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Dreams of Water
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Set during the 1980s civil war in Lebanon, ‘Dreams of Water’ is complusively readable, deceptively simple and overwhelmingly moving.
'If you could tell me just one thing about yourself, what would it be?'
She begins, 'I would say that I once lost a brother.'
As a young man disappears, his family is left wondering, hoping, fearing for what may have become of him. It is only th ...more
'If you could tell me just one thing about yourself, what would it be?'
She begins, 'I would say that I once lost a brother.'
As a young man disappears, his family is left wondering, hoping, fearing for what may have become of him. It is only th ...more
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Paperback
Published
May 1st 2007
by HarperCollins
(first published March 2nd 2007)
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A beautifully written novel that offers a window into the slow and grinding realities of life, love, and loss in the aftermath of war. This is a story about grief and the messy, complex, and unpredictable ways in which it manifests. I appreciated the gradual pace at which the story unfolds, the ways in which it jumps back and forth through time in a poetic rhythm, and the earnestness with which it is written. Jarrar brilliantly compiles a series of simple but perfect moments in the lives of impe
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I have read this book 10 years ago. At the time, i did not like it at all. When i decided to give it a second chance, i understand how much my tastes have changed. I've never felt an immense loss or grieve, but i have been very close to it. This slow paced book explores hope after loss, maybe i will never be able to survive that of a loved one, but there might be a tiny glimmer of hope.
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The book's cover states: "Set in Beiruit during Lebanon's civil war, the book is a story of ordinary people trying to find a way of life in a war-torn city." If this is what the author set out to write, it did not emerge as I read the book.
What I read was the story of a mentally strange (unbalanced) mother, a young woman skirting the realities of life (sending letters attributed to a missing brother)and unable to establish meaningful relationships of any kind - including love or friendship. I h ...more
What I read was the story of a mentally strange (unbalanced) mother, a young woman skirting the realities of life (sending letters attributed to a missing brother)and unable to establish meaningful relationships of any kind - including love or friendship. I h ...more
A beautiful book. Touches many themes - searching for identity, love of family, love of country, grief at loss. Also written in an interesting structure - interwoven story lines in short bursts - verging on stream-of-consciousness at times. It is interesting for me to read books about the Palestinian situation. This is not something which comes up much in western literature.
A great book
A great book
A slow starter, especially as there is no chronological sequence in the beginning. By midway i was enjoying the book more and had a clearer idea of the characters' emotions. A poignant novel with no definitive begining or ending
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I personally found this book boring and very slow-paced. The story is so badly structured and did not achieve it's full potential. This could have been such an amazing book to tell of true life experiences and I'm gutted it wasn't.
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This book gently moved me, a son never returns home during the civil war in 1980's Lebanon and we see the people around that loss move forward altered and fragile.
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Its about a lebanees girl telling her story during the war .. i found it little boring since all was about the details of her life.
A great read...the writer beautifully portrays the threads with which relationships are tied together.
I enjoyed the story placed in the time period more than the writing itself. Fairly well pieced together with some touching sentiments.
Boring.
I didn't rate it 2 stars because it's awful, I rated it 2 stars because it's boring..
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Nada Awar Jarrar was born in Lebanon to an Australian mother and a Lebanese father. She has lived in London, Paris, Sydney and Washington DC and is currently based in Beirut where she lives with her husband and daughter. Her journalism has appeared in the Guardian, The Times, The Sydney Morning Herald and Lebanon's English language newspaper, The Daily Star. Her first novel,
Somewhere, Home
wo
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