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A review by jheher
The Wrong End of the Telescope by Rabih Alameddine
3.0
Bookshop Santa Cruz 2022/22 Winter Reading Program selection.
There were so many components of this book that I was hoping would hit harder. Mina, the protagonist, is a trans woman but there’s little direct challenge to her identity, the Syrian refugee crisis should hit me harder but it doesn’t, even Sumaiya’s suffering seems muted. I kept looking for something to hit me.
In that last pages there’s a line “For a few moments they’d think how terrible it was for these refugees. They’d get outraged on social media for ten minutes. But then they’d pour another glass of Chardonnay.” Perhaps with so much suffering I see on TV and online I’ve become numb.
I hope this book impacts others more significantly. It’s a call to compassion and action. I stayed up late and got up early to finish it so I don’t really know why I didn’t like it more. I’ll be thinking about it for some time. Perhaps I’ll end up updating this review…
There were so many components of this book that I was hoping would hit harder. Mina, the protagonist, is a trans woman but there’s little direct challenge to her identity, the Syrian refugee crisis should hit me harder but it doesn’t, even Sumaiya’s suffering seems muted. I kept looking for something to hit me.
In that last pages there’s a line “For a few moments they’d think how terrible it was for these refugees. They’d get outraged on social media for ten minutes. But then they’d pour another glass of Chardonnay.” Perhaps with so much suffering I see on TV and online I’ve become numb.
I hope this book impacts others more significantly. It’s a call to compassion and action. I stayed up late and got up early to finish it so I don’t really know why I didn’t like it more. I’ll be thinking about it for some time. Perhaps I’ll end up updating this review…