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4.39 AVERAGE
4.39 AVERAGE
I really liked the format of memoir + letters to her son. It was heartbreaking and insightful and enlightening and very difficult to read at times - definitely worth it!
4.5 stars
Not only was this memoir beautifully written, with incredible imagery and meaning behind the words, but it touched on so many themes: Family; stark worldview differences; education; the power of female friendship; and unending courage, to name a few (the author's bravery alone earns this book 5 stars). Overall it was a lesson in exactly how oppressive this environment was for women. My only "complaint" is I wish it were longer, especially as one stretch of several years was covered rather quickly.
Not only was this memoir beautifully written, with incredible imagery and meaning behind the words, but it touched on so many themes: Family; stark worldview differences; education; the power of female friendship; and unending courage, to name a few (the author's bravery alone earns this book 5 stars). Overall it was a lesson in exactly how oppressive this environment was for women. My only "complaint" is I wish it were longer, especially as one stretch of several years was covered rather quickly.
emotional
inspiring
sad
reflective
slow-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
“I heard that they’ve asked you about your mother and that you cried when told your mother is dead. Do not believe them. I haven’t died. I’m living a life of exile in a place that has its own beauty, it’s own laws, and it’s own problems. But to my eternal pain it does not have the most important element of my being, of my soul - it does not have you.”
I hadn’t heard of Homeira Qaderi until I read this book. Her pen flows with beautiful prose, almost too beautiful to be describing harrowing circumstances; with love for a son she’s estranged from at the time of writing this book; and a story about a life lived under numerous occupations, varying forms of oppression and brutality and as is so often the case with political, social and theological forms of oppression, various forms of the patriarchy.
Qaderi has a captivating voice throughout most of the book, and is able to transport you a time and place filled with nostalgia in the vein of Susan Abulhawa and Nawal el Saadawi. You don’t just read this book, you live in it. The anxiety of being caught by the Taliban, the infuriating hopelessness of being resigned to the fate of living almost as captors of one half of the society, the joy in the smallest things, the normalcy of war, the warm tingling of first love - you feel it all and more.
However, towards the end of the book, I felt this magic start to wear off. The ending itself felt cut short and the same tone that I loved in the many chapters before, did not last through to the last few. It felt like the ending was decided and we were rushing to it. As always with personal stories and memoirs, it is hard to criticise this without criticising a life lived. But I wish there was a rounder ending to this journey she took us on, or at least a forecasting to the future.
Having said all this, this was a great book I would recommend to anyone!
I hadn’t heard of Homeira Qaderi until I read this book. Her pen flows with beautiful prose, almost too beautiful to be describing harrowing circumstances; with love for a son she’s estranged from at the time of writing this book; and a story about a life lived under numerous occupations, varying forms of oppression and brutality and as is so often the case with political, social and theological forms of oppression, various forms of the patriarchy.
Qaderi has a captivating voice throughout most of the book, and is able to transport you a time and place filled with nostalgia in the vein of Susan Abulhawa and Nawal el Saadawi. You don’t just read this book, you live in it. The anxiety of being caught by the Taliban, the infuriating hopelessness of being resigned to the fate of living almost as captors of one half of the society, the joy in the smallest things, the normalcy of war, the warm tingling of first love - you feel it all and more.
However, towards the end of the book, I felt this magic start to wear off. The ending itself felt cut short and the same tone that I loved in the many chapters before, did not last through to the last few. It felt like the ending was decided and we were rushing to it. As always with personal stories and memoirs, it is hard to criticise this without criticising a life lived. But I wish there was a rounder ending to this journey she took us on, or at least a forecasting to the future.
Having said all this, this was a great book I would recommend to anyone!
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, War
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
challenging
dark
inspiring
sad
tense
fast-paced
The story of Homeira, her son and life as a woman in Afghanistan. Well done memoir.
"I'm as afraid of being killed as you are," I said. "But I'm even more afraid of getting buried alive for the rest of my life without realizing my dreams."
This book... these stories... these lives. Through my career I have done quite a bit of reading and learning about the lives of people in Afghanistan. Now, through my ignorance and through the resources previously provided, this is only the first time I've read a book from the POV of a woman in Afghanistan and I was stunned.
To see the treatment of a "loud" girl growing up in a community where women are meant to be unseen and unheard. The way her family treated and spoke to her for being who she wanted and doing what she wanted. How the personality of her home city, Herat, changed as the Russian military moved out and the Taliban slid into the position of control. The joy of young girls and boys, who have had joy repressed their entire lives, dancing and interacting freely inside of a makeshift mosque. The utter fear and horror of soldiers walking into your home and claiming you or your sister as theirs and "no" not being an option.
This book has moved me and shown me things that I have never, and will never, fully be able to understand. The pain of the lives of so many who have been raised in a country of never ending war.
"We were like mice, silent and nervous, hiding in the walls from a hungry cat that could pounce on us at any time.
This book... these stories... these lives. Through my career I have done quite a bit of reading and learning about the lives of people in Afghanistan. Now, through my ignorance and through the resources previously provided, this is only the first time I've read a book from the POV of a woman in Afghanistan and I was stunned.
To see the treatment of a "loud" girl growing up in a community where women are meant to be unseen and unheard. The way her family treated and spoke to her for being who she wanted and doing what she wanted. How the personality of her home city, Herat, changed as the Russian military moved out and the Taliban slid into the position of control. The joy of young girls and boys, who have had joy repressed their entire lives, dancing and interacting freely inside of a makeshift mosque. The utter fear and horror of soldiers walking into your home and claiming you or your sister as theirs and "no" not being an option.
This book has moved me and shown me things that I have never, and will never, fully be able to understand. The pain of the lives of so many who have been raised in a country of never ending war.
"We were like mice, silent and nervous, hiding in the walls from a hungry cat that could pounce on us at any time.