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Title: Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian Childhood
ISBN: 0374357331
Author:
Ibtisam Barakat
Publicate Date: 2007-02-20
Publish: 2007-02-20
List Price: $16.00
Average Customer Rating: 5.0
Format: Hardcover
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $3.97
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $3.07
Amazon Merchant Price: $10.88
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Powerful memoir
Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian Childhood is Ibtisam Barakat's memoir of her childhood growing up on the war-torn West Bank.
The story begins in 1981. 17-year-old Ibtisam is on a bus heading home to Ramallah when Israeli soldiers board the bus and order the driver to take the passengers to a nearby detention center. It is here when we first get a glimpse into the fear that has consumed Ibtisam's life for nearly 15 years since the 6-day war of 1967.
As Ibtisam is released unharmed and safely returns home, she takes us back to that day in 1967 when the war was declared. What was a normal day soon turns to terror as three-and-a-half year old Ibtisam, her family, and neighbors are forced to flee their homes. In the rush to get away, Ibtisam doesn't have time to put on both shoes and somehow loses her family and her other shoe. She miraculously finds her family after walking quite a distance barefoot. Her feet are injured, but they must continue onto Jordan where they've been granted refuge.
We see the next four years of Ibtisam's life through her eyes--the eyes of a child dealing with the realities of war. We see her parents struggle to protect their children, to keep their family together, and try to maintain some semblance of normalcy. They do have happy moments but are often reminded that the life they once led is gone, that Ramallah is occupied by Israeli soldiers, and that they must always be on guard.
A gripping and emotional story, I was drawn in from the beginning and had a difficult time putting the book down. As I was initially reading, I felt I wanted to know a bit more about the history of the war and what was going on politically, but then I realized that Ibtisam Barakat was intentionally leaving this information out because she was telling us the story from a child's point of view. It simply wouldn't have worked if she would have added more historical information aside from the brief note in the beginning. All we see is how a child tries to grip with what's going on around her, and she sticks to this point of view throughout the entire story.
It also helped me put a face to war and to the innocent people and children who live in war-torn countries. It also made me realize that regardless of where you're from or what happens in your life, we all have the same emotions. Kids will be able to relate to this book even though they may not have had the same experiences.
I recommend this book to everyone, not just children, and I hope it's not the last we hear from Ibtisam Barakat.
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2: A child's view of a country under siege
This beautifully written memoir by Ibtisam Barakat draws the reader into occupied Palestine through the unassuming, uncensored eyes and heart of a child. Family life and love, the core of the story, offers a warm and firm foundation to explore the frightening aspects of a country under siege. In our adult world of "good guys" and "bad guys", descendants of Palestinians have become a generation without a country, without a heritage. Barakat's early perspective (she begins her narrative at age 3 and a half) allows the reader to crack the imposing fa??ade of the "I'm right, you're wrong" attitude common in our world. This book should be on the reading lists of all schools, for it helps to dispel the glaring illusions of the press and media. Rather, Tasting the Sky reveals the truth of the fabric of all society as simply and elegantly as a blade of green grass growing brightly and firmly from underneath a rock. A terrific choice for students who hunger to read a biography of a Muslim girl, although the emphasis is not on religion. One cannot help but marvel at the at the skill and grace put forth in the writing of this author--a hopeful story of epic proportion.
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3: Must Read
This novel is very special in a lot of ways, and part of what makes it so touching is that it is true. You will love and feel for the characters, and above all you will share in their humanity. If any reader looks at Palestine as some kind of bizarre foreign country they will never understand, they will be surprised to discover a place where they feel right at home and a family that is just like any other family in the world but has to struggle through hard times.
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4: Maginficent
Ibtisam Barakat skillfully and meticulously described the typical life of a Palestinian child and the life of the Palestinian's living in the villages and towns of West Bank after the Israeli occupation.
If I wasn't sure Ibtisam is not one of my siblings, I would swear we grew up in the same house.
This book is simply magnificent. Thank you Ibtisam.
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5: Puts it all into perspective
If you've lived a middle class existence, this book will make everything you've ever complained about seem very small and ridiculous. No car when you were 16? Sharing a bathroom with your siblings? Boo hoo. Ibtisam Barakat grew up with real problems. Violence, war and famine were never very far from her front door.
Despite this, Ibtisam Barakat is able to recount her childhood growing up in Ramallah without an ounce of self-pity. What could be a maudlin tale is told from the eyes of a child who simply knows nothing else. She plays up the street with her brothers, has pets, and finds comfort and whimsy in a piece of chalk.
Barakat is also largely able to sidestep the politics that infuse the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and present a simple story--growing up as a child, surrounded by war and uncertainty.
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