Against the Loveless World: Winner of the Palestine Book Award

Nahr is locked inside the cube. She spends her days reminiscing about her past from Kuwait- Jordan- P@lestine to this cube. Nahr was born to a P@lestinian refugee in Kuwait. She was a girl of dreams, fantasising about falling in love with the perfect man and having a perfect life. Her dream shattered when she fell for the wrong man and her life took unfortunate turns. During Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, she had to flee from the country she loved the most and move to Jordan as a refugee again. However, her life takes another turn when she lands in her homeland, P@lestine, where she finally makes a home, falls in love, and her destiny unfolds under Isr@eli occupation. Well, what a rollercoaster read! The author has given eye-opening insights into Palestinian heritage culture and the realities, complications, and injustices of occupation. Although it's dark and unsettling, it's a compelling read. The story is narrated from the first person's POV in a back-and-forth timeline. Nahr is a strong, resilient, sensitive, and rebellious character. Initially, at some point, I felt Nahr's character was a bit unpleasant; however, I was rooting for her. The other character development was brilliant. My most favourite character is Bilal, he is the cherry on the icing.(I wish I could say more about this character yet I don't want any spoilers). Honestly I didn't feel like I was reading a fictional book; it was so intense and realistic. There are trigger warnings such as oppression, rape, grief, force displacement and violence. Overall, Against the Loveless World is a poignant and powerful story. Highly recommend this book.

I came across this book through the hashtag #isupportpalestine when people are started giving their support to those people who are losing their life in massacre. We cannot heal their pain but atleast we can understand their pain and suffer. So I picked this book to know more about Palestinian. "Against the Loveless World" a book based on the 3rd generation of Palestinians. The story of this book starts in prison where our protagonist, Nahr was imprisoned. Her family was a Palestine refugee and she was born and raised in Kuwait. So the story of this book follows this character Nahr. She married a wrong person and somehow landed in prostitution. Susane Abulhawa must be a wonderful women because in this book she empowered the character in a inconceivable way. Nahr, is not a women she is fighting for her freedom instead she is searching for the true love to whom she can share all her pains because there is no hapiness for her to get in this loveless world. The language is awesome and it's easy. It's must read book because it's filled with great value of life. It shows us how the pain will be and the meaning for the word suffer. The story breaks our heart whenever the character loses her beloved one. I recommend this book for all. Before starting I thought this book will be filled with histories and facts about Palestine and Israel, it was the only thing disappointed me rather it filled so much of information about Palestinians. Go for it.

AGAINST THE LOVELESS WORLD BY SUSAN ABULHAWA ⁣ ⁣ She is Nahr. A daughter to Palestinian refugees. A devoted sister who'd die for her brother. ⁣ ⁣ She is Yaqoot. Whose father died in the arms of his mistress. Whose husband left her. ⁣ ⁣ She is Almas. Diamond. Men die for her beauty and body. They pay to see her dance and for her body. This is how she pays her bills. ⁣ ⁣ Our protagonist is the amalgamation of so many women whom the author interviewed. The author blended fact and fiction into one to create the representation of living a life in a war torn country. ⁣ ⁣ True to the title, this is the journey of Nahr against the loveless world. A story so raw, gritty, dark, graphic, hard to read, and poignant. She was born in Kuwait to Palestinian refugees and her life is floating adrift in Kuwait and Jordan, and finally she feels a sense of belonging in Palestine. Nahr faces the wrath of men and the Israeli government. Her family is uprooted from Kuwait and displaced to Jordan. It only keeps getting worse when she reaches Palestine where she joins the resistance. ⁣ ⁣ In the beginning, Nahr is held captive in prison and there she recounts her story from childhood leading up to the prison. Imagine being in solitary confinement for 16 years. She was going crazy and it showed because she was humanizing the showers and lights present in the prison cell. Loneliness would do that to anyone. ⁣ This book has so many unique and compelling characters but Um Buraq was definitely the most interesting and contrasting character in this book for me. She was so cruel and kind at the same time to Nahr. She was a villain and yet a guardian to Nahr. I couldn't decide whether to love her or hate her. But there were other characters whom you either love or hate. Bilal is someone to love but Itamar is someone to hate. We get a diverse cast of characters who plays their part in the story. ⁣ This book is a must read to educate ourselves about the grim reality of Palestinians and how much injustice they still continue to suffer. Also to educate about their culture. This is a haunting story with a bittersweet ending that will stay with you long after you've finish reading the book.

I have read and loved Mornings in Jenin by the author, that's what drove me to read this novel as well. What I admire the most is, she blends facts and fiction so well. The wars she talks about in the story are true incidents and the sufferings of the victims are weaved into a beautiful and effective story. The positivity and hope that the protagonist spreads even at times of peril, truly lifts the reader's spirits. The language is simple and though it goes back and forth in time, the story sails smoothly. Just couldn't keep it down, this one is a must read.

content with the quality.

Firstly many congratulations Susan Abulhawa for winning #PalestineBookAwards 2020. There are few books that touch your heart and have the capacity to educate and raise consciousness as well. Against The Loveless World is one of them. Abulhawa's creation the protagonist Nahr, a Palestinian woman whose life unfurls in unexpected way. Racism, sexism, colonialism, occupation are the context of her life. The story also depicts issues around sex work, LGBTQ+ , friendship and more through Nahr's life struggles.. Nahr suffers but she survives. And this is the symbol to depict that how Palestine survives no matter what. And I feel Palestine itself is the story's untold protagonist. The country's culture, traditions, struggles and Nahr's life, blended in a mesmerizing way.. And for me Nahr is no mere protagonist, she is beautifully drawn character with all the aberrations and conflicts that every human being has. And there is the credit of Abulhawa who deploys a graceful skill in portraying Nahr. It is the story of that people who are fighting for freedom, the story of every refugee, Against The Loveless World is Abulhawa's strong, bold, engaging , page turning, heart wrenching and in one word beautifully written novel. Highly recommended to everyone. P.S - Thank you @bloomsburyindia for this enthralling review copy.

Title - Against the Loveless World Author - Susan Abulhawa Genre - Historical Fiction Every year there comes a book that you absolutely loved it and would recommend to everyone throughout the year. For those who have been following me for a while knows that last year the book was The Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles and looks like I have finally found my pick for this year and it's nine other than Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa. Nahr and her family are Palestini refugees living in Kuwait. Though Nahr and her brother identifies themselves as Kuwaitis, the country does not think the same for them. As she grows up, all Nahr wants is to be happy, have a husband who loves her a lot, take care of her mother, brother and grandmother and open a beauty salon. Unfortunately, life isn't kind to Nahr and the circumstances forces her to take decisions that would change her life forever leading to solitary confinement in an Israeli Prison. The book captures your attention from the word go. The name Nahr is synonymous to another one of the books I loved this year and this one comes out equally strong. For everyone who picks this up, do not forget to read the acknowledgement where the author does tells us that the book has been inspired by real stories of women across Palestine. With characters that would instantly touch your heart, Against the Loveless World does not disappoint when it comes to storytelling. The book not only deals with the background on Israel - Palestine conflict but also grounds itself to Iraqi ambush on Kuwait and US invasion of Iraq. The author makes sure to imbibe these historical events pretty tight in the storyline and does not dawdle into a preach mode or history mode when these events are described. Each part of the book talks a bit about Nahr's solitary prison and one cannot help but empathize with not only Nahr's fate but many many political prisoners that maybe held in such conditions across the country. I must say I was not well versed with the conditions that existed in Palestine but the two books (Apeirogon, the other one) I read this year have piqued my interest to a huge extent. I think I have talked enough about this book and there is no doubt that I would say this is one book that you must pick up this year if you are looking for a story that would surely touch your hearts.

The item was damaged. The cover was damaged. And the pages were torn too a little bit. stained pages.

I don't gush. Usually. But. Five stars are not enough. How about 10, 50, 100? In other words: masterpiece. Against the Loveless World is that rarest of treasures, a bona fide masterpiece. The kind that comes along ever so seldom. The kind of novel that you don't merely read, but are privileged to enter and live inside for a few precious hours, and the kind of novel that you then can't stop thinking about, for many more hours, for days, for weeks. For the rest of your life. I've read only a handful of such novels in my life. Beloved by Toni Morrison. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison. Just Above My Head by James Baldwin. At Swim, Two Boys by Jamie O'Neill. The Castle Cross the Magnet Carter by Kia Corthron. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Wolff. Affinity by Sarah Waters. Death of a River Guide by Richard Flanagan. The Color Purple by Alice Walker. Cloudsplitter by Russell Banks. Cantoras by Carolina de Robertis. And now this. Now Against the Loveless World. What do these novels, my own personal pantheon of literary masterworks, have in common? Each one is about something, about something that matters. By which I mean it's not what I think of as a kitchen-table novel, one with a narrow focus on the domestic details of a life or two, in particular a white bourgeois or petit-bourgeois life or two. All too many, most, fictions foisted on us by the literary establishment inside the U.S. restrict themselves to such a focus. Constrict our reading to such a narrow perspective. They reflect and uphold the status quo. Well of course they do, because the perspective of the capitalist ruling class is the only one through which we're supposed to view the world. The great novels that break out of these bounds, the novels that draw the reader in to a story that resists, defies, rejects the racist gaze, the imperialist gaze, the colonialist gaze, the cis heterosexist male gaze--a story that exists beyond the bounds of bourgeois literary respectability—these are the novels that matter. Against the Loveless World matters. It matters because of its key portrayals, three of them as I see it. The first two are characters: the protagonist Nahr, and the six or so most important secondary characters. The third: Palestine. The characterizations are complex, deeply drawn. Nahr above all, a Palestinian woman whose life unfolds in unexpected directions. Imperialism, invasion, occupation, colonialism, racism, sexism, class are the context of her life. Abulhawa shows this skillfully, artfully, as Nahr guides us through her story. But context is not everything, and the portrayal of Nahr herself, her individuality, character, personality—her quirks and flaws and mistakes as much as her beauty intelligence fierceness devotion loyalty tenderheartedness courage—is exquisite, making her one of the most memorable main characters I’ve ever encountered. Making me love her, feel with her, ache for her, laugh and love with her. With the character of Nahr the reader is afforded the privilege of inhabiting the consciousness of one of the most multilayered, complex, thinking, feeling, fully fleshed protagonists I've ever encountered For lack of time I’m not going to write about the secondary characters but take my word for it: they are deep and they are real and they are every bit as remarkable creations as the central character Nahr. It is a crime both literary and political that it’s noteworthy when a novel published in this country draws the reader in to identify with, care about, Palestinians. How awful, how absurd, how criminal that simply showing the humanity of Palestinians should be noteworthy! But such is the literary and political landscape in this country. Because U.S. imperialism is so invested in the Zionist colonialist settler state, the bourgeois literary establishment does its bidding by locking out Palestinian voices. So when a work featuring such voices manages to break through, it’s cause for celebration and should be made known far and wide. This is such a work. Read it and you will understand the Palestinian experience a little better. Central to that experience, the third key portrayal I mentioned, is Palestine itself. In a way Palestine is itself a character in this story. Palestine the nation. Palestine the land. Palestine the food. Palestine the music. Palestine the language. Palestine the dance, the dress, the traditions. Palestine the flowers, the hills, the sky, the wind. Palestine the goats and sheep. Palestine the figs, the almonds. Palestine the olive trees. Palestine the lush, the beloved. Palestine the stolen. The invaded. The occupied. The exiled. The tortured, the assassinated, the imprisoned. Palestine the never defeated. Palestine the people who fight, who fight, who fight, who fight on in whatever way they can. All this Abulhawa depicts with the utmost skill, with stunningly gorgeous writing, with a page-turning plot, with un-put-down-able momentum that engages the reader intellectually, emotionally and politically. For those who know little of Palestinian stories, it will be an eye opener. For those of us who already know which side we’re on, it is a gift. In my opinion, all great art is born of suffering. Great art engages with love and loss and pain, with struggle and solidarity. Against the Loveless World is great art. This is a beautiful, wrenching, soaring, searing novel. It will move you to tears. Let it also move you to action. Long live Palestine! Thank you Susan Abulhawa.

Very good

Heb het boek in 1 adem uitgelezen en heb het tussendoor nauwelijks willen wegleggen.

Tres beau livre, bon état, je recommande

A powerful, truthful, resonant account of Palestinian life & oppression. The protagonist & writer truly have a warrior’s heart as stated by the testimony on the cover by Alice Walker.