Reviews tagging 'Violence'

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

38 reviews

readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition

informative sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Medical trauma, Medical content, Child death, Confinement, Islamophobia, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Genocide, Death, Violence, Dementia, Murder, War, Hate crime, Gun violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Religious bigotry

bashsbooks's review against another edition

challenging emotional medium-paced

5.0

Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear is evocative from the title, and it absolutely does not stop throughout the book. Abu Toha takes his readers into the intimate and heart-wrenching moments of a culture, a land, a people under generations of siege. He shows the humanity of the Palestinians of Gaza, a humanity that is often ignored, erased, or disputed in much of mainstream media today. These are not empty numbers or mindless villains dying in the streets of Gaza - they are children, siblings, parents, grandparents, friends, lovers, each their own complex bundle of human spirit. Abu Toha keeps that fact at the forefront of his poems.

I also enjoyed the photographic interlude and the interview with Abu Toha at the end of the book; both provided insight and context to some of the specific details enumerated in his poems. The photos additionally emphasized how real the lives of Palestinians are. 

As I always try to do when I review poetry books, here is a list of my favorite poems from this collection: "Palestine A-Z", "My Grandfather Was A Terrorist",  "Death Before Birth (DBB)", "Displaced", "To My Visa Interviewer", the titular "Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear", and "A Rose Shoulders Up". 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Violence, Colonisation, Gun violence, Murder, Xenophobia, Blood, War, Child death, Death, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Medical content and Medical trauma

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, War, and Death

Moderate: Child death, Violence, Genocide, Murder, Gun violence, Grief, and Blood

jayisreading's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Colonisation, War, and Genocide

blairlovesbooks's review

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War

Moderate: Violence, Death, and Child death

cheyison's review against another edition

emotional sad slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Death, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, and War

bladelikesbooks's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Violence, Child death, Body horror, Colonisation, Grief, Murder, and War

Moderate: Blood

Minor: Medical content and Medical trauma

siandee's review

challenging emotional reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, and War

serendipitysbooks's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Colonisation, and War

careinthelibrary's review

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

5.0

I thought this was great. The poet wrote in such a sensory way that I felt drawn into the space he created. The smells, sensations, sounds. There's a poem that references teeth chattering that I really felt, for example. Small but mighty. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Genocide, Violence, Colonisation, Death, Gun violence, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and War