Asaad Almohammad

Shocking. Anguished. Insightful. Don’t expect this to be a comfortable read.

However, I’d rank this as a must-read, particularly for anyone interested in understanding the experiences and emotions of a man in exile.

I should tell you too, that the style of writing may change forever your view of what a novel is or should be.

I admit that being inside the head of the main character required all my concentration. We witness Adam’s fragmented encounters in Malaysia with strangers, fellow students, colleagues and other Syrians unable to return to their home country.

With each conversation we come to better understand Adam’s state of mind and terrible helplessness, despite, or perhaps because of the fact, that he is the financial lifeline his family at home depend upon. We see that it isn’t only the Syrians in Syria who struggle, Adam struggles daily to survive too, just in different ways to his family.

The writing is interspersed with passages from Adam’s life as a young boy and the friends and family he grew up with.

I think this book is so powerful because it’s so raw, so don’t look for literary perfection.

Reading of Adam’s experience has forged a link between me and the Syrian people – just from the reading of one book – I call that remarkable.

For a great interview with this author, see
Five Things You Didn't Know about Asaad Almohammad
over on my blog
http://anngirdharry.weebly.com/blog/5-discover-ten-new-authors-of-colour… (plus d'informations)

An Ishmael of Syria is a powerful novel. Sometimes you read a book and you have to digest it for several days before you can encapsulate your feelings about the book correctly. An Ishmael of Syria unwraps the layers of prejudices, anger, helplessness, and human grief. Yet at the center, at the core of all these layers, is a kind of naked humanity that invites the reader to imbue meaning. I found this book to be really special, in fact extraordinary. Since the book arrived a few days ago, I have not been able to put it down. The issues discussed in the book are important for people to think about and talk about.… (plus d'informations)