Reviews with content warning for War - Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear: Poems from Gaza

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Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear: Poems from Gaza by Mosab Abu Toha

51 reviews

lbelow's review

emotional informative reflective sad tense

5.0

This is a beautifully moving collection of poetry. Each poem is lyrical and raw, drawing me into the author's life. A must-read.

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hereforthefunofit's review

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challenging reflective tense

3.5

I was impressed some poems, but for most, I was underwhelmed. The entire poetry style isn't what I've found I like to read. What you can learn, however, from this collection is invaluable.

Standout Poems (for me):

Leaving Childhood Behind
Sobbing Without Sound
A Litany for "One Land"
Us and Them
Silence of Water
Gone with the Gunpowder
Edward Said, Noam Chomsky, and Theodor Adorno in Gaza
To My Visa Interviewer

Standout Quotes (for me):

"In Gaza you don't know what you're guilty of."
"My son's name is Yazzan. He was born in 2015, or a year after the 2014 war. This is how we date things."
"In August 2014 after the 51 days of Israeli onslaught, the walls in my room had more windows than when I left, windows that would no longer close. Winter was harsh on us."
"...trying to survive another day, is coming back from the dead"
"It's been noisy for a long time and I've been looking for a recording of silence to play on my old headphones."

It is simply heartbreaking. And regardless of what I think of the application of different poetry techniques, Mosab Abu Toha does an excellent job of portraying the reality of Palestinians. It is soul-crushing and humbling, how much more vulnerable life is in a country many refuse to acknowledge.

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jayisreading's review

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challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

This was a heartfelt and heartbreaking collection of poems, in which Abu Toha primarily reflected on his life in Palestine. This collection also drew as much attention to the pain and trauma that Palestinians have gone through as much as it did to the love and hope they have for their history and culture. The first poem, "Palestine A–Z," was an especially thought-provoking way to start the collection and prepare the reader for the themes that would appear. In addition to these poems, there is an interview with Abu Toha at the end of this collection that really brought everything together poignantly that is well worth reading.

While I didn't think there was anything revolutionary or interesting happening when it came to form and structure, I thought the delivery of these poems were powerful, with many of them remaining with you pages after you finish reading them. (Somewhat of an aside, but I think this is a fantastic collection for novice readers of poetry.)

As Abu Toha beautifully writes in the interlude, "Through it all, the strawberries have never stopped growing." In spite of everything, the heart of Palestine continues beating.

Some favorites: "Palestine A–Z," "What Is Home?," "My Grandfather Was a Terrorist," "Sobbing Without Sound," "A Litany for 'One Land'," "Desert and Exile," "Edward Said, Noam Chomsky, and Theodor Adorno in Gaza," "Displaced," "To My Visa Interviewer," and "Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear"

Note: I would like to thank the publisher for making this collection free for readers to download.

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blairlovesbooks's review

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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shannon_magee's review

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dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

4.75

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cheyison's review against another edition

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emotional sad slow-paced

4.0

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bladelikesbooks's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

4.0

In this book - partially a collection of poems, partially interview answers - Abu Toha tells us of his personal life experience from a young age to present times.

Abu Toha’s writing is very beautiful and incredibly easy to follow (which i greatly appreciate). His writing show his faily life living in refugee camps in Gaza and the true horror of it, while also showing the beauty of his country, community, and religion.

I really enjoyed the interview protion of this book as i was able to understang his use of poetry better. Abu Toha’s has lived through so many attacks from Israel that he just cobsiders it a part of his daily routine which is so horrifying and sad.

I think this collection gives such good insight into daily life in Gaza and generational trauma. If you’re looking to learn more about the Palestinian people’s experienced of life in Gaza, or you’re looking into poetry that’s easy to follow, definitely check out this book:))

TWs - Blood; Body Horror; Bombing; Child Death (Graphic); Colonisation; Corpses; Covid; Death; Ethnic Cleansing; Genocide; Grief; Loss Of A Loved One; Medical Content; Medical Trauma; Murder; Violence; War

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oeilvert's review against another edition

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challenging emotional inspiring sad tense medium-paced

5.0

from the river to the sea, palestine will be free

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siandee's review

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challenging emotional reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

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serendipitysbooks's review

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emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.75

hings You May Find Hidden in My Ear could be described as eye-opening - but only to anyone who has been living under a rock and somehow managed to avoid all of the images coming out of Gaza in the past couple of months. What it is is heart-wrenching and powerful, an indication of how conflict and violence in the region have impacted the poet, first as a child, then a young man, and later as a father. What should be unimaginable was his everyday reality before he was able to leave. Highly recommended - for both the poetry and the political context.

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