This is a modern book but the author writes it using the somewhat archaic style of the time in which the book is set. It makes for some slow reading (This is a modern book but the author writes it using the somewhat archaic style of the time in which the book is set. It makes for some slow reading (and re-reading) at times but you will probably grow accustomed to it. The suspense and drama starts to build by that point and you'll become totally invested in their journey.
I think there is one person trying to make this into a movie and I really hope he follows through and completes it. This would make a great film!
Merged review:
This is a modern book but the author writes it using the somewhat archaic style of the time in which the book is set. It makes for some slow reading (and re-reading) at times but you will probably grow accustomed to it. The suspense and drama starts to build by that point and you'll become totally invested in their journey.
I think there is one person trying to make this into a movie and I really hope he follows through and completes it. This would make a great film!...more
This is the exciting conclusion to a fascinating story. A perfect example of living history. I hope that future generations will be able to read this This is the exciting conclusion to a fascinating story. A perfect example of living history. I hope that future generations will be able to read this contemporary account and get a glimpse as to the state of the world in the early 21st century.
Toulmé's rendering of Hakim's story is well-done and presented without judgement and only a small bit of editorializing about the refugee crisis. I'm referring to his somewhat idealistic and incomplete explanations to his daughter which provide a window to his left-leaning luxury beliefs, to wit, why can't everyone have the right to live the free lives in the culture of the Judeo-Christian (and/or non-religious Europe). And this is to specifically not impugn Hakim's to have a better life for himself and his family and to escape the dangers of the Syrian regime. Who among us would not try to save one's self and their family.
That said, it would be disingenuous to ignore the effect of the influx of a mass of people from a cultures much different than that of the West. The necessary infusion of social services and the social problems are the reality yet it is somehow taboo to shine a light on them. Thus Toulme's depiction of Hungarians as xenophobic and cruel overlords was a bit too much. Elsewhere he says the quiet part out loud when he shows one of the families that went to Austria and now lives on welfare. These are exactly the people who should not be allowed to remain permanently in a country in which they seek refuge.
It would have been nice to ask Hakim about this. Is he prepared to adapt to the French way of life and its multi-culturalism? How do you feel about Jews, Hakim? And, by the way, now that Assad has fallen, perhaps you should reclaim your Syrian life and live in a more familiar cultural and religious milieu? It's pretty clear he won't be returning to Syria. Not to mention that French society (or even Britain) is changing more and more to his ostensible liking every day.
Indeed, this is Hakim's odyssey told from his POV, yet they story is somehow incomplete without a candid discussion of the issues mentioned above....more