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Sadness is a White Bird by Moriel Rothman-Zecher tries to tackle the Israel/Palestine relationship from different perspective
book’s most impressive part comes as a first-person account of Mr. Rabin’s second term as the Israeli Prime Minister
The author writes about how harems worked, the occupants and the politics of them.
The author Michael Oren does a fine job observing neutrality on the Middle East throughout the book, especially on contentious issues, quoting policy makers
When Madame Bovary was serialized in a newspaper, the French government sued the author and publisher on charges of immorality. The government lost.
Mr. Lavie lived among the Egyptians and writes about the warm, wonderful individuals he met. The author also writes about Egyptian society, the difficult life and analyzes the economy and the mess that Egypt got itself into and the difficulties the country faces in the future getting out of them.
The start of the buildup of the Gulf War (1990) is where the book takes off to relevancy not only when published, but today also since we are still facing some of those issues, as well as many others. General Schwarzkopf was assigned to Central Command not long before Iraq invaded Kuwait, in this book the General states that he prepared his troops for war in the Middle East since, to his estimation, a war in Europe is unlikely. As Bush 41 made it clear that Iraqi aggression will not go unnoticed, General Schwarzkopf realized that he might be at the center of fight.
Article first published as Book Review: Fragments from Iraq by Zsolt T. Stockinger on Blogcritics. “[W]hen Allah created hell, it wasn’t terrible enough, so he made Iraq – and added flies.” Old Arab saying (page 81). About: Fragments from Iraq: Diary of a Navy Trauma Surgeon by Zsolt T. Stockinger is a non-fiction book which recounts the daily life of a trauma surgeon on the front line. The book is in diary format written by the doctor which seems as if he was talking to his wife. 255 pages Publisher: Mcfarland (May 3, 2012) Language: English ISBN-10: 078646951X My rating for Fragments From Iraq – 4 Buy this book in paper format Thoughts: Fragments from Iraq: Diary of a Navy Trauma Surgeon by Zsolt T. Stockinger relates the daily activities this front line trauma surgeon encountered in his base in Iraq. From the boring daily routine, to the military’s “hurry up and wait” mentality and to the serious injuries, whether from an IED, to local babies, self inflicted wounds and more. The diary is written in an informal style, but it seemed to me that it was edited and maybe sanitized to make it more palatable to a larger audience. Personally I see…
About: Late for Tea at the Deer Palace : The Lost Dreams of My Iraqi Family by Tamara Chalabi is a book which was hard to classify. Part history, part cultural, part fictional and non-fictional family saga and all about a bygone era. The publisher is giving away one copy of this book— enter at the end of the post. 448 pages Publisher: Harper (January 18, 2011) Language: English ISBN-10: 0061240397 My rating for Late for Tea at the Deer Palace – 5 Great price on this book in paper format through the Man of la Book Affiliate Account More books by Tamara Chalabi Thoughts: I believe that Late for Tea at the Deer Palace by Tamara Chalabi is the first book I read because I have heard of the author’s father. I recognize Ahmad Chalabi’s name from years of living in the Middle East as well as his temporary high profile during The Gulf War where he was accused of many things, including being a triple agent giving faulty intelligence. However, the story of Ahmad Chalabis rise and fall is the least interesting part in this fascinating book. The first feeling that struck me while reading this book is jealousy. If ever I’d write a…
Article first published as Book Review: The Ruins of Us by Keija Parssinen on Blogcritics. About: The Ruins of Us by Keija Parssinen is a fictional book set in Saudi Arabia. The book is a character study of marriage in the midst of a culture clash. The publisher is giving away one copy of this book— enter at the end of the post. 352 pages Publisher: Harper Perennial; Original edition ISBN: 0062064487 My rating for The Ruins of Us – 4 Great price on this book in paper or electronic format through the Man of la Book Affiliate Account Thoughts: The Ruins of Us by Keija Parssinen (website | Facebook | Twitter) starts off slow but picks up towards the end. The protagonist, Rosalie, finds out that her loving husband has hidden a second wife from her, but Rosalie is a Texas girl. The interesting part, for me, is the descriptions of a part of the world which, unfortunately, I will most likely never get to visit and that of a foreign culture. The descriptions of the beautiful and not-so-beautiful parts of Saudi Arabia were wonderfully written and the cultural issues expatriates have to deal with were fascinating. The characters were engaging and some even likeable, but I felt that the story…
