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4.55 AVERAGE
4.55 AVERAGE
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
A challenging read. A tragic and emotional story about one Palestinian family’s experience.
Questo libro ha lasciato in me molte emozioni, tristi e di sfiducia verso il mondo odierno considerando ciò che continua a succedere al popolo palestinese. Una romanzo che parla di amore , amicizia, tragedia e sofferenza, e nella semplicità degli affetti fa sentire nella pelle la violenza subita dai palestinesi, al
contempo narra di tradizioni e di una cultura che non conoscevo, profonda e affascinante. Consiglio assolutamente
contempo narra di tradizioni e di una cultura che non conoscevo, profonda e affascinante. Consiglio assolutamente
challenging
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
informative
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
You know how surreal the experience were when you dreamt of ur kids died and woke up in cold sweat, scrambling to cuddle yours.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
devastating. beautifully written, spanning generations and continents and highlighting the history and stories of the Palestinian people amidst the U.S.-backed Israeli occupation. Susan Abulhawa writes so poignantly about land and love.
They murdered you and buried you in their headlines, Mother. How do I forgive, Mother? How does Jenin forget? How does one carry this burden? How does one live in a world that turns away from such injustice for so long? Is this what it means to be Palestinian, Mother?
devastating does not cover it. There is only so much cruelty and objective evil I can read about before bewilderment sets in - I could try to disbelieve it as historical fiction but the horror of these pages has been relived by countless Palestinian families for generations now - everyday. And the world watches on.
I was so overcome reading this - in ways I'm hardly able to articulate, and it feels like an injustice to even attempt to do so, but I'll try. This book followed four generations of the Abulheja family - from the roaming free farmlands of Palestine and the 1948 Nakba to their initial settlement in Jenin. How over those decades they became long-term encampments and escalated to the refugee camps of Lebanon, imbued with cycles of senseless m*ssacres. And then to peace in the US. All of these recounted in Abulhawa's lyrical prose. Those generations of trauma and anguish and rage, those repetitions of brutality perversely justified as a perceived right to inherit a homeland. How for generations, isr*el has now claimed their righteous sla*ghter of civilians as an effort to protect their own freedoms. I could continue with this.
But while the rage I felt reading this book was overwhelming, so too was witnessing the devotion and love in this book - it soaked through these pages. The resolute faith in religion and determination to live in hope. The devotion to their loved ones, where everyone in a community is an aunt or uncle. That love in sharing meals, in ululating when someone returns home, in how grief is shared, just as marriage and children are celebrated. The culture of the Palestinian people shone through and this perspective into their communities and lives was beyond priceless to read about.
The love of family was incredibly moving. In how Amal and Yousef were raised, in Hudda and Amal running as girls through the streets of Jenin, and the acts of service of mothers caring for their daughters. That profound loss of words Amal felt when trying to articulate what it was like to see Sara grow. In how Amal came to understand and interpret her own mother's actions and inactions as she too inherited this occupied land and this legacy. Sara. My life's loveliest song. My home.
I will be hugging my mum especially tight when I see her next.
I could go on and on forever. But I'm grateful to have experienced this book and from a perspective that is so profoundly centred on the strength and resilience of the Palestinian people. I could not recommend this book enough.
From the river to the sea.
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense