The Attack
by Yasmina Khadra
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Book Summary Information
Author: Yasmina KhadraEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-05-09
ISBN: 0385517483
Number of pages: 272
Publisher: Nan A. Talese
Book Reviews of The Attack
Book Review: "The Attack"...a novel of the pain and strife in the Middle East
Summary: 5 Stars
A thought provoking fictional novel from Yasmina Khadra.
The setting for this book is in present day Israel, replete with all the trappings surrounding the pent-up hate, rage and suspicions that predominant this area of the world.
*SPOILER*
This is the story of a young, well respected, Arab-Israeli surgeon (Dr. Amin Jaafari) who lives and works in Israel. Shortly after he attends to the victims of a suicide bombing (not an unusual occurrence for him) he is made aware of a development that is about to change his life as he knows it; the suicide bomber was his wife! The news is met initially with denial and disbelief, then a grudging acceptance and finally 'why'.
The 'why' leads Amin on a dangerous trail of discovery that uncovers and discusses many of the tenets of belief that occupy the thinking of the Arabs and Israeli in this tinderbox known as the Middle East. Needless to say, Dr. Jaafari also discovers many things about himself and his life that had, up to this time, remained hidden from him.
*END SPOILER*
The story is well written and holds your interest; the book is hard to put down. Khadra's development of the main character, Dr Amin Jaafari, is parallelled superbly with his (Jaafari's) ever increasing knowledge of the extraordinary situation that is opening up before him. My only minor concern with Dr Jaafari's character was that some of the decisions he made on his 'quest' were somewhat ill-advised (IMHO); but this may be partially explained by stress the man was under and also because I'm dealing with a culture and attitude that I'm not familiar with.
It is not, as you might imagine, a pleasant tale, but one does get a sense that the author knows what he's talking about when discussing the 'politics' of the area. What I found particularly interesting was that Khadra, in weaving Dr. Jaafari's story, was able to give a deeper insight into the thinking of both sides. You begin on one hand, to understand the Arab sense of repression and the loss on dignity, but as well, the Israeli increasing distrust and frustration for the Arab regime, particularly since the suicide bombings have begun.
Conclusion:
An intriguing novel. Although fiction, the story is not outside the realm of being plausible.
Even more important is the light shed on the circumstances that reflect the partisan thinking that prevails in this area of the world. You begin to understand that hate, rage and distrust have dominated for SO long that it's hard to consider other more peaceful options; hard to consider because for things to changes it would mean that both side would have to 'give a little' and giving a little would mean 'losing face'. And of all the options available, 'losing face' is not one of them. Easily 5 Stars.
Ray Nicholson
P.S. Yasmina Khadra also wrote 'The Swallows of Kabul', another one of my favorite books.
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