pickThe US occupied Iraq from 2003 to 2011 under the pretense that they they were saving the world from weapons of mass destruction. We know now that the US obliged the UN experts to do their dirty work and only when they were certain there was no nuclear weapons in Iraq, they unleashed their military onto the Iraqi population for 8 long years.
With its cast of characters, this examines what drives a man living in a bedouin town into a human bomb.
pickBro is freaky.
Probably his only book I like.
(Those two things are not connected)
pickA slow burn that is worth persevering with because it is both heartbreaking and beautiful. It is based on real events - a part of history that I knew nothing about- the kidnap of over 400 people from Iceland by barbery pirates. The FMC was a real woman, with a real story that has been fictionalised, but there are so many historical facts, that this is a powerful story ❣️
“I replied that you could never change your life, that in any case one life was as good as another and that I wasn‘t at all dissatisfied with mine here. He looked upset and told me that I always evaded the question and that I had no ambition, which was disastrous in the business world. So I went back to work.” For me; an example of how Mersault perceives matters important to the rest of Us as almost light breezes in the air, just passing him by.
“I felt like telling her that [mother‘s death] wasn‘t my fault, but I stopped myself because I remembered that it wasn‘t my fault, but I stopped myself because I remembered that I‘d already said that to my boss. It didn‘t mean anything. In any case, you‘re always partly to blame.”
“I remember a few other scenes from that day as well: for instance, Pérez‘s face when he caught up with us for the last time just outside the village. Great tears of frustration and anguish were streaming down his cheeks. But because of all the wrinkles, they didn‘t run off. They just spread out and ran toggether again, forming a watery glaze over his battered old face. Then there was the church and the villagers in the street, the red geraniums..
pan
