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The Book of Jonas

by Stephen Dau (Goodreads Author)

3.69 of 5 stars 3.69 · rating details · 747 ratings · 195 reviews

An exceptional debut novel about a young Muslim war orphan whose family is killed in a military operation gone wrong, and the American soldier to whom his fate, and survival, is bound.

Jonas is fifteen when his family is killed during an errant U.S. military operation in an unnamed Muslim country. With the help of an international relief organization, he is sent to America,...more

ebook, 272 pages

Published March 15th 2012 by Blue Rider Press

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Mar 19, 2012 Janet rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, book-club-pick, arc, debut-novels

"What is it like to lose everything?" asked the man, the stranger who was there to help.
And Younis fixed him with his pale green eyes and said, "What is it like not to?"

These are big questions, with no easy answers. They are the questions posed and explored in Stephen Dau's beautifully written debut novel, The Book of Jonas.

The novel opens as Younis, a 15 year old boy, is in the process of being repatriated from his war ravaged country (which is never named) to the United States. It's not clear...more

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Apr 14, 2012 Teresa Lukey rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012-top-10, didn-t-see-that-coming, fiction, made-me-cry, wow, 5-stars, my-absolute-fav-s, current-events, everybody-must-read, must-share-with-friends, own-it, audiobook

The Book of Jonas is the story of a young Muslim boy, named Jonas, who is saved by U.S. troops after his small, remote village was demolished by an American military attack. The town was known to harbor insurgents, but there were also other inhabitants who were most definitely innocent, including young children.

After being hospitalized for injuries incurred during the attack, Jonas consents to live with a foster family in Pittsburgh, PA and attends sessions with psychiatrist in order to work thr...more The Book of Jonas is the story of a young Muslim boy, named Jonas, who is saved by U.S. troops after his small, remote village was demolished by an American military attack. The town was known to harbor insurgents, but there were also other inhabitants who were most definitely innocent, including young children.

After being hospitalized for injuries incurred during the attack, Jonas consents to live with a foster family in Pittsburgh, PA and attends sessions with psychiatrist in order to work through the emotional trauma due to loosing his family and home. From early on we learn that an American soldier, named Christopher, saved Jonas and that Christopher told him a story about a lioness and a baby gazelle while they were "holed-up" in a small cave. This story turns out to be a parable for the entire story within the pages of this book.

As Jonas moves through his day-to-day activities he starts having coping issues regarding Christopher because Christopher turned out to MIA and no one knows what happened to him, except, possibly Jonas. We get small glimpses of Jonas' time with Christopher in the cave and start wondering what happened. Jonas eventually comes to a point where he has to tell what happened in the cave before it eats him alive.

This story is told in a very sparse style, with very short chapters that I would call "snippets", where we get a glimpse that gives us the general idea of what happened, without leaving us in the dark. At this books' completion I, literally, had goosebumps. I could not help but wonder who is the lion and who is the gazelle? Can a gazelle become a lion when necessary? How does a person make amends when they go in to something with the best intentions and it turns out the exact opposite they imagined? I found this to be a very compelling read and I can't help but feel for both Christopher and Jonas. Initially I was unsure if this was a 4 or 5 star read, but considering I cannot stop thinking about it, I know it is 5-stars. This would be a great book club read, for it pushes the boundaries and will create much debate. Highly recommended!(less)

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Mar 29, 2013 Sara rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The lives behind collateral damage

Fifteen-year-old Younis is injured and orphaned when a U.S. military raid gone awry hits his village in an unnamed Muslim country that resembles Afghanistan. With the aid of an international relief organization, he is sent to the U.S., where he is assigned to a well-meaning but rather clueless foster family in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He changes his name to Jonas on the plane: “He suspects this will cause trouble; he does it anyway.”
“The Book of Jonas” (Blue...more The lives behind collateral damage

Fifteen-year-old Younis is injured and orphaned when a U.S. military raid gone awry hits his village in an unnamed Muslim country that resembles Afghanistan. With the aid of an international relief organization, he is sent to the U.S., where he is assigned to a well-meaning but rather clueless foster family in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He changes his name to Jonas on the plane: “He suspects this will cause trouble; he does it anyway.”
“The Book of Jonas” (Blue Rider Press, 2012), Stephen Dau’s debut novel, is a powerful story examining the human costs of war. Younis—now Jonas—attends high school in Pittsburgh. He is a brilliant outcast, finding refuge in the school library, “an oasis of wooden bookshelves and learning.” The target of merciless bullying, Jonas at last snaps and hands one of his tormenters a savage beating. Jonas is sent to a counselor named Paul, who helps him work explore the trauma that destroyed his family and home.
Jonas is awarded a full scholarship to the University of Pittsburgh, where he makes friends and falls in love with a beautiful pre-med student from India. “Where do you go in your mind,” Paul asks Jonas repeatedly. In dreamlike fragments that punctuate the present-day narrative, the story of what happened in the days following the attack unfolds. Jonas’s story is interspersed with that of Christopher Henderson, an idealistic American soldier who found him in a remote mountain cave and nursed him back to health. Christopher’s story is told in excerpts from his diary; one of the entries tells the story of a baby gazelle that was adopted by a lioness—a parable that encapsulates the heart of this novel.
Jonas meets Christopher’s mother Rose, who has dedicated her life to finding her son, now missing in action. As she presses him for answers about the disappearance of her son, Jonas is forced to confront his emotional trauma and the knowledge of what really happened to Christopher. Things begin to disintegrate as he begins to drink, often to the point of blackout. The ending is both heartbreaking and emotionally honest.
The book’s structure recalls a church service or mass, with short chapters within sections titled “Processional, Invocation, Remembrance, Communion, Confession, Atonement, Benediction, Recessional.” And in fact “The Book of Jonas” is a kind of prayer for the survivors of “collateral damage,” soldiers and civilians alike. Recommended for older teens as well as adults, this brilliant and timely novel is a must-read for anyone who wishes to understand the consequences of war.

Sara Latta is a science writer and author of 17 books for children and young adults. You can learn more about her work and link to past reviews at http://www.saralatta.com.

This review originally appeared in the March 17, 2013 issue of The News-Gazette (Champaign-Urbana, Illinois).
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Apr 09, 2012 Lydia rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: writers-i-know, book-pregnant

Sparse and deep, The Book of Jonas illuminates an internal landscape like no other I have ever seen -- the damaged, beautiful mind of a child growing up after his village had been destroyed by US forces in the Middle East. But layered into his story is a penetrating portrayal of the US soldier that saved his life. Dau explodes your preconceptions of "good guys" and "bad guys" by constantly upending expectations and definitions -- in the end, there are just guys: human, flawed, searching. While I...more

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Sep 10, 2012 Louise rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: literature-fiction

Story Description:

Blue Rider Press|March 20, 2012|Hardcover|ISBN: 978-0-399-15845-2

An exceptional debut novel about a young Muslim was orphan whose family is killed in a military operation gone wrong, and the American solider to whom his fate, and survival, is bound. Jonas is fifteen when his family is killed during an errant U.S. military operation in an unnamed Muslim country. With the help of an international relief organization, he is sent to America, where he struggles to assimilate-foster...more Story Description:

Blue Rider Press|March 20, 2012|Hardcover|ISBN: 978-0-399-15845-2

An exceptional debut novel about a young Muslim was orphan whose family is killed in a military operation gone wrong, and the American solider to whom his fate, and survival, is bound. Jonas is fifteen when his family is killed during an errant U.S. military operation in an unnamed Muslim country. With the help of an international relief organization, he is sent to America, where he struggles to assimilate-foster family, school, a first love. Eventually, he tells a court-mandated counselor and therapist about a U.S. solider, Christopher Henderson, responsible for saving his life on the tragic night in question. Christopher’s mother, Rose, has dedicated her life to finding out what really happened to her son, who disappeared after the raid in which Jonas’ village was destroyed. When Jonas meets Rose, a shocking and painful secret gradually surfaces from the past, and builds to a shattering conclusion that haunts longer after the final page.

Told in spare, evocative prose, The Book of Jonas is about memory, about the terrible choices made during war, and about what happens when foreign disaster appears at our own doorstep. It is rare and virtuosic novel from an exciting new writer to watch.

My Review:

Fifteen-year-old, Younis, who changes his name to, Jonas, has lost his family when they are killed during an errant U.S. military operation in an unnamed Middle Eastern country. He is sent to America through an international relief organization. Younis changes his name on the airplane during his flight to America. When the flight attendant hands out landing cards, he borrows a pen and writes the name, Jonas. He plans to tell anyone that asks that the name, Jonas, is a direct translation of his old name although he knows that is not quite true. Other than his name, his only worldly possessions are fifty dollars in cash and a small duffel bag of clothing – not much for a fifteen-year-old to start a new life with in a new country.

The Book of Jonas is a compelling novel that describes the human cost of war and the long-lasting effects on the human mind. Adjusting to his new life in America proves more difficult than Jonas originally thought. Mandated to see a therapist, Jonas begins to explore what happened. He eventually turns to alcohol in order to cope. The book is written as if it were a funeral mass with chapter titles: Processional, Remembrance, Communion, Confession, etc. It was an interesting way to read a story and I didn’t expect the ending at all. For a debut novel this will be a big hit.

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Jul 11, 2012 drey rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012-reads

Jonas – Younis – is a teenager whose life changes irrevocably when his village is blown to smithereens in an attack on insurgents. A call of nature has saved his life, and he runs and hides in the mountains. Unbeknownst to him though, he’s followed by a soldier.

Christopher Henderson knows in his gut that the action his squad has just participated in isn’t right. And instinct has him following the teenager reeling away from the chaos and destruction. What then happens up in the mountains between...more

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May 17, 2012 Laura rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2012

The Book of Jonas by Stephen Dau is the story of 15 year old Younis. His village in an unnamed Muslim, middle eastern country is destroyed under questionable circumstances by American military. Recovering in the hospital he is visited by an interfaith agency who offers him the opportunity to be placed with a family in America, and after some thought he agrees, though he is later not sure why. The book is broken up into 7 parts, titles with religious connotations, Processional, Invocation, Rememb...more The Book of Jonas by Stephen Dau is the story of 15 year old Younis. His village in an unnamed Muslim, middle eastern country is destroyed under questionable circumstances by American military. Recovering in the hospital he is visited by an interfaith agency who offers him the opportunity to be placed with a family in America, and after some thought he agrees, though he is later not sure why. The book is broken up into 7 parts, titles with religious connotations, Processional, Invocation, Remembrance, Communion, Confession, Atonement and Recessional. That, along with the title of the book suggested to me that there would be significant religious overtones throughout the book but there were not. The first section, Invocation tells of his first years in America with a family and I found this part to be unbelievable and frustrating to read. What interfaith family would put this boy with a Christian family and not a Muslim family is beyond me and this family that he lives with has so little invested in Jonas emotionally (he changes his name on the way to America) that I’m not sure why they even signed up for this placement in the first place. The only time the mother reaches out to Jonas is to ask him if he wants to convert to Christianity in a very awkward and implausible scene in the book. After he leaves this family and goes off to college the writing and the story improves. The writing is beautiful at times and other times it came up short, it seemed many times to simply try to hard. Basically the book should have been better edited because I saw a lot of potential in Mr. Dau’s writing but felt it was uneven and the thread of the story underdeveloped. The dialogue faltered and felt clumsy. It often did not seem to fit the character., I thought Jonas carried a haunting sadness and created feelings of sympathy and a desire for him to succeed and find himself and his life. I loved how the author described the pivotal moment of Jonas’s decision to come to America and how his life could have followed so many other directions. I wanted to find closure for Jonas at the end and did not, there seemed to be only an ending for Rose, whose character I found one dimensional and weak. Christopher, the American soldier who helps Jonas in the beginning of the story is an interesting character but a bit hollow. I came away wanting to know more about what made him tick.
I hope that Stephen Dau will write again soon and give us more of his well crafted story telling and less of the parts that did not succeed here. Two stars for The Book of Jonas.
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Apr 27, 2012 Diane rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audio-books-read

The Book of Jonas, is an often painful story, about the trauma left behind in the aftermath of war. The war, presumed to the Iraq war, is subject of this debut novel.

Younis, is a teenage Muslim boy who survives, when his village is destroyed, and his family killed in a military operation that did not go as planned. An orphan, he is sent to the US (Pittsburgh) to live with an American family, and his name is changed to Jonas. He's very very smart, but finding it hard to adjust to his new life. S...more

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Apr 22, 2012 Sadie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, books-i-own

"...how quickly everything changes, whether because of a decision you make or the decisions made by others, or just because of chance, and in a moment the entire path of your life, everything you knew and everything you will ever know, is altered" (102"

The Book of Jonas is Stephen Dau's debut novel a powerful story of a young boy who survives an American military attack on his village in an unnamed Muslim country.

The man character Jonas, is rescued and eventually comes to the United States as a...more

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Apr 16, 2012 Constance rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The writing in this book is good and really appealed to me. But the book went on, and that was kind of all there was to it. The story traced only the barest outline of what it is like to be a refugee in America and a solider in the Middle East, respectively, and didn’t really have anything new to say about either. That’s fine, but then the book never really explores the characters in a meaningful or interesting way either. It read more like an artful recording of events rather than a compelling...more

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Mar 30, 2012 Kathleen Hagen added it · review of another edition

The Book of Jonas, by Stephen Dau, a-minus, Narrated by Simon Vance, Produced by Tantor Audio, Downloaded from audible.com.

Jonas is 15 when he survives the massacre of his village, including his entire family. He is offered the opportunity to come to the U.S. by the Friends Society. Here he proves to be very intelligent and gets a good scholarship for college. But the terror and post traumatic stress of the village massacre does not leave him, and because he won’t deal with exploring what really...more

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Feb 11, 2012 Jackie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: work-review-related-reading

This is a debut novel about a Muslim boy (in a never named foreign country), orphaned by an American military operation gone terribly wrong, and his new life in America thanks to an international relief organization. It is the story of Younis (who Americanized himself to Jonas during the air flight over), and how he is trying to adjust to life in Pittsburgh and his very Christian foster family. This is easier said than done, of course, and Dau takes us through Jonas' turmoils, the real time host...more

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Nov 08, 2012 Michael Jenkins rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Jonas is only at the tender age of fifteen, when his family is killed during a U.S military operation. After that tragic event took place, he is sent to America where he struggles to adopt to his new foster family, high school and religion. It is hard to take them seriously, when one frequently greets him and appreciating his thick accent that they have taken a liking too. Also he is being introduced to Christianity,and other forms of religion, something that he refuses to practice because of ho...more

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Oct 07, 2012 Michele Weiner rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Book of Jonas is about the cost of war, and the fact that it is shared by the soldiers who must fight as well as the children who must die. Jonas (his American name) is a Muslim teenager caught in an American raid against his village. His father has prepared him for trouble by showing him how to find a cave in the mountains, instructing him that if anything were to happen, he must go there immediately and wait for family members to find him. Only his family is dead. Jonas is rescued from the...more

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Sep 19, 2012 Mokamonkey rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: adult-books, adult-books-for-teens

15 y.o. Jonas survives the bombing of his village in an unnamed middle eastern country by running and hidding in a nearby cave. And with the help of an American soldier who has followed him. Now a refugee in the U.S. he starts to make a life for himself, but is hindered by memories of these events and of the fate of the soldier.

Definitely 5 star writing here. The writer conveys the grief, the pain of surviving, and the guilt of this troubled young man through repetitive text, replayed and revis...more

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Apr 11, 2012 Marialyce rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: april-2012

Oh, this was such a good book! I think the easy text was a wonderful contrast to the very emotional, thought provoking intent of the novel. It defined so much in what one experiences due to the ravages of war and how it leaves the human psyche often bereft of feelings.

The protagonist, a young man amidst the chaos and destruction of war, becomes a symbol of what life can become if you are subjected to war's odious effect. The young man, Jonas, a muslim, witnesses the destruction of his family and...more

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Jun 01, 2012 Derek rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The extremely short chapters of the book, especially combined with the fact that every new chapter jumps to a different character at the focus, results in a dream-like quality to the book. Given that the themes are dealing with trauma, the inconsistent nature of memory, the difficulty of readjusting, and how trauma can affect people in different ways, this method of storytelling was surprisingly effective.

That also makes it hard to really know the characters, but the characters have a hard time...more

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Sep 12, 2012 Maggie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was looking at a display of books for sale, reading the back cover of "The Book of Jonas" when the author happened to walk by.

He stopped and said, "Great book."

I recognized him as the author and said, "Really? I heard the author is kind of pretentious."

"Oh no," he replied. "He's nice and charming and I bet he would even sign your book. And then you could sell it on eBay for a lot of money."

So I bought the book because Stephen Dau was nice, even though the description of this novel didn't cap...more

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Jul 05, 2012 John rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What is it like to lose everything?

“It must be difficult,” said the man, whose face was serene, “to wake up one morning and see that life as you know it has ended, that so much has been destroyed.” …

And Younis (Jonas) fixed him with his pale green eyes and said, “What is it like not to?”

And so this is how The Book of Jonas begins. Younis (who eventually renames himself Jonas) is 15 years old living in an unnamed Middle Eastern country when his village is destroyed by US troops in what appears t...more

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Apr 09, 2012 Laurie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: my-favorites, ebooks

This is one of the best books i have read in a long time which so accurately depicts the effects of war from both sides as well as its effect on those at home. It involves a young teenager, Jonas, whos life is forever effected when the village he lives in and his family are destroyed by an american military operation. It is also the story of a soldier, Christopher, who goes missing during this operation and his mothers struggle at home to understand the truth. The paths of Jonas and Christopher...more

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Apr 15, 2012 Larry Hoffer rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a tremendously powerful and affecting book about the human cost of war, and the long-lasting effects of decisions made in the heat of the moment. Fifteen-year-old Jonas' entire family was killed during a U.S. military operation in an unnamed Muslim country. An international relief organization sends him to America, where he does his best to blend in as he finishes high school, deals with bullies, enters college, and falls in love for the first time. Yet he is haunted by his memories of w...more

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Sep 04, 2012 Alice Heiserman rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a moving story of Yonis from an unnamed country where US soldiers were fighting who was asked to come to the U.S. We gradually learn about him and his understanding of what happened just before he came to the United States and became Jonas a change that involved not only his name but his way of life, his past including his family and religion. We learn about how he adapted to American culture, and how his amnesia prevented him from understanding what happened until it all became clear to...more

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Mar 12, 2013 Jessica rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: first-reads, middle-east

I've seen many other reviews qualify this work as important, as transcendent, as an inner look at war from both sides of the coin. I can definitely see how other people think this, but can I classify the book as such if it didn't speak to me personally? For me, books about war are important because of the people in them, but I never felt connected to Jonas. This may have been in part because of the fragmented, postmodern style of narration, which for me is almost always jarring and irritating.

We...more

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Jul 19, 2012 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really enjoyed this sad and thoughtful novel about the aftermath of war. The characters were fairly well developed, and the structure of the novel allowed for multiple narrators (one via the journal that he left behind), and thus allowed for both insight both of the feelings of the young Muslim narrator and the American soldier who had fought in an unidentified Central Asian country

I found the division into religious-themed chapters (Processional, Invocation, Remembrance, Communion, Confessio...more

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Oct 29, 2012 Beatnik Mary rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

http://www.cozylittlebookjournal.com/...

The Book of Jonas is the sort of book that makes me wish review sites used two different rating systems, like figure skating: one for technical merit and one for artistic impression. There are just some books that I try and try and try to like but I just can't. I know that it's not because the author is a bad writer, or because the story isn't intrinsically interesting or even well crafted. It's sometimes just a matter of personal taste. Sometimes it's tha...more http://www.cozylittlebookjournal.com/...

The Book of Jonas is the sort of book that makes me wish review sites used two different rating systems, like figure skating: one for technical merit and one for artistic impression. There are just some books that I try and try and try to like but I just can't. I know that it's not because the author is a bad writer, or because the story isn't intrinsically interesting or even well crafted. It's sometimes just a matter of personal taste. Sometimes it's that I dislike the genre. Other times it's that I could not find myself making enough of an emotional connection to the characters to care about what happens to them. This was one of those times.

I started off listening to the audiobook, read by Simon Vance. I love Simon Vance's work and will listen to just about anything he reads. He's got a delightful--and VERY British--voice and I've been a huge fan ever since I heard his audio narration of The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher, by Kate Summerscale. This time, though, I couldn't seem to get into the story, no matter how many times I tried listening to it. So I figured I'd better read the print edition first and come back to the audiobook (I received the audiobook free from Tantor Media, so I was still planning to review it, even if I read the print edition first). I got the book out from the library and dove in. It didn't help.

It isn't that the story is dull. A young man named Younis (later Jonas) moves to the United States after his Middle Eastern village is destroyed by an American military strike yet he miraculously survives. Once in the U.S. he struggles to come to terms with his past and eventually encounters the mother of the soldier he claims saved his life. But the truth is more complicated than he first admitted. Sounds good, right?

Nearly every review that I've read praises the book's "sparse" prose (that's the adjective that's used over and over) but I just found it a little cold and disconnected. I simply couldn't connect to Jonas or believe that he was a real person, no matter how engaging his story was. I just couldn't get myself to care.

As I was reading the book I tried going back to the audiobook to see if I would like it more once I knew more of the story. I guess I would say I liked it technically, but not artistically. It's competently narrated (as is everything by Simon Vance) but this book--audio or text--just didn't appeal to me personally.

If I were to rate it out of five (or should it be six, following the lead of figure skating?) I would say it gets a 4 for technical merit, but only a 2 for artistic impression.

Disclaimer: I received a digital copy of this audiobook free from Edelweiss (and Tantor Media). I was asked to write an honest review, though not necessarily a favourable one. The opinions expressed are strictly my own.
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Jun 24, 2012 Currer rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: war-iraq-afghanistan

I would absolutely recommend this, but mostly if you have an interest in books about PTSD and dissociation, which it's quite good on. The distance extends a bit to the writing, which tends, like the characters, to view things from a distance--lots of descriptions of scenes as if they were photographs, and lots of descriptions of actual photographs--after I while I started to miss the other four senses. But it's a disturbing story, and the main character, who is spiky and wayward even before the...more

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Sep 02, 2012 Nicolemauerman rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I loved the beginning of this book. I really couldn’t put it down. It starts with the story of Younis who lives in an unnamed Middle Eastern country. His family is killed by a U.S. attack, but Younis is saved by an American soldier and later comes to the U.S. as a refuge, adopting the name Jonas. The book examines Jonas’ assimulation to his new home and also has flashbacks of his former life. When Jonas is confronted by the mother of the American soldier who saved Jonas and is currently missing...more

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Jun 18, 2012 Lisa Dreesman rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The first novel, and hopefully not the last, by author Stephen Dau, is narrated by Jonas, a 15 year old refugee from a Middle Eastern country whose family was killed in an attack on his village. Rescued by a relief organization, he is placed with a family in Pennsylvania and the story follows Jonas through high school and college. Through conversations with a court-ordered counselor, we eventually learn the truth of the attack, and Jonas's subsequent rescue by a U.S. soldier, Christopher Henders...more

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Sep 01, 2012 Ptreick rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It feels like some kind of sacrilege to rate a book about the war in the Middle East(complete with an orphan whose village is destroyed and an American soldier whose mission goes horribly wrong) with only three stars. And yet -- I can only be honest from my experience as a reader.

Dau's prose is spare, and the entire tale unfolds in tiny, teasing snippets. This should have made for a compelling read, but for me, it just wasn't there. The first third of the story was quite slow, and by the last t...more

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Mar 19, 2012 Keith Johnson rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Anyone

Shelves: won-in-giveaways

First of all, I don't like reviews that describe the book, section by section, so that's not what this review will be. Second, I read this book in one night. This is the first book I've won in the giveaways section. What a great free benefit from Goodreads First Reads. I'm not adept at finding symbolism in works of literature. The Book of Jonas I read for the pure enjoyment of reading. There maybe some underlying theme or message that Dau was trying to get across, but if so, I didn't see it. The...more

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About Stephen Dau

Originally from Western Pennsylvania, Stephen Dau attended the University of Pittsburgh before working in post-war reconstruction in the Balkans and international philanthropy in Washington DC. He subsequently studied creative writing at Johns Hopkins University and received an MFA from the Bennington Writing Seminars. In addition to his debut novel, The Book of Jonas, his work has appeared in The...more

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Quotes from The Book of Jonas

“I don't really remember making a decision. I don't remember thinking to myself, "Yes, I will do this," or, "No, I will not do that." They tell you what to do, and you do it. You don't reflect on it. You don't ponder its meaning. You don't explore its ambiguities or consider its consequences. These burdens are removed from you. In theory.
But you are still human. Eventually, you do reflect on it. The consequences make themselves known. The results of your actions persist. Eventually, you are struck by their meaning. At some point, an accounting is made. Eventually, if you are human, and sane, you examine what you have done.” — 4 people liked it

“The recruiters came and talked with us in school, and I remember it like yesterday. I wasn't interested. I told them I wanted to do something good. I told them I wanted to help people. I told them I couldn't do it, told them I wasn't interested.
But they told me that there was no better way to do good and help people. They told me they helped people all the time. Doing good was what they were about. Plus they were going to pay me. Where else could I get paid for helping people? Plus they would pay for my college. Plus, in addition to helping people, and paying me, and paying for my college, they would teach me a skill. I would be helping people, and seeing the world, and earning money, and having college paid for, and learning a skill that I could use later to earn money and help people.
In the end, it was a pretty easy decision.” — 3 people liked it

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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12788767-the-book-of-jonas?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1318006937l/12788767.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12788767-the-book-of-jonas?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Book of Jonas by Stephen Dau[/url]

The Book of Jonas

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