Reviews tagging 'Genocide'

We Could Have Been Friends, My Father and I: A Palestinian Memoir by Raja Shehadeh

4 reviews

nineinchnails's review

challenging dark informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

this felt like more of a biography of his father than a memoir at some parts and some of the the legal/political language was a little confusing but those are really my only issues with this. this was heartbreaking to read and there was so much history with just this one family. i was surprised to find out just how influential and interesting raja's father was and it was really refreshing to read about the experience of a palestinian christian family. raja is in his 70s at the time of writing, the same age as his father was when he was assassinated, so we get a really long time period covered between the 2 of them. highly recommend to everyone since it's so short but especially to anyone interested in learning more about the occupation!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Colonisation

Moderate: Xenophobia, Police brutality, Death of parent, Murder, War, and Deportation

Minor: Incest and Classism

Ethnic cleansing and False imprisonment

bcope84's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, War, Classism, and Deportation

s_i_d's review

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Genocide, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Death of parent, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

Minor: Torture

adrizeuza's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

This was beautiful and informative in equal measure. The first memoir I read where prose about legal cases can become so evocative and symbolic of a complicated, yet loving father-son relationship, filled with silences and things left unsaid. I found the paradoxical idea that, sometimes, a shared trauma can actually put a gap bewteen two people rather than bring them together fascinating. I also learned so much about the experience Palestinian people have of the geography and landscape of their country - how every hill and tree is a landmark of home, contrasted with the instrumental view of the Israeli state, which has spent the past 70 years bulldozing and cementing everything in their path.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Death of parent, and Colonisation