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Wild Thorns
Nur wenige Schriftsteller vermitteln einen derart tiefen Einblick in die palästinensische Seele, ihre Nöte, ihre Sorgen.« Stefan Weidner, Kölner Stadtanzeiger
Nach jahrelangem Aufenthalt in den Ölstaaten kehrt Usama in seine Heimat zurück. Schon beim Grenzübertritt wird ihm schmerzlich bewußt: dies ist nicht mehr das Land seiner Kindheit und seiner Sehnsüchte. Bald empfinde...more
Nach jahrelangem Aufenthalt in den Ölstaaten kehrt Usama in seine Heimat zurück. Schon beim Grenzübertritt wird ihm schmerzlich bewußt: dies ist nicht mehr das Land seiner Kindheit und seiner Sehnsüchte. Bald empfinde...more
Paperback, 208 pages
Published
June 17th 2005
by Saqi Books
(first published 1983)
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"Wild Thorns" is about the lives of Palestinians living under the Israeli occupation in the West Bank. This book is definitely one of my personal favorites. Reading it, I was reminded of the way that ordinary people live under occupation in Kashmir, my homeland. So on a personal level, this book definitely resonated with me.
The author presents the clashing and sometimes overlapping views of a number of Palestinians as they respond to the Israeli occupation. The main character, Usama, returns to...more
The author presents the clashing and sometimes overlapping views of a number of Palestinians as they respond to the Israeli occupation. The main character, Usama, returns to...more
You can't exactly enjoy this book because of the subject matter and location, but it gives you a very real glimpse into the lives of ordinary Palestinians during Israeli occupation (sometime in the 80s). The book highlights the frustration of young men who want to fight and resist, versus those who are trying to make a living (mostly by working, in shame, in Israel) and feed their families and for whom the resistance is a secondary, idealistic thing.
At the end of the day the message again is how...more
At the end of the day the message again is how...more
This novel was first published in 1976 and takes place in the occupied West Bank. It was an eye-opener for me. Somehow, I had never quite imagined what it must be like to live in the West Bank; the novel takes us into the life of ordinary Palestinians and the different ways they respond to ("adjust to" is not quite the right word) Israeli occupation. The protagonists are men (which I found at first a bit surprising since Khalifeh is a major Palestinian feminist), but by focusing on male characte...more
I was assigned to read this book for a World Literature class in college and I did not finish it then. The setting is in the disputed territory that is occupied by Israel, but inhabited by Arabs. The time period is late 1970s to early '80s. The characters are Arabs, struggling to live under occupation. Some take jobs inside Israel and are told they betray their nationality. Some join the guerrilla resistance and are jailed, then made to feel ashamed for using violence and for making things more...more
It was difficult to tell whether my problems with this book were based on the translation or the original. There were definitely some striking moments, and I appreciated the repetition of certain phrases that tied the story together. It was really interesting to get a different perspective on life inside Palestine. However, the chapters seemed disjointed and the text was occasionally very dry, but that may be a translation problem. As it is, I can only give three stars.
A good book to read if you want to understand a little of the Palestinian perspective on conflict in the West Bank.
Sep 22, 2008
Janice
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
anyone interested in political struggle and Israel/Palestine
i'm reading it now and just missed my book group to discuss... writing a review is a little more daunting than piping up in a group.
reading this account of Palestinians trying to deal with the early days of the occupation makes me realize i need to learn more about the history of Israel.
it's interesting that the focus is on young men- struggling to find their place in the struggle, and/or to make a living and provide for their families. the author, a Palestinian woman, does introduce interesting...more
reading this account of Palestinians trying to deal with the early days of the occupation makes me realize i need to learn more about the history of Israel.
it's interesting that the focus is on young men- struggling to find their place in the struggle, and/or to make a living and provide for their families. the author, a Palestinian woman, does introduce interesting...more
Not exactly a page turner, but an informative piece of fiction that looks at the Palestinian perspective on occupation in the West Bank and Gaza. Very allegorical.
It' s a good thing this book was short - I don't think I could have taken much more.
Changed how I looked at what was going on in israel.
Very contemplative. Not something I would normally read: I'm reading it for my World Lit class.
Jun 26, 2007
Leilani Clark
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
if you want to learn about Palestine
I read this for my post-colonialism class. Written by an Arab woman, it tells the story of the Israeli occupation of Palestine through the eyes of two cousins, one who believes in violent resistance and one who just believes in surviving day to day. Reading fiction such as these is a great way to understand sometimes complicated and confusing historical events in a human way. I recommend it to anyone looking to understand what the Palestians are going through in the struggle for their land.
While this was a good book, I thought Khalifah could have fleshed out certain characters more thoroughly (particularly Nuwar and Lina.) Khalifah identifies as a feminist writer, and so it was disappointing to see only minimal amounts of the book involve the main female characters, especially since Nuwar's predicament was interesting.
Mar 27, 2013
منى كريم
added it
Perhaps my favorite Palestinian novel
A tough book but an important one, IMHO. Strikingly relevant 32 years after its original publication.
The author describes the struggle of Palestinians under the occupation. The book describes some of the conditions of the occupation, and the central question of an oppressed people: do I survive, even if it means complicity, or do you risk everything and fight? And what happens when you start to see your enemy as made up of human beings?
Written and set in 1970's Palestine after the war and subsequent Israeli occupation of 1967. This painful novel illustrates the frustration, anger, contradictions, and hopelessness of Palestinians in the Occupied Terratories. Important examination of politics versus reality, contradictions, and violence.
Slow, even for such a short novel, but gives an accurate and heart-wrenching look at the lives of Palestinians. Written in the 70s but could have been written today. bookxray.blogspot.com
A fast paced tale of a two cousins on opposite sides of the coin living in Palesine in Israel occupied territory. Do you meet your basic living needs or do you resist working to fight for a larger cause, even though you could die? A good book.
Khalifeh does a wonderful job with keeping the individual in tact while creating a Palestine full of individuals. This is not in my opinion a political book only but a book of life and the choices we make to continue on
A good novel. Khalifeh is pretty explicit with her politics when more subtlety probably would have done just fine, but there's a passion here that makes this flaw excusable, or not even a flaw at all.
Translated from Arabic, if you want to learn about the Palestinian trauma after the loss of the homeland, this narrative will teach you.
This book is a must read if you want to understand the multifacited experiences of people who live in Middle East.
takes place in Palestine and brings up a lot of interesting political topics...
Taught me a lot about the Israel/Palestine conflict.
Read in my Arabic Women Literature class.
Jun 11, 2013
Libby Dror
marked it as to-read
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Sahar Khalifeh (Arabic: سحر خليفة ; also as Sahar Khalifa in French, German, Italian) is a Palestinian writer.
Her works include several novels and essays, translated into several languages, as well as non-fiction writing.
Sahar Khalifeh was awarded the 2006 Naguib Mahfouz literature medal for The Image, the Icon, and the Covenant.
Sahar Khalifeh is the founder of the Women's Affairs Center in Nabl...more
More about Sahar Khalifeh...
Her works include several novels and essays, translated into several languages, as well as non-fiction writing.
Sahar Khalifeh was awarded the 2006 Naguib Mahfouz literature medal for The Image, the Icon, and the Covenant.
Sahar Khalifeh is the founder of the Women's Affairs Center in Nabl...more
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