Jonna's review
The Lemon Tree: An Arab, a Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East
by Sandy Tolan
Jonna's review
The Lemon Tree: An Arab, a Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East by Sandy Tolan
Jonna's review
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recommended for: Everyone who is alive
Some of this book was difficult to read, but for very rewarding reasons.
The parts about the history of partition and the events/battles after it were hard to read because they are so different from the narrative I grew up hearing. I found them deeply unsettling and eye-opening.
The detailed historical parts are difficult to read because I always find details about specific battles in specific wars tedious whenever I read history books. However, they help to paint a necessary overall picture, and they're worth getting through to reach a deeper understanding.
What are NOT difficult to read are the parts about Dalia and Bashir. Bashir's family built a house in Ramla before partition and was forced out of it after partition. Dalia's family survived world war II in Bulgaria and came to Israel after the war and was given the house, told the last owners had abandoned it. This true story of how the families meet and interact in each others' lives is breathtaking. I'm so glad Sandy To...more
The parts about the history of partition and the events/battles after it were hard to read because they are so different from the narrative I grew up hearing. I found them deeply unsettling and eye-opening.
The detailed historical parts are difficult to read because I always find details about specific battles in specific wars tedious whenever I read history books. However, they help to paint a necessary overall picture, and they're worth getting through to reach a deeper understanding.
What are NOT difficult to read are the parts about Dalia and Bashir. Bashir's family built a house in Ramla before partition and was forced out of it after partition. Dalia's family survived world war II in Bulgaria and came to Israel after the war and was given the house, told the last owners had abandoned it. This true story of how the families meet and interact in each others' lives is breathtaking. I'm so glad Sandy To...more
