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A review by lindsayw
Tears of the Desert: A Memoir of Survival in Darfur by Halima Bashir
4.0
The second half is a lot stronger than the first half. The beginning was quite repetitive, in that it mostly discussed Halima's childhood and schooling, and this involved four or five separate instances wherein she is waiting with baited breath to find out if she passed her exams or not. Given that nearly every time she is at the top of her class, there wasn't a lot of suspense in this.
In the second half, however, Halima's unbelievable bravery and the horrors she endured in Darfur are covered, and suddenly it was much harder to tear myself away from the book. I found that the conflict was portrayed in a very black and white way a lot of the time, but at the same time, I couldn't really be critical, as this was a memoir, and her experiences mean a lot more than my interpretations as far as understanding the conflict goes. Anyway, a very tragic but inspiring read.
In the second half, however, Halima's unbelievable bravery and the horrors she endured in Darfur are covered, and suddenly it was much harder to tear myself away from the book. I found that the conflict was portrayed in a very black and white way a lot of the time, but at the same time, I couldn't really be critical, as this was a memoir, and her experiences mean a lot more than my interpretations as far as understanding the conflict goes. Anyway, a very tragic but inspiring read.