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An Ishmael of Syria
An Ishmael of Syria | Asaad Almohammad
22 posts | 6 read | 50 to read
Adam is a tortured soul. Exiled from his homeland, forced to watch the horrors unfold from afar. His family, still living - or surviving - in war-torn Syria struggle daily to feed, clothe, and educate their children.Adam tries to be a 'global citizen' and become a part of his new community in Malaysia, but is constantly faced with intolerance, bigotry, and plain old racism. Opportunities are few and Adam finds himself working long hours for poor pay so that he can help his family.The increasingly distressing news bulletins, along with Adam's haunting childhood memories, compel him to examine his own beliefs; in God, in humanity, in himself and his integrity as a reluctant bystander in the worst human catastrophe of the twenty-first century.
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review
shawnmooney
An Ishmael of Syria | Asaad Almohammad
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Mehso-so

An autobiographical novel by a young Syrian atheist in exile during the war. Poor writing, marred by both excessive swearing (which doesn't offend me but betrays a lazy, unconfident attitude towards the writing process) and verbose, jargony academese that made large parts of this virtually unreadable. Still, read as a document coming out of and reflecting the Syrian crisis, much of it was strangely compelling.

saresmoore Hmm, strangely compelling with lazy profanity. Sounds like a description of my favorite music in high school. 🤔 Great review, though—succinct and descriptive. 8y
41 likes1 comment
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shawnmooney
An Ishmael of Syria | Asaad Almohammad
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Şanlıurfa, I have just learned, is a city in south-eastern Turkey.

saresmoore I'll just go and book my next vacation! 8y
shawnmooney @saresmoore Send me a postcard! 💜 8y
27 likes2 comments
review
JacintaMCarter
An Ishmael of Syria | Asaad Almohammad
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Panpan

#2017Book19
The premise of this book is great. The plot, however, is all over the place, jumping into flashbacks randomly and making the story difficult to follow. The main character is far too arrogant and I find it unbelievable that he has any friends because all he does is tell them how stupid they are and lecture them about not being aware of what's happening in the world, even though all of his news comes from videos on Facebook.

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shawnmooney
An Ishmael of Syria | Asaad Almohammad
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I'm not at all sure this is a novel yet, but am I ever loving his badassedness!

Alfoster It is and it's really good! 8y
31 likes1 comment
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shawnmooney
An Ishmael of Syria | Asaad Almohammad
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shawnmooney
An Ishmael of Syria | Asaad Almohammad
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shawnmooney
An Ishmael of Syria | Asaad Almohammad
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28 likes2 stack adds
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shawnmooney
An Ishmael of Syria | Asaad Almohammad
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Yowsa, he has gotten my attention and how!

blurb
Sue
An Ishmael of Syria | Asaad Almohammad

Hey folks, I was fortunate enough to make contact with Asaad Almohammad and he answered some questions for me about his amazing book. Here's the link if you are interested 😊: https://doddyaboutbooks.com/2017/01/14/qa-with-asaad-almohammad-author-of-an-ish...

(P.S. if I have tagged you, it's because you have this book stacked :) )

BookishFeminist That's awesome! Thanks 😀 I still have a copy I need to read from Netgalley and pushed it up after what happened in Aleppo. 8y
Sue @BookishFeminist I'm sure you'll enjoy it/find it utterly heartbreaking. Have the tissues ready. (edited) 8y
Cinfhen Thanks for sharing, the author seems like a solid guy with an important message that needs to be heard. I will definitely get to this book in the nearer future 😊 8y
Cydster61 If memory serves he participated in a conversation on Goodreads for a writers of color book club. 8y
57 likes1 stack add4 comments
review
Sue
An Ishmael of Syria | Asaad Almohammad
Pickpick

Difficult, powerful, heartbreaking. You want to read this book.

Edited to add: This is my first #litsyatoz and #readingaroundtheworld book.

65 likes3 stack adds
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Sue
An Ishmael of Syria | Asaad Almohammad
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Asaad Almohammad opens with some truth bombs.

Alfoster Yes! Often hard to read but I liked it😍! 8y
68 likes2 stack adds1 comment
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Cydster61
An Ishmael of Syria | Asaad Almohammad
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Books/bookish presents. The scarf features text from I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by #MayaAngelou. Happy and Merry Everything, everyone!

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DrJAdMerricksson
Ishmael of Syria | Asaad Almohammad
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BookishFeminist
An Ishmael of Syria | Asaad Almohammad
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Dealing with a bought of insomnia again & woke up to hear the devastating news out of Aleppo. I'm heartbroken & horrified for the people of Syria. Sending love to anyone who may have family/friends there. 💔🕯

If you're like me and resort to books to make sense of the world when it all seems terrible, I urge you to check out some of these books by Syrian authors or about the Syrian War. They are #ownvoices except for one & are all recent. 🇸🇾

See All 18 Comments
Cinfhen Thanks for sharing your list💞 8y
TheLondonBookworm Brilliant list and a beautiful sentiment ❤️ 8y
andreadmw This is great. 8y
Posemn I agree @BookishFeminist this is frightening news. I also try to sort out my fears and questions with books although I am not as courageous as you - just can't start these books right now, but wow, I do appreciate the list. It will give me something to work with when I can get myself geared up.I know that this is ostrich behavior but if I am going to enjoy any part of the holidays I need to do a little "self preservation" reading..cozies I think. 8y
Laura317 The horror of Aleppo - I will definitely check into some of these. @BookishFeminist any in particular you recommend to start with? 8y
Cortg Thanks for the list. I heard about this on NPR doing a school drop off this morning. So sad. 8y
shawnmooney 💜💜💜💜 8y
ChasingOm Thank you for this. 🙏🏻 8y
Theresa I just read about this on The Guardian. Their article included the quote, "Please just tell our stories to the world..." Thank you for doing that with this post! ?? 8y
courtney Thank you for this 😔 8y
bookmagic So heartbreaking. It definitely puts our troubles in perspective 8y
tnociti Thank you! 8y
154 likes16 stack adds18 comments
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Sue
An Ishmael of Syria | Asaad Almohammad
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Here's my #diversereading #litsyatoz . Let me know what you think!

Cinfhen Love your list! I see many books I'd like to read and a few that I have 😍 8y
Marchpane Nice list! I have a few of these in TBR. I'll be interested in what you think of this one: 8y
LeeRHarry Great selection! 😊 8y
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Viji You've obviously put a lot of thought into this list! I'm going to look into some of these that are new to me. 8y
[DELETED] 3323341091 fantastic list! 😊 8y
Sue @Cinfhen @LeeRHarry @fern @melbeautyandbooks Thankyou! @Marchpane I'm looking forward to that one - I do enjoy me some Sam Watson. @Viji 8y
Sue @Viji hit the wrong button!! I've been working on a diverse reading project for next year and I already had a heap of titles, but it wasn't too hard to fill the gaps. I've been following the blog of a Nigerian lady (a Haven for Book Lovers on WordPress) and she has helped me find a heap of great African books and writers. 8y
Sue @BookishMarginalia I should have tagged you initially :) Interested to hear your thoughts. 8y
BookishMarginalia This is a great #abecedarianTBR list -- I recognize some titles from my own TBR but many are new to me! Must investigate these #diversebooks! Thanks! 🙌🏼💜 8y
Sue @BookishMarginalia Thank you 😊💙 8y
Cydster61 This is such a great list! Thanks 8y
Sue @Cydster61 Thank you! I'd be interested to hear your thoughts if you decide to read any of them. 😊 8y
Cydster61 @Sue I have ordered a few from the library and one from Amazon (Christmas gift card burning a hole in my pocket:-) ) so we shall see 8y
Sue @Cydster61 Awesome!!! I've had some success with Abebooks for some of the older/more obscure ones. Our local library system here isn't great unfortunately. 8y
78 likes15 comments
blurb
Sue
An Ishmael of Syria | Asaad Almohammad
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Feeling pretty happy with myself at the moment - I've managed to put together a #diversereading #litsyatoz list for the 2017 challenge, all based on title. 🎉🎉🎉

I will type it up and post it this week (I hope). This is mainly a mix of books from my reading around the world challenge and books by Aboriginal authors with a handful of others thrown in.

@BookishFeminist I apologise that Oreo is on this list. I'm a bad reading buddy.

BookishMarginalia Looking forward to it! 🙌🏼 8y
81 likes1 comment
review
Alfoster
An Ishmael of Syria | Asaad Almohammad
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Pickpick

Adam is a young intellectual raised in Syria and now living in Malaysia where he encounters misogyny, racism, and bigotry while attempting to become a global citizen. While not a fun or easy read--and with a heavy dose of theory--it was a good one for me as I feel very ignorant about the culture and political philosophies surrounding the crisis in Syria. Very educational!

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KrisConstantReader
Ishmael of Syria | Asaad Almohammad
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Pickpick

A very powerful book, I hope a lot of people will read it. 🌟🌟🌟🌟4 Stars

KrisConstantReader Read my full review and add me on Goodreads here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1730537516 8y
61 likes3 stack adds1 comment
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KrisConstantReader
Ishmael of Syria | Asaad Almohammad
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This book is just filled with great lines and passages.

Zelma That is certainly powerful and awful imagery. 😬 8y
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KrisConstantReader
Ishmael of Syria | Asaad Almohammad
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Heavy stuff

Blair_Reads Wow. 👍🏻👍🏻 8y
54 likes1 comment
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KrisConstantReader
Ishmael of Syria | Asaad Almohammad
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blurb
KrisConstantReader
Ishmael of Syria | Asaad Almohammad
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I'm making great headway on my Netgalley pile--I was at 76% (so close!) but then I saw this one in the "read now" section and I just had to get it before it disappears. Oh well, I'm back at 75%. #willgetthereeventually

Laura317 @KrisConstantReader Where do you find your percentage? 8y
KrisConstantReader @Laura317 go to where it says profile and click on it, then you'll see your profile with your name & maybe a photo if you added one. The percentage will be right under "type of reviewer." If you still can't find it let me know. 8y
53 likes3 stack adds2 comments