Based on diaries and e-mail correspondence that architect Suad Amiry kept from 1981 to 2004, Sharon and My Mother-in-Law evokes the f...
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Oct 31, 2011
Mohammad
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#UPDATE: after reviewing this review, I've found a lot of spelling mistakes in addition to missing words, so please allow me to review it again and fix everything.
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I think that TEDxRamallah was the most interesting and exciting event I've attended in my life. A group of inspiring and great speakers who inspired me a lot but to be more specific, Dr. Munir Fasheh and Suad Amiry were the the most inspiring. I've learned a lot from each 20 minutes of their talks More...
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I think that TEDxRamallah was the most interesting and exciting event I've attended in my life. A group of inspiring and great speakers who inspired me a lot but to be more specific, Dr. Munir Fasheh and Suad Amiry were the the most inspiring. I've learned a lot from each 20 minutes of their talks More...
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Aug 18, 2011
Ghada
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I could really relate to what she said about living illegally in Palestine. the term was always ridiculous to me but unfortunately this is how things work in Palestine. For me, I lived illegally but for different reasons. I got my ID just after Oslo during my first visit to Palestine but my journey started when I decided to live in Ramallah to study at Beir Zait university for my masters. And yes in Palestine u can have an ID and still be considered as illegal resident. I have a Gazan ID which m
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Oct 25, 2009
sinta
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“Senjata Suad Amiry adalah ironi dan ia mengemasnya dengan sangat cerdas dan handal…” Figaro
Sebelumnya saya sempat bertanya-tanya siapa atau apa Figaro yang memberikan endors dengan begitu pasnya terhadap autobiografi ini. Setelah melakukan googling, dan bertemu dengan tante Wiki [liat di http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figaro], saya menemukan beberapa “pengguna” nama ini, mulai dari judul lagu yang dipopulerkan Brotherhood of Man—sapa neh??--nama kerajaan dalam video game Final Fantasy More...
Sebelumnya saya sempat bertanya-tanya siapa atau apa Figaro yang memberikan endors dengan begitu pasnya terhadap autobiografi ini. Setelah melakukan googling, dan bertemu dengan tante Wiki [liat di http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figaro], saya menemukan beberapa “pengguna” nama ini, mulai dari judul lagu yang dipopulerkan Brotherhood of Man—sapa neh??--nama kerajaan dalam video game Final Fantasy More...
May 10, 2011
Diane
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Close-up view of what it's like to live in a state of constant harassment punctuated with periods of anxious boredom and bouts of violence (not to mention curfews). (Makes the DMV, my usual candidate for purgatory-on-earth, seem like a very genteel garden party.) The subtitle says a lot - it's basically a diary, so daily details abound and predominate. And since Ramallah is a difficult place to live, they're more interesting than they might be, altho also much more appalling. I can barely imagin
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May 24, 2011
Saleem
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الترجمة ليست سيئة والكتاب مسلي ذكريات متنكرة تحت إسم رواية، تحكي يوميات الأحداث اليومية تحت الإحتلال في زمنين مختلفين (الانتفاضة الأولى والثانية) محزنة حتى الضحك وكضحكة حتى البكاء، بسيطة اللغة، عبثية النظرة وأنا أعجبتني وسلتني. المشكلة اننا محتاجين مليون كتاب كهذا ليحكي مأساتنا للغرب عسى ان يأتي جيل بعد خمسين سنة يدرك حقيقة ما تعرضنا له من تشويه ودمار من الإسرائيليين (تعرفوا صارت موضة نفرق بين اليهود وإسرائيل وكأن 90% من الشعب اليهودي لا يؤيد موضوع إسرائيل تأييد مطلق!) فحتى العرب أصبحوا ينظروا
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Apr 02, 2008
Elizabeth
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Great humorous (though I did cry multiple times) book on living in Occupied Palestine. Lots of the same heart breaking stories you have always heard-olive groves demolished, people forced to leave their homes in 1948 (the other day at my international ladies' program we had cultural day and a little old lady got up and told in broken English how she fled her home in 1948 and has never been back to Palestine since yet she proudly writes it each week on her name tag as her country), security at a
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Aug 15, 2011
Not quite finished, but loving this. It is a good story of one woman's life in the Occupied Territories. She goes through all of the frustrations and facts about Occupation that other books I've read do, but she does it with a humor that none of the others really taps into. Maybe she and I just have more similar senses of humor- cynical, dry. I also admire how gutsy she is. She expresses her frustration with the Occupation in rather unique ways (as far as I know). I wish I could do what she does
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May 21, 2011
Rasha
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This book has many feelings it is written in a sarcastic way so expect a lot of laugh! It also tells many many stories of the author's life and struggle to get an identity card "Hawiyyeh". The book describes the life of Palestinian intellects (yes they do exist!) and their going struggle and peaceful resistance with the Israeli soldiers. If I can rate this book 10/5 I would have! Needless to say its a MUST read. You will learn some history and get a feel of the current situation in Pal
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Oct 10, 2010
Amanda
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Please read this book! It is what I have been trying to tell everyone about the Palestinian occupation. It is not about the religion it is about the people. The people that want to write, attend concerts, feed their kids, go to work! The Israeli's are wrong in their treatment of the Palestinians. This was a quick read about a women who lives in the West Bank and her experiences.
Jan 08, 2012
Suzanne
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I found it difficult to read this book before bed, as the conditions described are so upsetting. I can't imagine the depth of the frustration Palestinians must feel at the endless and incessant indignities, large and small, visited upon them by the occupiers. This memoir unfolds in Ramallah, in the West Bank, which is, I presume, not as bad as Gaza.
Aug 14, 2011
Nojood
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لا أعلم لم طول الوقت كنت أحس أنها تكتب عن شخص آخر لا عن ذاتها. حتى حين تحدثت عن لحظات الخوف لم احس بأنها كانت تتحدث بخجل عن تراجعها. هل تستطيع الحرب أن تعزلنا حتى عن مشاعرنا. حين قرأت البرغوثي وجدته ينظر ويستشف ويكتب أما هي فكانت فقط تكتب.
استمتعت جدا بقراءة الكتاب ولكن لو كنت كاتبته لما اخترت له هذا الاسم على الرغم من أني لم اشتر الكتاب إلا من أجل اسمه. لم أقول هذا؟ لأني لم أجد حماتها إلا في عدد قليل من الصفحات ولكن شارون كان فعلا مهيمن.
ظلمتِ حماتك يا دكتورة سعاد :) More...
استمتعت جدا بقراءة الكتاب ولكن لو كنت كاتبته لما اخترت له هذا الاسم على الرغم من أني لم اشتر الكتاب إلا من أجل اسمه. لم أقول هذا؟ لأني لم أجد حماتها إلا في عدد قليل من الصفحات ولكن شارون كان فعلا مهيمن.
ظلمتِ حماتك يا دكتورة سعاد :) More...
Jul 19, 2010
Giovanna
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Sharon and My Mother in Law is a fantastic book by a fantastic woman who I had the honour of meeting at a literary festival during the summer.
This is an irreverent, wacky account of the afflicted state of Palestine .
You learn a lot about the daily life of ordinary people in an occupied country.
I would recommend this book to everyone.
This is an irreverent, wacky account of the afflicted state of Palestine .
You learn a lot about the daily life of ordinary people in an occupied country.
I would recommend this book to everyone.
Jun 07, 2007
Jesse
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This one of the five best books I have read on Palestine/Israel and that IS saying a lot. It is also one of the best books I have ever read that was distilled from emails, the kind you send out when you are trapped umder curfews for days at a time. it captures the fabulous senses of humor i saw everywhere in Palestine, which reminded me of the best of Jewish humor. That said, there are particularly painful episodes in this sometimes riotous book. For one thing, the book tells the story of for
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Sep 14, 2011
Wendy
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This book gives an excellent glimpse into life in the Palestinian Territories and living under occupation. Dr. Amiry shares many stories about the myriad ways day-to-day life is made more difficult and/or impossible due to curfews, checkpoints and military action taking place literally in the middle of civilian neighborhoods. There is definitely a strong thread of frustration that runs through this book (and understandably so), yet Dr. Amiry manages to find the humor and joy in life despite th
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Jan 19, 2008
Blaise
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This book was excellent. It's a diary/memoir of a Palestinian woman and what its like to live in occupied territories where you can't even leave your own house if you want to; you have to have permits to travel; they live every day in a war zone.
I feel like every day I hear on the news about the Israelis and the Palenstinians; it's something that has been a part of the news all my life so i think i tend to kind of gloss over it-oh more terrorism, peace processes, israel is doing this, t More...
I feel like every day I hear on the news about the Israelis and the Palenstinians; it's something that has been a part of the news all my life so i think i tend to kind of gloss over it-oh more terrorism, peace processes, israel is doing this, t More...
Dec 14, 2010
W.B.
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This is a great read for anyone remotely interested in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Amiry's wry humor paints a human, feminine, and humorous face on the conflict--it's original. Written in the form of diaries that capture moments in the architect’s life from 1981 to 2004, Amiry takes the reader through a first-hand account of the occupation and the major political events that defined the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict. It's about civil disobedience and the heartache of being illegal in one’s
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Dec 06, 2009
Misha
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I loved this book because the author is hilarious and witty as she describes the dehumanizing stuff of daily life that she deals with as an average Palestinian living in the occupied territories.
Sep 18, 2009
Maha
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raises a lot of political angst that can't easily be disspelled... at the same time, an "easy" and quick read. It's engaging, but as a witness to an impossible life situation.
May 04, 2008
Kerry
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I did like this book, but was a bit disappointed that so much was left out. Although this was just supposed to be a compilation of writings the author had made chronicling her experiences as they happened, I felt it would have been more powerful to "fill in the gaps" a bit and to explain what happened to everyone and where they are now. This approach, however, would make this more of an historical fiction piece instead of it's current non-fiction style. All in all, though, the story wa
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Jun 25, 2011
Ahmad
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she is a genius. she has managed to convey a picture of how horrible the occupation is and managed to make you laugh the entire time.
Jan 07, 2011
Arabvoicesspeak
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Although the occupation is beyond sad, i could not stop ;aughing out loud! Helarious what a mother in law can do. A must read!
Dec 01, 2008
Lindsey
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Interesting stories but very simply written. I never really saw how the "mother in law" deserved a place in the title
May 24, 2011
Maha
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A nice and funny book that explains the simple daily life challenges for a Palestinian professional living in Palestine.
Jul 19, 2008
Sarah Beth
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I was really eager to read this book - I always want to see issues from as many sides as possible, and I'm certainly more familiar with the Israeli side of that conflict.
At first, I felt squeamish reading it but I muscled through because I thought I was feeling thin-skinned when she criticized Israel and Jews. But I had to stop reading (and realized how blindly biased the author is) when she blamed Israel for a child being disrespectful to his mother. Uh...
At first, I felt squeamish reading it but I muscled through because I thought I was feeling thin-skinned when she criticized Israel and Jews. But I had to stop reading (and realized how blindly biased the author is) when she blamed Israel for a child being disrespectful to his mother. Uh...
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Jan 19, 2008
Grace
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this was a really hilarious book that I just remembered reading last year. Some of the humor was inhanced because I know Ramallah and occupation humor Palestinian style and because I was in Ramallah during some of the time this book takes place, but she is a really good writer too and I think it would be funny to others as well and it still gives a really good picture of what it is like to be trapped inside for weeks on end during curfews.
Jun 18, 2011
Ainun Nazrin
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4.5/5 stars
This memoir is so, so interesting I can't wait and have to finish it in two days.
It is simply written. Suad Amiry is damn funny and entertaining and she has me smiling or even chuckling to her stories. But then I feel guilty because I remember that Palestine is in horrible and terrifying situation.
The book left me with knots in my stomach.
I think I probably need to blog a longer review.
This memoir is so, so interesting I can't wait and have to finish it in two days.
It is simply written. Suad Amiry is damn funny and entertaining and she has me smiling or even chuckling to her stories. But then I feel guilty because I remember that Palestine is in horrible and terrifying situation.
The book left me with knots in my stomach.
I think I probably need to blog a longer review.
Jun 26, 2011
Amira
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An excellent book. I recommend it to anyone who wants to know more about the lives of people under occupation. A poignant yet interesting read.
Jan 31, 2008
Emily
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This was an entertaining read for me. Not the typical middle eastern womans point of view but she was really real and quite funny. I will warn however there was some very colorful language and for some reason some mistranslations of arabic mostly of arabic curses. Anyway it was fun to read. Gives a glimpse of daily life under occupation.
Sep 05, 2011
Greg
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Not as great as I thought it would be. After meeting the author I my expectation were really high. There were stories I really enjoyed and I think she does a great job writing vignettes of day to day life in the West Bank. Some things remind me of my own experiences but a lot add and contrast with my own experiences
