A review by smailliweiluj
As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh

emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

While I agree with some criticism about the author's politics, I think this is a very important book. In the author's note Katouh writes that the world focuses on the numbers and politics of Syria, and that this book serves to focus on the emotion and the stories of the individuals. Because of that I think it would be wrong to judge this book simply because I do not agree with the political affiliation. What do I agree with? Surviving. I agree that the people matter far more than the politics. I agree that we need to know their stories and remember that despite global conflict, our lives matter. Nobody should be condemned to torture, murder, and banishment because they were born somewhere that another country wants to claim or exploit. History and politics are very important but we cannot lose sight of the fact that history is defined by the people, not numbers. We must never allow a civilization to be reduced to statistics because in doing so we are condemning them to suffer and forgetting their humanity, while also forgetting our own.
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