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4.26 AVERAGE
4.26 AVERAGE
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad: 4/5
enter ghost was evocative, sensitive and revealing. we follow sonia as she navigates and prods at her family’s history and the awakening of her diasporic upbringing and identity. it’s really a book that never speaks candidly, even if the characters themselves claim to be. the backdrop or external fabrications of the novel stem from the long sufferings and learned cues of palestinian dispossession which bring forth the selfishness in the personal relationships between characters when one doesn’t inquire and the other doesn’t reveal. amongst all this, a production of hamlet in classical arabic propels the narrative and political metaphors. while i didn’t fully gel with sonia, i recognized in her the anxiety and guilt of trying to belong.
emotional
informative
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
reflective
tense
medium-paced
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Wow. This was SO well done and left me with a lot to think about. Sonia is a Palestinian expat visiting Haifa for the summer and becomes involved in a Palestinian production of Hamlet. The book was published in early 2023, before the ongoing Gaza genocide, and reading it with that in the background gave it additional meaning and foreboding. At one point, a character is reflecting on the current state of the occupation and wondering when the final curtain fall will be for the Palestinians. To know that a big part of this would begin only months later…
This book also gave me a newfound respect for the process and work that goes into a stage production.
Just brilliant. One of the few i wouldn’t mind reading again because I’m sure I missed some of the underlying symbolism and allegory.
This book also gave me a newfound respect for the process and work that goes into a stage production.
Just brilliant. One of the few i wouldn’t mind reading again because I’m sure I missed some of the underlying symbolism and allegory.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
