As much as I hate to say this about any book, this is a book that really need not have been written. Or, at the very least, not written in its current form.
Issam Jameel is an Iraqi who left for Jordan in 1994, having incurred the displeasure of Saddam Hussein's regime because of his role with one of the opposition groups. He moved to Australia in 2002, and returned to Iraq in 2005 to visit his family. The book is an account of his experiences in Iraq over a span of approximately two months, concentrating largely on his interactions with his family and efforts to sell the home he had formerly built while living in Kirkuk as a recent college graduate.
Unfortunately, very little of consequence occurs over the course of his sojourn, and Mr. Jameel fails to engage the reader in any significant way. The book could be likened to any blog picked at random from the myriad choices online: of possible interest to those who know the author and participate in the events recounted therein, but otherwise of little literary merit. The best I can say is that this book may someday fill a niche that has yet to be created, although I remain doubtful that it could do so without substantial modification and rewriting.
Those readers who have little experience with developing countries where corruption is pervasive and technology limited may be enlightened by some of what Mr. Jameel describes. However, for the reader who is already familiar with the challenges posed in the developing world, Mr. Jameel's book has little else to offer.
Compounding the problem for the reader is the fact that Mr. Jameel is not a native speaker of English, and appears to have been ill-served by his editors. While his flowery, roundabout style is perfectly characteristic of Arabic writing, and perhaps reflects his earlier career as a playwright and thespian, the book suffers greatly by not recognizing the differing sensibilities of a target audience outside of the Arab world. The author and editors also failed in allowing the reader to be distracted by transliteration issues. While there is no one authoritative way to transliterate Arabic into English, there are a few different standards used by the Encyclopedia of Islam and various academic journals about the Middle East. It is not clear whether the author attempted to use one of these systems, or chose to rely entirely instead on transcribing with Roman characters the way he would pronounce the words in Iraqi colloquial Arabic (which is different from Modern Standard), because very frequently the same Arabic word will be transliterated two different ways *within the same paragraph.* At the outset this is merely distracting, but by the end it becomes actively annoying.
On several other occasions, awkward syntax is employed which reflects the underlying Arabic thinking. ("She had married my cousin, whom I'd phoned *him* already from Amman, and he advised me to call him as soon as I arrived in Baghdad.") The repetition of the object pronoun is obligatory in standard Arabic, but unnecessary (and distracting) in English. As unengaging as Mr. Jameel's story is, he could ill afford to have his editors miss such errors, which only served to take the reader out of the flow of the narrative.
(One Star)
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2 comments:
I think that the article demonstrates a prejudice point of view against this book, as I read this book before and found it difficult to put down, I wanted to consume the details he shares with his readers and my understanding in now heightened. Jameel's personal journey helps people in the West to understand the intensity of feelings that are brewing in Iraq. He leaves the country a secular Muslim over 12 years ago and converts to Christianity, as his journey begins. First living in Jordan where it is so dangerous for him as he participates in active anti Sadam radio programming, then to a safer Australia where it is so difficult for an immigrant Iraqi playwright to find employment.
Jameel tells the story of his visit home. Definitely not a holiday but a series of dangerous confrontations daily, exposure to the difficult life of survival in Iraq complicated by the family dynamics of how Islam treats someone who converts to Christianity.
Jameel's report of the events that every resident of Baghdad lives every day helps see the changes that have occurred since the fall of Sadam. Clearly people who were nominal Muslims or in the past regarded a secular Muslims have perceived hidden agendas by America to convert them all to Christianity and this has stirred their feelings of hate and fear.
This story is a modern tragedy of a a society so damaged, distrusting and disturbed by events that they had and still have no control over. The events portrayed make one wonder if in fact the lack of self determination, the abuse of power before and now, have contributed to make the explosive mix that exists today. Sadly it seems that the solution could be determined by more tragedy yet to come.
snowman
Well, Snowman, you certainly are entitled to your opinion regarding the book. I fail to see how my review represents a "prejudice point of view," though. Believe me, I approached the book with high hopes which were, unfortunately, not met.
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