You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
rowanandtarot 's review for:
Take What You Can Carry
by Gian Sardar
Honestly, I struggled with the first half of this book, but couldn't stop reading the last half. I turned off the television and laughingly ignored my adult son as he tried to interest me in a video. This novel depicts what life was like for Iraqi Kurds in 1979 - just one point in a centuries long battle for survival and independence. In this book a young American woman goes with her Kurdish boyfriend to Northern Iraq to attend a family wedding. The first part of the book spends a lot of time setting up the relationship and describing their lives in California. The woman, Olivia, is a secretary who hopes to take photos on the trip that will launch her career as a photographer. The boyfriend, Delan, wants to visit his family and homeland for the first time in many years. Later, both will feel guilt for having encouraged the other to make the trip.
The author contrasts the couple's lives in California to the realities of life for Kurds in Northern Iraq. She also contrast the spectacular natural beauty of Northern Iraq with the constant threat of violence from the occupying Iraqi soldiers. We are shown the generosity and resilience of the Kurds as they struggle to survive and maintain their culture and community bonds despite phone tapping, other forms of surveillance, interrogations, violence, and deaths.
The author has us consider being in love (infatuation) opposed to a deeper type of love where you are aware of your partner's faults, weaknesses, and annoying habits and love that person all the more because of them. We also consider the ethics of photojournalism. This can be a difficult call at times. The issue plays out on the media everyday as the power of images captured is weighed against the rights and feelings of the individuals photographed and their loved ones.
I had never read a novel about the Kurdish culture and really enjoyed it. I hope that the author will write more.
The author contrasts the couple's lives in California to the realities of life for Kurds in Northern Iraq. She also contrast the spectacular natural beauty of Northern Iraq with the constant threat of violence from the occupying Iraqi soldiers. We are shown the generosity and resilience of the Kurds as they struggle to survive and maintain their culture and community bonds despite phone tapping, other forms of surveillance, interrogations, violence, and deaths.
The author has us consider being in love (infatuation) opposed to a deeper type of love where you are aware of your partner's faults, weaknesses, and annoying habits and love that person all the more because of them. We also consider the ethics of photojournalism. This can be a difficult call at times. The issue plays out on the media everyday as the power of images captured is weighed against the rights and feelings of the individuals photographed and their loved ones.
I had never read a novel about the Kurdish culture and really enjoyed it. I hope that the author will write more.