A review by ecari
The Haj by Leon Uris

2.0

No one should pick up this book expecting anything other than a pro-Israeli treatise told through the eyes of a young Palestinian boy - which feels just like the ploy it is from almost the first chapter. Once that fact is understood, the book can be taken for what it's worth - a novel full of sometimes interesting, though often one-dimensional characters in a complex, at-time rambling story with what seems to be a quite detailed accounting of true historical events. There were rather long "asides" in which I found myself reading almost textbook prose on the political backstabbing of the British, Saudis, Jordanians (barely a nation at this point), Syrians, etc. However, in reviews I read when I was finished, readers blasted Uris for portraying history selectively - not really lying about what happened, but omitting and emphasizing in ways that would further support his ardent beliefs. I also was turned off by the extremely negative representation of Arab culture. Uris did months of research and countless interviews in the region (where he lived for a time as well, I think), and there is no doubt that there is truth in much of his portrayal of customs, beliefs, etc. However, it was telling that the few "good" Arab characters in the book meet with defiant resistance from their own people when proposing ideas of peace and end up miserable, defeated and dead (sorry for the spoiler). I definitely found the "textbook sections" the most interesting parts of the book. I finished wanting to read some nonfiction accounts about this period in history when the powers of the world played political roulette with the fates of two peoples in a near uninhabitable desert with the disastrous results we see today.