The young life of Daoud Hari-his friends call him David-has been one of bravery and mesmerizing adventure. "The Translator" is a suspenseful, harro...
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reviews
Jan 21, 2010
Angie
rated it: 
Let's get the controversial stuff out of the way first, shall we?
I feel that this book panders to soft-hearted Americans. There are numerous times Hari mentions how "good" the American people are. It is not that we aren't or that we are, or that Hari shouldn't be grateful (for, after all, Americans played a large part in saving his life and he now lives here), but this book as a whole doesn't read so much as a "memoir" as a causal glance backward, a highlight of a More...
I feel that this book panders to soft-hearted Americans. There are numerous times Hari mentions how "good" the American people are. It is not that we aren't or that we are, or that Hari shouldn't be grateful (for, after all, Americans played a large part in saving his life and he now lives here), but this book as a whole doesn't read so much as a "memoir" as a causal glance backward, a highlight of a More...
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Sep 01, 2010
Sweetdhee
rated it: 
I've borrowed this book from my office's library.
Although its fun games during the launch, i've sceptically thought that this library will only loaded by some work field reports and thesis from the interns whom have their studies here. Then a few months ago, Perang Eropa III by P.K. Ojong was laying on the desk of someone which then said it was one of the library collection.
Darn!! I straight out went upstairs, to the library and facinated by the lines of fine books in More...
Although its fun games during the launch, i've sceptically thought that this library will only loaded by some work field reports and thesis from the interns whom have their studies here. Then a few months ago, Perang Eropa III by P.K. Ojong was laying on the desk of someone which then said it was one of the library collection.
Darn!! I straight out went upstairs, to the library and facinated by the lines of fine books in More...
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(3 people liked it)
Jun 25, 2008
Jeanette
rated it: 
In late August, 2006, the National Geographic submitted this press release to news organizations: Paul Salopek, who was traveling in Africa to report on the culture and history of the Sahel [a semi-arid region between the Sahara Desert to the north and tropical forests to the south:] for National Geographic magazine, was detained by Sudanese authorities and on Aug. 26 charged with espionage in a North Darfur court in El Fashir, Sudan. National Geographic magazine vigorously protests this accu
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(5 people liked it)
Aug 21, 2008
William
rated it: 
Daoud Hari has written a painful, unglossed but also celebratory novel of the Darfur region of Western Sudan, and with his understated approach, genuine character, and very unexpected humor, reminds us that Darfur was a place well before it was a tragedy.
This approach allows Hari to engage his readers on a personal level: he asks them to consider their response to losing their cities and their children; he reminds them of the simple connecting power of cellular telephones, and the vi More...
This approach allows Hari to engage his readers on a personal level: he asks them to consider their response to losing their cities and their children; he reminds them of the simple connecting power of cellular telephones, and the vi More...
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Feb 11, 2008
Shawnee
rated it:
Daoud Hari is from Darfur and as war came to his village his family encouraged him to fight not with a gun but with his education. With his ability to translate, Daoud worked to help as many journalist and government officials as possible tell the story of what was happening to his people and his country despite the very real threat to his own life. Yet I doubt that any reporter could tell the world the heartbreaking truth of the genocide that has and is occurring in Darfur as eloquently as Daou
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(2 people liked it)
Jul 07, 2008
Kerry
rated it:
This book put a whole new perspective on the position of a translator in a war zone. In particular, the skills and challenges that a native speaker faces dealing with outsiders, international journalists, rebel groups, the army and border crossings.
I really enjoyed this account of one man's experience becoming and serving as a translator in Darfur. His own account of the suffering and impetus for his decisions is really compelling. This is a quick read and insightful without being More...
I really enjoyed this account of one man's experience becoming and serving as a translator in Darfur. His own account of the suffering and impetus for his decisions is really compelling. This is a quick read and insightful without being More...
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Mar 13, 2011
Wisteria
rated it:
A disturbing, suspenseful, emotional success!!!!!! Prepare to stay in your seat when you begin this book. I received my Early Reviewer copy in the mail in the afternoon and couldn t go to bed until I had finished this book. Daoud has written a masterful memoir about his homeland Darfur and what life and death is like in his region of the Sudan. He takes you through his travels as a translator risking his life to get the story out. You feel his pain and suffering as he looses family, frien
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Dec 07, 2008
Megan
rated it:
This is a very interesting book. It is hard for me to give ratings to an autobiography because it is the author's story and life. Daoud was blessed with an education, and knowing English, has helped to spread the word about genocide in his country by taking reporters into his country to interview and witness firsthand the devastation that is taking place. This book is great to explain in simply terms the political situation of Sudan. I learned a lot about the tribes and people in this land.
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Jul 22, 2011
Mark
rated it:
Daoud certainly has many one of a kind experiences to share. And it is highly important that we Westerners see and hear stories like Daoud's. This is a first-hand account of a courageous and noble man who risked his life to ensure that the world would hear about what is going on in Darfur.
I applaud Daoud for what he has done, especially the great task he has accomplished in courageously helping out journalists and giving a voice to his people. He has a great message and is an amazing i More...
I applaud Daoud for what he has done, especially the great task he has accomplished in courageously helping out journalists and giving a voice to his people. He has a great message and is an amazing i More...
Jul 21, 2011
Lisa
rated it:
Daoud Hari is a Zaghawa tribesman born in a village in Darfur, who, at an early age, showed an aptitude for languages. As an adult he lived abroad for a while, but was remanded to Sudan after violating a visa requirement. Shortly after he returns to his village, it is attacked and destroyed by one of the militia groups that terrorized the Darfur regions throughout much of the last decade. Members of Hari’s family are killed and others are separated. Hari decides to join the line of displaced per
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Jun 26, 2011
Jimmy
rated it:
The horrors of Darfur. Why do such things happen? And they have continued to happen throughout my life. The world just can't seem to prevent them.
The scene that was hard to shake out of my mind was when the author and a group of BBC reporters come upon a massacre of over 80 men and boys. They were hacked to death by machetes, so body part are everywhere. The reporters break down and cry. Some have to leave and seek professional help to deal with what they have just found.
Eu More...
The scene that was hard to shake out of my mind was when the author and a group of BBC reporters come upon a massacre of over 80 men and boys. They were hacked to death by machetes, so body part are everywhere. The reporters break down and cry. Some have to leave and seek professional help to deal with what they have just found.
Eu More...
Sep 23, 2010
Marie
rated it:
"The Translator" was chosen this year for the New Student Book Experience at the university where I teach (the University of Maryland Baltimore County). It generated a lot of very interesting discussion among the faculty in the preparation meeting and among the students at the group discussion sessions.
The author, Daoud Hari, is a Sudanese tribesman who worked as a translator for reporters traveling into the Darfur region of Sudan. The book's title refers not just to Daou More...
The author, Daoud Hari, is a Sudanese tribesman who worked as a translator for reporters traveling into the Darfur region of Sudan. The book's title refers not just to Daou More...
Jul 21, 2010
We rarely hear personal stories out of Darfur. We might hear or read brief reports that include a snippet from someone being interviewed, often relayed through a translator. These stories are never an in-depth look at someone who watched his village burned, lived in a refugee camp in Chad, brought journalists over the border into Sudan to report the situation, or captured by the Sudanese government and accused of being a spy. Daoud Hari’s memoir covers all these experiences and makes The Tran
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May 24, 2009
Rebecca
rated it:
A short, simply written and compelling book. Something hard to rate but good for everyone to read. Here is an excerpt:
"It is interesting how many ways there are for people to be hurt and killed, and for villages to be terrorized and burned, and for children to die in deserts, and for young mothers to suffer. I would say that these ways to die and suffer are unspeakable, and yet they were spoken: we interviewed 1,134 human beings over the next weeks; their stories swirled throug More...
"It is interesting how many ways there are for people to be hurt and killed, and for villages to be terrorized and burned, and for children to die in deserts, and for young mothers to suffer. I would say that these ways to die and suffer are unspeakable, and yet they were spoken: we interviewed 1,134 human beings over the next weeks; their stories swirled throug More...
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Apr 25, 2009
Peregrino
rated it:
Impresionante y estremecedor relato del mal. Un mal que no es coyuntural, sino que está en la misma estructura del hombre. Hace poco comentábamos la Guerra de las Galias, donde Julio César relataba con una frialdad que le daba tintes incluso cómicos al relato, las carnicerías cometidas con la excusa de la expansión del Imperio Romano.
Sin embargo, Daoud Hari nos relata el genocidio que se está cometiendo en nuestros días y en nuestro mundo. Asesinatos y violaciones cometidas hoy, con More...
Sin embargo, Daoud Hari nos relata el genocidio que se está cometiendo en nuestros días y en nuestro mundo. Asesinatos y violaciones cometidas hoy, con More...
Oct 05, 2011
Christopher
rated it:
As with many other books discussing attrocities first-hand, this book is told in simple, direct language. The story itself, is, as expected, horrifying, yet Hari displays a surprising ironic wit that made me laugh out loud a few times as I read the book. Maybe I was just desperate for something to smile at, amidst statements like "rape was now the going price of camp firewood."
Hari displays great insight into the nature of those he discusses:
Hari displays great insight into the nature of those he discusses:
The anger that poured out of himMore...
Dec 12, 2009
Doug
rated it:
I listened to the audio book, which is brilliantly read by Mirron Willis. The book conveys in the rawest terms the violence and human tragedy of Darfur. Hari helps us understand the ways of life in Darfur, both before the genocide, when he lived a traditional tribal life with his family, and after, when government troops and their allies lawlessly spread death and destruction and created refugees, living in squalid camps in Chad, of the survivors. This story also demonstrates how difficult it
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Jan 19, 2009
Mike
rated it:
This book is heartbreaking. It's hard to imagine anyone having to endure this kind of suffering. But, of course, that's why this book was written. Daoud Hari wants to help us understand.
I complain when I have a bad day, when I have to wait 6 minutes for the Metro instead of 2, or when a book I want from the library is checked out. But, c'mon, I don't have really bad days. After reading his book you'll see that you probably don't really have bad days either.
I complain when I have a bad day, when I have to wait 6 minutes for the Metro instead of 2, or when a book I want from the library is checked out. But, c'mon, I don't have really bad days. After reading his book you'll see that you probably don't really have bad days either.
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Jan 16, 2011
Amanda
rated it:
My knowledge of Darfur comes from the work that celebrities here in the US have been doing to raise awareness for the genocide underway in the remote part of Sudan. So I picked up this book in order to gain a bit more understanding.
I don't know if comparing these two books makes sense, but when I finished "Highway to Hell," about a mercenary in Iraq, and I finished this book, I discovered a unique perspective in both stories that is overlooked in the general war narrativ More...
I don't know if comparing these two books makes sense, but when I finished "Highway to Hell," about a mercenary in Iraq, and I finished this book, I discovered a unique perspective in both stories that is overlooked in the general war narrativ More...
Oct 18, 2011
Cayley
rated it:
Harrowing is the best word to describe this. It is so matter of fact in many places where I could barely hold back tears reading it. From the telling, this is actually the most heart-breaking part of the Darfur genocide- that girls just assume getting raped on their way to get firewood is a part of life; that it's just normal to have lost half your family in some of the most grotesque ways I can imagine; that brutality and death and destruction are just the way it is. Reading that feels devastat
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Sep 21, 2009
Amy
rated it:
The Translator by Daoud Hari is an immensely important read. Hari relates his experiences as a translator after his village in Darfur is attacked. Although the subject matter is not easy to read, and at times Hari’s English is a bit strained, the book resonates with a sense of hope in humanity. Ready to die any day, at any moment, Hari continues his work despite the threat to his life, with the single hope that when good people hear of the atrocities happening in his home, they will rise up an
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Sep 06, 2011
Jonathan
rated it:
This is an excellent book, and I would like to thank Random House for giving us, and me in particular, the opportunity to read this before publication. I have one criticism. The book is very short and it could have used some more in-depth descriptions of Daoud's life before the war, and more about the work he was doing. I was left wanting more about Daoud's story in particular, he seems to be a fascinating fellow.[return][return]This is an important book, and should be read by everyone, especial
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Mar 24, 2009
MrsKhaje
rated it:
Emotionally, my feelings have ranged from compassion for the Zaghawa to intense rage toward the Janjaweed. I do not hate the Janjaweed, but I am intensely angered by their actions. My heart goes out to these people and the family, friends, and way of life they have lost due to the greed of others.
I'm still reading this book...more of my thoughts to come...
This is an incredible book! Seeing Darfur through the eyes of someone that is from Sudan, someone that understands More...
I'm still reading this book...more of my thoughts to come...
This is an incredible book! Seeing Darfur through the eyes of someone that is from Sudan, someone that understands More...
Jan 18, 2012
Kylie
rated it:
It is a fantastic book for anyone that likes to learn about the african culutre. It shows the adventures that a tribesman goes through just to get reporters into his country to show the world the terrible things that are kept a secret.
This amazing book is about a man named Daoud Hari who grows up in a small town in South Africa named Darfur. He grows up with his family in this town and loves his life but know that times are tough with the wars going on all around them. As he grows up More...
This amazing book is about a man named Daoud Hari who grows up in a small town in South Africa named Darfur. He grows up with his family in this town and loves his life but know that times are tough with the wars going on all around them. As he grows up More...
Jul 30, 2011
This book shows that there are people out there who are willing to risk their lifes to show the world what really goes on in a land where genocide is being carried out.
Mr Daoud Hari is a hero and and man who was willing to get the worlds attention by being a translator who, after escaping the massacre of his village by the genocidal Janjaweed, returned to work with reporters and UN investigators in the riskiest of situations.
If you want a better undestanding of what is going on in Dafur you shou More...
Mr Daoud Hari is a hero and and man who was willing to get the worlds attention by being a translator who, after escaping the massacre of his village by the genocidal Janjaweed, returned to work with reporters and UN investigators in the riskiest of situations.
If you want a better undestanding of what is going on in Dafur you shou More...
Jan 31, 2012
Jennifer
rated it:
A harrowing, heartbreaking story whose impact is sadly lessened by so-so storytelling - There are too many instances in which something happens, and then the narrator instructs the reader to "imagine if this was someone you knew in your town." At some points the book dragged and it was frequently unclear how much time had passed in between events. I in no way blame Daoud Hari for these flaws; after all, he is not a writer. However, two journalists received "as told to" credi
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Jan 25, 2009
Christina
rated it:
Hari’s memoir offers a different peek into the Darfur genocide. He is not a boy solider nor a politician, but simply a tribesmen who translates for journalists. The traditional African culture just seeps through the pages of this memoir. His story, as told to Dennis Michael Burke and Megan M. McKenna, is fairly interesting, but the story is also thinly pieced together, and it the lack of connectivity started to detract from the memoir’s overall story almost from the very beginning. I lost focus
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Oct 17, 2008
Paige
rated it:
A definite MUST-READ. This book totally moved me and motivated me to be a better, more proactive person. I definitely reccommend it to anyone unfamiliar with the conflict in Darfur or anyone at all interested in what is happening NOW in our world.
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Jun 29, 2009
Staci
rated it:
The definition of an "eye opener." I thought I knew the general conflict going on in Darfur, but this informative first hand account told me I only knew the surface of a tragedy. The different stories the "translator" or Daoud Hari tells will invoke different emotions; sad, mad, frustration, and disturbing thoughts. After reading this, you feel like there is nothing YOU can do to help because of the small fraction you are in this world, especially when government and politics
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Jun 10, 2009
Leslie-ann
rated it:
This book has changed my world-view...my life.
I finished the book yesterday. As I was reading, I went upstairs to finish a load of laundry. I noticed that large black stains had emerged on one my nicest white dresses. I became angry and then saddened by my response. Here I was looking at an inconsequential dress and angry at its stains when a moment ago I was reading about one of the world's worst genocides. I started to cry at my own triviality.
This book inspires change wit More...
I finished the book yesterday. As I was reading, I went upstairs to finish a load of laundry. I noticed that large black stains had emerged on one my nicest white dresses. I became angry and then saddened by my response. Here I was looking at an inconsequential dress and angry at its stains when a moment ago I was reading about one of the world's worst genocides. I started to cry at my own triviality.
This book inspires change wit More...
