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middle_name_joy 's review for:
Sadness Is a White Bird
by Moriel Rothman-Zecher
There is much to admire in Moriel Rothman-Zecher's debut novel, Sadness Is a White Bird. The title first brought to my mind Emily Dickinson's poem, "Hope Is a Thing with Feathers." Zecher's title comes from a poem, too, by Mahmoud Darwish.
What is immediately evident is the authenticity of setting, language, and social mores of the Middle East. It is no easy feat to capture these things, even if Zecher has roots in the region and traveled 'on location' for research. Foreignness is palpable from page one. I especially enjoyed picking out what little Hebrew and Arabic I could decipher before the translations were given.
Of course, the challenge of the novel comes from the minefield of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Tension between Arabs and Jews extends over geography, religion, politics, friendships, education, and even hitchhiking. For the main character, Jonathan/Yonatan--a teenage American Jew entering the IDF--the lines of family and country loyalty blur when he befriends Arab twins and begins to see the conflict from their side as well.
I applaud Zecher for his attempts to represent both points of view, and I believe that was his intent. To show both sides, not to make a judgement on either. Jonathan was lost within himself from the start, so his exploration and impressionable nature was part of his character. Additional characters stood for other positions on the issue. It was balanced, so to speak.
The ending might be too ambiguous for some, but it was in keeping with the narrative shift in the latter half of the novel. It mirrored the unraveling of Jonathan's belief system.
Finally, I have to mention the stylistic choices Zecher made, particularly toward the end, because using structure for impact--common in poetry, just saying--will always get me on a writing level.
What is immediately evident is the authenticity of setting, language, and social mores of the Middle East. It is no easy feat to capture these things, even if Zecher has roots in the region and traveled 'on location' for research. Foreignness is palpable from page one. I especially enjoyed picking out what little Hebrew and Arabic I could decipher before the translations were given.
Of course, the challenge of the novel comes from the minefield of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Tension between Arabs and Jews extends over geography, religion, politics, friendships, education, and even hitchhiking. For the main character, Jonathan/Yonatan--a teenage American Jew entering the IDF--the lines of family and country loyalty blur when he befriends Arab twins and begins to see the conflict from their side as well.
I applaud Zecher for his attempts to represent both points of view, and I believe that was his intent. To show both sides, not to make a judgement on either. Jonathan was lost within himself from the start, so his exploration and impressionable nature was part of his character. Additional characters stood for other positions on the issue. It was balanced, so to speak.
The ending might be too ambiguous for some, but it was in keeping with the narrative shift in the latter half of the novel. It mirrored the unraveling of Jonathan's belief system.
Finally, I have to mention the stylistic choices Zecher made, particularly toward the end, because using structure for impact--common in poetry, just saying--will always get me on a writing level.