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Nabeel's Song: A Family Story Of Survival In Iraq (2008)

by Jo Tatchell(Favorite Author)

4.04 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

034089704X (ISBN13: 9780340897041)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Sceptre

review 1: This is a beautifully written account of a prominent Iraqi poet, Nabeel Yasin, and his family through the modern era of Iraq from the emergence of the Ba'athist party and then Saddam Hussein - and Nabeels persecution and then exile at the hands of the Ba'ath party - all the way through the liberation of Iraq by coalition forces in 2003 and the mess that followed.Rarely have I read a non-fiction book that reads so lyrically and tells a story so compellingly. This story broke my heart as it described the Iraq of Nadeel's childhood and then the end of this great country as Sadaam's rule wore on and all opposition of any kind was stifled. The sadness of dashed hopes as the insurgency raged after Sadaam's reign finally ended was striking. But, mostly the horror of living in ... morea paranoid society where neighbor has been turned against neighbor gripped me and made me realize how clueless I am about the freedoms I take for granted that so many others have only dreamed of!Jo Tatchell does a beautiful job of describing family life in Iraq, the cultural traditions, the religious rituals and devotion so central to many lives there. I was genuinely and pleasantly surprised by the picture of Iraqi life that is painted in this book and how it juxtaposes sharply with the images most of we westerners have soaked up about the place and its people from Television. Even the dusty, wary, and deadly city of Baghdad I visited in the summer of 2006 seems radically different from the one described as being central to Nabeel Yasin's youth in the 1950's, 60's and 70's.Read this book for the deeply human story it tells of love, courage, family, faith, and culture. If the people described in this story are at all indicative of the people in Iraq then hope indeed burns brightly for that once proud place.
review 2: This is the story of Nabeel Yasin, Iraq's most famous poet. The book follows Nabeel through childhood and through the persecution he (and his brothers) experienced under the Ba'ath party and Sudam. The story is amazing and perhaps supports the view that invading Iraq benefited some. I found the first part of the book rich with culture. However the second half seemed to fall into journalism instead of story telling - which isn't a surprise as the author is a journalist for the Guardian and Prospect Magazine. less

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