Welcome to Litsy!

Not a light beach read but a great book. Just a gut punch of truth about how we can look away from atrocities so easily now

A call for compassion and to resist the ongoing dehumanisation practiced by governments and media outlets. 8/10

Holy fuck. Exquisitely sharp writing.
Secondary to what he's saying, of course, the message is most important, but it's of unimaginable benefit to have crucial matters communicated in such a fashion.
There's a skilled interweaving of El Akkad's experiences both growing up and throughout his journalistic career with directly addressing the genocide in Gaza, the murder of Palestinians, 1/?

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“To be accused of speaking too loudly about one injustice but not others by someone who doesn't care about any of them is to be told, simply, to keep quiet.“

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“...any institution that prioritizes cashing the checks over calling out the evil is no longer an arts organization. It's a reputation-laundering firm with a well-read board.“ 💅🏼

I sense much of this book is going to stick with me, this passage in particular. An important question.

“She is made of dreaming.“

This book could not be of more urgent importance. It begs us not to turn away from the horror in Gaza, or the depth of suffering being inflicted on Gaza‘s children. El Akkad reflects on his experiences growing up in Egypt, Qatar, and Canada. Now living in the US, he reflects on his disillusionment and painful coming to terms with the gulf between the values the West purports (fairness, human rights) and reality (government actions/lack of action).

This is the best book I‘ve read this year. It‘s imperfect, heartbreaking, challenging and cutting of every hypocrisy the West has in reference to the war in Gaza. The topic is the killing of innocent people in Gaza, but his points are far ranging and covers more ground than this one war. It‘s superb- as is leaves very few innocent other than the Gaza children.

In this vital condemnation of the genocide in Gaza, El Akkad juxtaposes scenes from that devastated place with moments from his own life as well as the reactions of many in the west, from looking away to applauding the violence. It is not a screed or polemic but a devastating examination of facts. Everyone should read this.

In my latest Friday Reads booktube episode: artisan cheese touring on Vancouver Island; Victoria gardens; and 6 books.

https://youtu.be/B4BlfSUOVi0

#trans authors #OzFiction #kidlit #memoir #Gaza

What are you willing to give up to alleviate someone else‘s suffering? […] the prevailing answer echoing from the mouths of so many of one‘s own neighbours is: Nothing at all.

How does one finish the sentence: “It is unfortunate that tens of thousands of children are dead, but…”

The literary critic Northrop Frye once said all art is metaphor & a metaphor is the grammatical definition of insanity. What art does is meet us at the site of our insanity, our derangement, the plainly irrational mechanics of what it means to be human.

I don‘t write in books- ever. However as I listened to this audio. I kept longing for a physical copy that I could underline in. I thought this was incredible.

I don't buy many hardcovers, but I had a gift card at my local indie store so I nabbed this.

I have so much I want to say about this, but I‘m alternating between rage and grief, so I‘ll settle for this. Part memoir, part history, part journalistic reporting on current events, this is a concise damnation of Western imperialism, particularly the pervasive Islamophobia and unwavering support for genocide. If it doesn‘t make you mad, you aren‘t paying attention. Free Palestine. 🇵🇸

This is our now at your local bookstore, it should be required reading for all Westerners. El Akkad talks about not just Palestine but about many other countries and how the west puts money over people.

Essential reading.

4.5⭐
Essential reading. This is going to upset a lot of people. They need to be upset.
El Akkad New book is part memoir, part political discourse, part Palestinian war criticism. Knowing where he came from is critical of understanding his views on modern day American politics and the war on Palestine.
Release date Feb 25th. I have preordered my copy, I needed to reread the published copy and make a bunch of notes.