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alongapath 's review for:
Sadness Is a White Bird
by Moriel Rothman-Zecher
This book has been staring at me from the bookshelf for months. I bought it because it was so highly rated but unavailable in my tiny library system. But knowing that the topic was going to be heavy on religion (not my cuppa) and debating the 'ownership' of Palestine (also not my cuppa), I let it collect dust until now.
There is no doubt that the writing is lovely - gorgeous descriptions that set you right in the center of a beautiful friendship or feeling the animalistic passion of young love or even the deep-seated fear of being stranded on a highway in enemy territory, not knowing if you will die when the next car stops. Rothman-Zecher's gift lies in painting emotion right into a scene.
Rothman-Zecher also captures the teenaged angst, passion and impatience with all things political. Jonathan feels enormous pressure from peers, his grandfather and the Jewish culture to play his part in defending the Israeli nation. He has always dreamed of being called up to the IDF so that he can fight for Israel and his family's honour.
At 18 years old, Jonathan befriends a set of Palestinian twins. As this triad grow close and then inseparable, Jonathan is introduced to unfamiliar perspectives and he is forced to question all that he has been taught. These friends are not his enemies - or are they? They all love the same things but they are at an age where they must choose between following their cultural roots or walking away from it all.
I found the first half to be very slow. The plot and the action pick up around halfway, when Jonathon follows his Jewish roots to Greece. Here, while indulging his anger at the erasure of Jewish heritage, he finally sees that the displacement of Jews from Greece is essentially the same situation as Palestinian displacement in Israel.
It took a long time and a lot of backstory to bring us along to that point.
This is a tender topic for many but, as a complete outsider for either side, I think that Rothman-Zender did an excellent job of sharing both perspectives.
There is no doubt that the writing is lovely - gorgeous descriptions that set you right in the center of a beautiful friendship or feeling the animalistic passion of young love or even the deep-seated fear of being stranded on a highway in enemy territory, not knowing if you will die when the next car stops. Rothman-Zecher's gift lies in painting emotion right into a scene.
Rothman-Zecher also captures the teenaged angst, passion and impatience with all things political. Jonathan feels enormous pressure from peers, his grandfather and the Jewish culture to play his part in defending the Israeli nation. He has always dreamed of being called up to the IDF so that he can fight for Israel and his family's honour.
At 18 years old, Jonathan befriends a set of Palestinian twins. As this triad grow close and then inseparable, Jonathan is introduced to unfamiliar perspectives and he is forced to question all that he has been taught. These friends are not his enemies - or are they? They all love the same things but they are at an age where they must choose between following their cultural roots or walking away from it all.
I found the first half to be very slow. The plot and the action pick up around halfway, when Jonathon follows his Jewish roots to Greece. Here, while indulging his anger at the erasure of Jewish heritage, he finally sees that the displacement of Jews from Greece is essentially the same situation as Palestinian displacement in Israel.
It took a long time and a lot of backstory to bring us along to that point.
This is a tender topic for many but, as a complete outsider for either side, I think that Rothman-Zender did an excellent job of sharing both perspectives.