Book Review: The Almond Tree by Michelle Cohen Corasanti

You read some books and enjoy them. You read some books and relate to them. 

Some books make you feel happy. Some books make you feel sad. 

Some books reach out to your heart and leave a mark which you can never forget. 

This is one such book.

The Almond Tree is the debut novel of Michelle Cohen Corasanti and it takes us through the life of Ahmed Hamid and his family. It is set in the backdrop of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. This is not the usual rags to the riches story, but it gives a very practical insight to the struggles faced by the families during the troubled times. What’s more interesting is that the book is written by a Jewish-American author who narrates the story from a Palestinian’s perspective.

When Ahmed Hamid was young, his family was forced to leave their palatial home. Just when they settle into their new life and their hardships, his father is imprisoned. Ahmed is left with no choice but to drop out of school and take care of his family comprising of his Mother, his sister Nadia, his immediate younger brother Abbas and two other younger brothers Hani and Fadi. Having witnessed the death of his two younger sisters Amal and Saira, he is determined to provide a living for his family and takes up menial jobs. Fast forward a few years, his tutor Mohammad coaxes him into taking a scholarship examination which would get him to the Hebrew University.

Shopping Escapades and More!

I've always wondered how people come up with memes and jokes when it comes to women and shopping. I've come across a handful and I've never been able to relate to them.  So I assume that, as is the case in many instances, people exaggerate simple things and come up with these jokes. Now, I'm a person with a good sense of humor and if I find it funny, I enjoy them rather than wondering how people could make fun of such simple things.

I think the main reason for not being able to relate to this is that, when I'm in the mood for some serious shopping, I go either with my sister or my mom. If both of them aren't available, I'd go alone. No one else is allowed when I'm on that serious mode. Something tells me, that when you're reading this you tend to go 'Aww' with a sense of pity and that you are painting a picture of someone lonely, longing for company, wishing that someone was there to accompany me. Sorry to break your bubble but my shopping alone experience is so much fun. Now that is for another day.

Image Courtesy : FreeDigitalPhotos

Winners Are Not Always The Best!

The other day on my way to work, I felt happy all of a sudden because I realized something very important. Winners aren't always the best. Sometimes, they are; but not necessarily always. That's mainly because winners are chosen based on the opinions of a few, who would not necessarily bring out the common opinion

You might wonder how this realization dawned on me. I was reading this book written by an Indian Author, which won a Booker Prize a few years back as a part of my reading challenge for 2014. I picked the book only because I liked the title 'The God of Small Things'. That's where the liking for the book started and I can pretty well say that's where it stopped. I told a friend that it felt like an 'Attention-deficit 10 year old narrating it' and she said that was the whole point. After I was told that it was intentional, I tried to read it the way I read other books, but I somehow couldn’t connect with it. (Now it's another thing that I ensure I complete reading a book irrespective of how bad I find it.)

This is just my opinion. A few friends said they loved the book and they were able to justify it. Just that, it was the same reason that I did not seem to like that book. Opinions differ of course and that's when I realized (after painfully reading a lot of review on the said book) that a lot of people did not like it either. Anyway that's not the point. The point is to not get weighed down when you're not the winner.