Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
Not quite finished, but loving this. It is a good story of one woman's life in the Occupied Territories. She goes through all of the frustrations and facts about Occupation that other books I've read do, but she does it with a humor that none of the others really taps into. Maybe she and I just have more similar senses of humor- cynical, dry. I also admire how gutsy she is. She expresses her frustration with the Occupation in rather unique ways (as far as I know). I wish I could do what she does if I lived in that situation! She feels the humiliation of implicating her friends and colleagues in the act of knowing her, frustration of not being able to go where you want when you want, and the utter ridiculousness of some of the Israeli rules, but instead of being defeated she reacts boldly, challenging these things directly with humor and sarcasm. It's so great to see this kind of spirit (in print- I'm sure she's not the only one).
Amiry dopo Damasco, continua a offrire istantanee che con ironia catturano la drammaticità del quotidiano vissuto in Palestina.
Dopo le prime pagine che sono volate, mi trovo tuttavia a mettere temporaneamente da parte questo volume, perché purtroppo non amo molto la narrazione così frammentata (tante istantanee apparentemente separate tra loro). Questo è proprio il mio limite con questo tipo di stile narrativo, ma il libro vale assolutamente la lettura.
Dopo le prime pagine che sono volate, mi trovo tuttavia a mettere temporaneamente da parte questo volume, perché purtroppo non amo molto la narrazione così frammentata (tante istantanee apparentemente separate tra loro). Questo è proprio il mio limite con questo tipo di stile narrativo, ma il libro vale assolutamente la lettura.
Masa mula-mula melihat judul buku ini, boleh tak ingat Sharon itu adalah nama perempuan? Tak teringat langsung bahawa Sharon yang ini adalah Ariel Sharon, mantan perdana menteri Israel yang sekarang ini sedang terlantar koma. (Apakah yang dia sedang hadapi semasa koma itu ya? Adakah Allah membuka hijab dan menunjukkan balasan dan azab kepadanya kerana menganiaya rakyat Palestina?)
Buku ini adalah memoir Suad Amiry semenjak 1981 sehingga 2003 (buku ini diterbitkan pada tahun 2004). Dan Suad menceritakan pengalamannya itu dengan cara yang menarik dan kelakar yang menyebabkan saya tersenyum sendiri dan ada kalanya tertawa kecil. Tapi lepas itu sendiri rasa berdosa; sebab yang buat ia kelakar adalah cara pengolahan Suad. Cuba kau try test duduk di Palestina sana, kelakar ke tak kena harass dengan tentera Israel hari-hari?
Saya petik tulisan Suad yang saya rasa menarik; semasa dia menerjah bilik Kapten Yossi dari “Civil Administration”.
Taken completely by surprise, Captain Yossi stood up, and so did his Palestinian visitor.
‘What is it, Suad? Can you wait outside until I am done with my guest?’
‘No more waiting. I have waited for seven years.’
It must have been the vicious expression on my face that made the Palestinian man withdraw from Captain Yossi’s office immediately. As he carefully closed the door behind him, I could see the secretary’s head leaning forward to offer him help. “Get me a cup of coffee and a cigarette,” I ordered Captain Yossi as I sat down cross-legged on the chair next to his desk.
Not knowing what to do with this reversal in our relationship, Captain Yossi went out and a few minutes later, he came back with a Marlboro cigarette and a cup of muddy Israeli army coffee. I’ve been told the army has not time to boil the coffee and the water together, so they just pour warm water over the coffee grains and drink mud. Of course they have no time, as they are harassing us twenty-four hours a day. If they stopped harassing us, they might end up with a better life and a good cup of coffee rather than mud.
Look at the Italians, the Turks and the French, they all have good coffee, now that they have realized it’s possible to have a good life without occupying others.
Juga ini:
Yossi stood still, like all men, he didn’t know what to do with a crying woman.
I could see that he was capable of handling Palestinian demonstrators, rebels, stabbers, terrorists. He could handle bombs, dynamite, tanks, fighter planes and submarines. He was trained to handle them all.
BUT NOT A CRYING WOMAN.
NOT A WOMAN FREAKING OUT.
Ada babak-babak lain yang menggelikan hati, antara yang saya suka adalah bab 'A Shopping Spree in Anticipation of Saddam’s Scud Missiles'. Tidak kurang juga babak yang menyentuh hati saya seperti bab 'Diala’s First Encounter', 'Farewall, Jad' dan 'A Lioness’s Perspective'.
Buku ini pada saya dimulakan dengan senyuman tetapi di pengakhirannya, saya rasa seperti ada sesuatu yang menggugah jiwa saya, yang menyesakkan dada saya. Ia ditulis dalam bahasa yang sangat mudah, saya sendiri tidak sabar menyudahkannya. Dan ketika di noktah terakhir, saya berharap Suad menulis lebih panjang lagi. Saya rasa memoir Suad ini terlalu pendek dan tidak cukup bagi saya untuk mengetahui pengalaman hidupnya di Palestina.
Markah: 4.5/5
Buku ini adalah memoir Suad Amiry semenjak 1981 sehingga 2003 (buku ini diterbitkan pada tahun 2004). Dan Suad menceritakan pengalamannya itu dengan cara yang menarik dan kelakar yang menyebabkan saya tersenyum sendiri dan ada kalanya tertawa kecil. Tapi lepas itu sendiri rasa berdosa; sebab yang buat ia kelakar adalah cara pengolahan Suad. Cuba kau try test duduk di Palestina sana, kelakar ke tak kena harass dengan tentera Israel hari-hari?
Saya petik tulisan Suad yang saya rasa menarik; semasa dia menerjah bilik Kapten Yossi dari “Civil Administration”.
Taken completely by surprise, Captain Yossi stood up, and so did his Palestinian visitor.
‘What is it, Suad? Can you wait outside until I am done with my guest?’
‘No more waiting. I have waited for seven years.’
It must have been the vicious expression on my face that made the Palestinian man withdraw from Captain Yossi’s office immediately. As he carefully closed the door behind him, I could see the secretary’s head leaning forward to offer him help. “Get me a cup of coffee and a cigarette,” I ordered Captain Yossi as I sat down cross-legged on the chair next to his desk.
Not knowing what to do with this reversal in our relationship, Captain Yossi went out and a few minutes later, he came back with a Marlboro cigarette and a cup of muddy Israeli army coffee. I’ve been told the army has not time to boil the coffee and the water together, so they just pour warm water over the coffee grains and drink mud. Of course they have no time, as they are harassing us twenty-four hours a day. If they stopped harassing us, they might end up with a better life and a good cup of coffee rather than mud.
Look at the Italians, the Turks and the French, they all have good coffee, now that they have realized it’s possible to have a good life without occupying others.
Juga ini:
Yossi stood still, like all men, he didn’t know what to do with a crying woman.
I could see that he was capable of handling Palestinian demonstrators, rebels, stabbers, terrorists. He could handle bombs, dynamite, tanks, fighter planes and submarines. He was trained to handle them all.
BUT NOT A CRYING WOMAN.
NOT A WOMAN FREAKING OUT.
Ada babak-babak lain yang menggelikan hati, antara yang saya suka adalah bab 'A Shopping Spree in Anticipation of Saddam’s Scud Missiles'. Tidak kurang juga babak yang menyentuh hati saya seperti bab 'Diala’s First Encounter', 'Farewall, Jad' dan 'A Lioness’s Perspective'.
Buku ini pada saya dimulakan dengan senyuman tetapi di pengakhirannya, saya rasa seperti ada sesuatu yang menggugah jiwa saya, yang menyesakkan dada saya. Ia ditulis dalam bahasa yang sangat mudah, saya sendiri tidak sabar menyudahkannya. Dan ketika di noktah terakhir, saya berharap Suad menulis lebih panjang lagi. Saya rasa memoir Suad ini terlalu pendek dan tidak cukup bagi saya untuk mengetahui pengalaman hidupnya di Palestina.
Markah: 4.5/5
Loved it, loved it, loved it. It just sucks that the stories she tells actually happened.
A psychologist once told me that sharing funny anecdotes about things that were pretty upsetting at the time is how we reshape our memories: to make them bearable, to remind ourselves of our own resiliance; to bring our problems to our friends and feel connected with them. In other words, we can laugh and give ourselves strength and still talk about the hard stuff.
This is completely on display in this short, funny vignettes into life under occupation. You can tell Amiry has written this to tell anyone anything - she wrote it for herself, to reshape the experience by celebrating the absurdity of it all, and sharing that with her friends, and building collective strength.
Consequently, it is a short and scattered read - there is little context provided, and no real through narrative. It doesn't need it - it is just a pleasure to read, as much for the belly laughs as for the insight and the reminder of the resiliance of the everyday.
It also isn't a book about great tragedies. Rather, it is the infuriatingly impossibility of daily life under Israeli occupation on display. The constant harassment, inability to get to work or go shopping or get a pet vaccinated. I'm heartened by the fact that several schools have it as required reading, because this insight is as enlightening for why Palestine matters as all the statistics in the world.
Also, it's like the fastest read ever!
This is completely on display in this short, funny vignettes into life under occupation. You can tell Amiry has written this to tell anyone anything - she wrote it for herself, to reshape the experience by celebrating the absurdity of it all, and sharing that with her friends, and building collective strength.
Consequently, it is a short and scattered read - there is little context provided, and no real through narrative. It doesn't need it - it is just a pleasure to read, as much for the belly laughs as for the insight and the reminder of the resiliance of the everyday.
It also isn't a book about great tragedies. Rather, it is the infuriatingly impossibility of daily life under Israeli occupation on display. The constant harassment, inability to get to work or go shopping or get a pet vaccinated. I'm heartened by the fact that several schools have it as required reading, because this insight is as enlightening for why Palestine matters as all the statistics in the world.
Also, it's like the fastest read ever!
funny
Funny. Endearing. But sometimes it seems the writter has the emotional maturity of a four-year-old.