, the accounts of the eye-witnesses were transcribed and translated into English. Some persons can be found in all chapter, some only in some chapters.
The voices that can be found in this book are diverse: various religions, backgrounds and professions can be found. In the chapters each text will start with the name of the person, their profession and where they came from, e.g. "Ghayth, former student (Aleppo)" who writes: "Maybe we came illegally, but every other door was shut in our faces. What do they expect us to do? Isn't it enough our government destroyed us and we lost everything? We would prefer to stay in our country. If you don't want refugees, help us make peace in Syria." (272-273) All accounts are brutally honest, scary and reward the reader with unique insight into life in Syria before, during and after the Arab Spring.
But there is still hope, there are some utterly beautiful accounts of the human capacity to live through trauma whilst not giving up. As the book is called "We Crossed A Bridge And It Trembled" this book may yet be a book for those of us who didn't know much or enough (can one even?) about the Syrian conflict and to cross the bridge of misunderstanding, misrepresentation and stereotypical labeling of faceless 'refugees'. "It is not to late to listen now.", so please everybody, listen and honour what you hear.
"I wanted to feel this freedom forever. And I told myself that I would never let anyone steal my voice again. And after that day I started to join all the demonstrations." (80)
This is the story of Syria's revolution and war, told entirely through the voices of Syrians themselves. Heart-stopping in its power. This was a library book, but I didn't want to return it after I finished, so I suspect this will be one I add to my personal collection. It's also one of the books I would unequivocally recommend to any human seeking to learn from other people's stories--and that should include every single one of us, by the way.
A book that convicts in every sense. “I’m not saying that the conscience of the international community is asleep. I’m saying that conscience doesn’t exist at all.”