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livewonderstruck's review
4.0
Green Almonds: Letters from Palestine is a true story depicted in graphic novel format.
Anaële Hermans traveled from her home in Belgium to Palestine to volunteer with an aid organization. During that time she exchanged letters with her sister Delphine back home. Green Almonds brings these letters to life as a graphic novel.
During her time there, Anaële goes back and forth between Palestine and Israel, befriending people in both places, experiencing life on both sides of a physical wall between cities, and witnessing the violence that happens in occupied territories.
This book was originally published in France in 2011. There it received the Doctors Without Borders Award for best travel diary highlighting the living conditions of populations in precarious situations.
I definitely recommend Green Almonds, especially for people who like memoir, travel writing, and social justice issues.
Anaële Hermans traveled from her home in Belgium to Palestine to volunteer with an aid organization. During that time she exchanged letters with her sister Delphine back home. Green Almonds brings these letters to life as a graphic novel.
During her time there, Anaële goes back and forth between Palestine and Israel, befriending people in both places, experiencing life on both sides of a physical wall between cities, and witnessing the violence that happens in occupied territories.
This book was originally published in France in 2011. There it received the Doctors Without Borders Award for best travel diary highlighting the living conditions of populations in precarious situations.
I definitely recommend Green Almonds, especially for people who like memoir, travel writing, and social justice issues.
readingsofaslinky's review
reflective
sad
fast-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Islamophobia, Murder, Genocide, War, Colonisation, Death, Gun violence, and Confinement
slimikin's review
4.0
"Before I built a wall I'd ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offence.
Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That wants it down."
What I've learned from Robert Frost, World War Z, and Green Almonds: walls are good when fending off zombies; not so much in other circumstances, when the human tendency to dehumanize everyone and everything that isn't our own tribe is made all the easier when we don't even have to look at them anymore.
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offence.
Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That wants it down."
What I've learned from Robert Frost, World War Z, and Green Almonds: walls are good when fending off zombies; not so much in other circumstances, when the human tendency to dehumanize everyone and everything that isn't our own tribe is made all the easier when we don't even have to look at them anymore.
nalinisriv3's review
3.0
Overall Verdict : Go for it.
It's an amazing travelogue between two sisters. I found the concept really interesting. Its a must read. It leaves one sentient about Palestine in a remarkable way. There are some issues in places, I found that both sisters were just talking about what's going on their ends and were dismissive about the life another person is living. Delphine, for instance, did not follow back on a lot of things. Even Anaele did not ask about people she had left behind while she continued her life in Palestine. I felt some broken links are their and somethings are omitted to keep the focus on what's going on in Palestine. Overall, it is great. The moment I started reading it I could not put it down.
It's an amazing travelogue between two sisters. I found the concept really interesting. Its a must read. It leaves one sentient about Palestine in a remarkable way. There are some issues in places, I found that both sisters were just talking about what's going on their ends and were dismissive about the life another person is living. Delphine, for instance, did not follow back on a lot of things. Even Anaele did not ask about people she had left behind while she continued her life in Palestine. I felt some broken links are their and somethings are omitted to keep the focus on what's going on in Palestine. Overall, it is great. The moment I started reading it I could not put it down.
branchingoutinjax's review
4.0
Green Almonds is a memoir told in letters and post cards between two sisters while one of them spends six months working for a volunteer program in Palestine. Anaele gives a unique perspective on every day norms for the Palestinians that would seem absurd to any visiting person who grew up in the West. This includes bulldozers knocking down housing without any plans to rebuild new housing, as well as Israeli soldiers shooting at kids chasing after their soccer balls that rolled into the road. The general census from her Palestinian friends is that it's normal because it's what they grew up with, even though it's far from what we would consider a normal neighborhood.
While I appreciated the thought of telling the story through letters from both sisters, I felt that Delphine's postcards were rather lacking in concern for Anaele. Delphine would talk about some mundane thing that she did or saw while Anaele was writing her pages about the inequality that she witnessed and fear that she felt. They could have been easily left out and kept a focus on the story Anaele was trying to tell while in Palestine.
While I appreciated the thought of telling the story through letters from both sisters, I felt that Delphine's postcards were rather lacking in concern for Anaele. Delphine would talk about some mundane thing that she did or saw while Anaele was writing her pages about the inequality that she witnessed and fear that she felt. They could have been easily left out and kept a focus on the story Anaele was trying to tell while in Palestine.
stacyroth's review
4.0
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased opinion.
Green Almonds is the true story of Anaele, a Belgium woman, volunteering in Palenstine for a year, and the exchange between her and her sister, Delphine.
I like how the story is told through postcards and letters between the two sisters. In the United States, there seems to be a lack of knowledge of what Palestinians are going through. I would highly recommend this graphic novel to people for an introduction to the plight of Palestinians. The postcards from Delphine highlight the vast difference in the daily lives of Palestinians and Belgians.
Green Almonds is the true story of Anaele, a Belgium woman, volunteering in Palenstine for a year, and the exchange between her and her sister, Delphine.
I like how the story is told through postcards and letters between the two sisters. In the United States, there seems to be a lack of knowledge of what Palestinians are going through. I would highly recommend this graphic novel to people for an introduction to the plight of Palestinians. The postcards from Delphine highlight the vast difference in the daily lives of Palestinians and Belgians.