Against The loveless World

At a time when the world seems to be in the throes of so many crises, reading about topics such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is probably not appealing to many people. Despite the potential deterrents though, I am ready to read a book about this long standing schism from the perspective of a Palestinian person. I don’t think that the voices from the Palestinian side are shared nearly enough in the U.S. media. Over the years, my attempts to glean this said perspective from online sites have supplemented the information I recall from my Poli Sci & International Relations studies at university. Regardless of the value of academic discussions though, there is a humanness and realness that novels impart about world events that may otherwise seem distant from our personal experiences.

Even though I have only just begun reading it, I believe that Against The Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa is one such book. The story is about a Palestinian woman who has been repeatedly displaced and tossed around the Middle East as a result of the region’s strife and the Israeli-Palestinian troubles especially. Already, I have found that the character’s (Nahr) description of the impact these events have had on her life highlights that they aren’t victim-less occurrences but painful, costly ones that affect the daily lives of real human beings. That applies to this case of enmity that many of us on the outside have become so desensitized towards that news about it now barely registers.

But what if we did not have the luxury of looking away? Against The Loveless World provides some insight into the lives of Palestinians living through the conflict.

As I alluded to before, I’m only a few chapters in but so far, Against The Loveless World has been compelling. Once I have finished reading the book, I will update this post with a review. Keep a look out!

Have you read this or any other novels about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? Please share below in the comment section.