Rating: 4/5
Review:
Very good - eventually
I very nearly gave up half way through this book, but I'm
glad I didn’t. The first half is slow,
mannered and rather uninteresting but it does become quite a gripping and
thought-provoking read.
This is really a book about the Israel-Palestine conflict
and how it really affects some individuals involved. It's a complex structure in which three
seemingly unrelated narratives, separated in place and time, intercut with each
other. For almost half the book I found
this unengaging and frankly quite irritating; it seemed to be a lot of style
for its own sake while telling us so little that it didn't make much
sense. It's not helped by some lengthy
recounting of the semi-hallucinatory recollections of an unconscious and dying
man (a barely disguised Ariel Sharon) which is a device which almost never
works for me.
However, when things finally begin to happen and the
connections between the characters become a little clearer the stories really
did engage me. There are some genuinely exciting
espionage moments and also penetrating studies of people on both sides of the
conflict, as well as those who are ideologically and emotionally caught between
the two, raising some complex moral issues which are very well handled. There is also a touching and convincing love
story and a remarkable account of the relationship between a long-term prisoner
and his guard, including an extraordinarily moving dénouement, both of which I
thought were exceptionally well done.
So, despite its flaws, I thought this was a good, worthwhile
book in the end. It's worth persevering
even if you find the first half rather tough going – it's worth it in the end,
and I can recommend this.
(I received an ARC via NetGalley.)
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