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A review by tasmanian_bibliophile
The Palace of Angels by Mohammed Massoud Morsi
4.0
‘I am looking at the light of the brightest star in the sky.’
We are in the early 21st century, moving from Rafah in Egypt into Palestine. Palestine: divided, isolated, confined by checkpoints and barbed wire. The time of the second Intifada, before the West Bank Wall is built. These three linked novellas: ‘What is Past is Dead’, ‘Twenty Two Years to Life’ and ‘The Palace of Dreams’ take the reader into the hell that is everyday life for so many, into their fight for freedom. It’s confronting.
‘Life in Gaza wasn’t about making decisions because regardless of which decision you ended up making you would be faced with circumstances that you could not predict.’
How can people live with the uncertainty, with bombardment by missiles which comes without warning to kill family or friends? They have no choice: nowhere to go, no sign of hope for a peaceful future. And people without hope are often desperate.
‘We knew our lives counted for nothing next to theirs.’
I found this book difficult to read. Not because of the writing, but because I could not imagine hope. And yet, amongst the dispossession, the sadness, the persecution, the death, there are moments when people triumph.
‘When you confine the human body, the human being finds other ways of feeling free.’
I read about young men dealing in hashish and guns; about a couple trying to start a family; about an Israeli soldier and a Palestinian falling in love. I kept reading, wondering about the luxury of choice, dreams and freedom. The reader joins the characters in this story: drawn in by Mr Morsi’s descriptions of custom, place and smell.
‘Because for men who believe God only loves them it’s easy to kill.’
Some scenes in this novel haunt me. I wanted different outcomes, wanted people to have real choice, with some hope for the future. This is not fiction; this is reality for many.
‘Do not ask us where we are from. Ask us where we wish to go, who we wish to become.’
A difficult, confronting read. Highly recommended.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
We are in the early 21st century, moving from Rafah in Egypt into Palestine. Palestine: divided, isolated, confined by checkpoints and barbed wire. The time of the second Intifada, before the West Bank Wall is built. These three linked novellas: ‘What is Past is Dead’, ‘Twenty Two Years to Life’ and ‘The Palace of Dreams’ take the reader into the hell that is everyday life for so many, into their fight for freedom. It’s confronting.
‘Life in Gaza wasn’t about making decisions because regardless of which decision you ended up making you would be faced with circumstances that you could not predict.’
How can people live with the uncertainty, with bombardment by missiles which comes without warning to kill family or friends? They have no choice: nowhere to go, no sign of hope for a peaceful future. And people without hope are often desperate.
‘We knew our lives counted for nothing next to theirs.’
I found this book difficult to read. Not because of the writing, but because I could not imagine hope. And yet, amongst the dispossession, the sadness, the persecution, the death, there are moments when people triumph.
‘When you confine the human body, the human being finds other ways of feeling free.’
I read about young men dealing in hashish and guns; about a couple trying to start a family; about an Israeli soldier and a Palestinian falling in love. I kept reading, wondering about the luxury of choice, dreams and freedom. The reader joins the characters in this story: drawn in by Mr Morsi’s descriptions of custom, place and smell.
‘Because for men who believe God only loves them it’s easy to kill.’
Some scenes in this novel haunt me. I wanted different outcomes, wanted people to have real choice, with some hope for the future. This is not fiction; this is reality for many.
‘Do not ask us where we are from. Ask us where we wish to go, who we wish to become.’
A difficult, confronting read. Highly recommended.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith