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4.19 AVERAGE
4.19 AVERAGE
challenging
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Violence, Islamophobia, Colonisation, War
Minor: Self harm, Suicide, Terminal illness
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Genocide, Racism, Sexual assault, Violence, Islamophobia, Murder
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
dark
emotional
fast-paced
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Is there ever a humane way to win a war? If it all comes to down to "it's either us or them," is complete but bloodless annihilation reasonable?
Because the sudden disappearance of Palestinians in this novel by Ibtisam Azem is a miracle, a divine intervention, a dream come true for Zionists. Because it solves all their problems in a snap without them having to lift a finger. All they have to do is, once again, move into the homes that the disappeared Palestinians left behind. As if they never existed in the first place.
The writing in this is magnificent. Sinan Antoon makes use of gut-wrenching similes that arrest the senses, stupefy, and bewilder. The prose is a marvel. I especially loved Alaa's chapters, the ones where he was writing to his deceased grandmother. It was tender and heartbreaking to read.
I couldn't help but roll my eyes at some parts of this book, particularly the speech given by the Prime Minister of Israel. One of the characters introduced, a leftist communist, pointed it out well — these people have victim complexes but they justify genocide and ethnic cleansing with their own experiences with genocide and ethnic cleansing. But I don't think that because Jews were hunted down for centuries it gives them the right to kill off and expel the Palestinians. Like the novel says, the equation doesn't add up.
It angers me to think about the fact that when the Palestinians disappeared, all four million of them, what most of the Israelis thought of was, "Why are they doing this to us?" An entire nation has gone without a trace, and they think of how it affects them.
I'm sorry but I'm convinced that Zionists are entitled and delusional. They believe that God promised them this land so they steal it and occupy it; displace its people and rape them and torture them and kill them. They are self-righteous and they believe that they have returned to the promised land after thousands of years. I have a hard time accepting this. It makes me angry.
In the end, the Zionists celebrate, and their problems are gone forever.
But this is fiction, and the Palestinians are still alive and suffering in real life. And I must do something. We must do something. Because when it all comes down to it, what is currently happening in occupied Palestine is never right nor justifiable. Because the slow eradication of a people, of a nation, is not victory. It is a massacre.
Because the sudden disappearance of Palestinians in this novel by Ibtisam Azem is a miracle, a divine intervention, a dream come true for Zionists. Because it solves all their problems in a snap without them having to lift a finger. All they have to do is, once again, move into the homes that the disappeared Palestinians left behind. As if they never existed in the first place.
The writing in this is magnificent. Sinan Antoon makes use of gut-wrenching similes that arrest the senses, stupefy, and bewilder. The prose is a marvel. I especially loved Alaa's chapters, the ones where he was writing to his deceased grandmother. It was tender and heartbreaking to read.
I couldn't help but roll my eyes at some parts of this book, particularly the speech given by the Prime Minister of Israel. One of the characters introduced, a leftist communist, pointed it out well — these people have victim complexes but they justify genocide and ethnic cleansing with their own experiences with genocide and ethnic cleansing. But I don't think that because Jews were hunted down for centuries it gives them the right to kill off and expel the Palestinians. Like the novel says, the equation doesn't add up.
It angers me to think about the fact that when the Palestinians disappeared, all four million of them, what most of the Israelis thought of was, "Why are they doing this to us?" An entire nation has gone without a trace, and they think of how it affects them.
I'm sorry but I'm convinced that Zionists are entitled and delusional. They believe that God promised them this land so they steal it and occupy it; displace its people and rape them and torture them and kill them. They are self-righteous and they believe that they have returned to the promised land after thousands of years. I have a hard time accepting this. It makes me angry.
In the end, the Zionists celebrate, and their problems are gone forever.
But this is fiction, and the Palestinians are still alive and suffering in real life. And I must do something. We must do something. Because when it all comes down to it, what is currently happening in occupied Palestine is never right nor justifiable. Because the slow eradication of a people, of a nation, is not victory. It is a massacre.
challenging
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes