EBOOK

Jerusalem Stands Alone

Mahmoud Shukair
4.5
(2)
Year
2018
Language
English

About

By turns bleak, nostalgic, and lighthearted, Jerusalem Stands Alone explores the interconnected lives of its mostly Palestinian cast. This series of quick moving vignettes tells the story of occupied Jerusalem-tales of the daily tribulations and personal revelations of its narrators. The stories, entwined around themes of family and identity, diverge in viewpoint and chronology but ultimately unite to reveal the tapestry of Palestinian Jerusalem. The settings evoke the past-churches, alleys, and people who are gone but whose spirits yearn to be remembered. The characters are sons and mothers, soldiers and wives, all of whom unveil themselves in sometimes poignant, sometimes
bittersweet memories. As its history rises up through the present struggles and hopes of its people, the deepest, most personal layers of Jerusalem are revealed.

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Reviews

"Shukair tenderly and brilliantly explores the city's deep soul, through gorgeous lyrical portraits of its inhabitants. Poets will love this book. Reading it feels like a healing....Jerusalem Stands Alone will be the enduring truth, not the pitiful passing news."
Naomi Shihab Nye, author of 19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East
"In these poetic, interconnected microfictions, Shukair excels in capturing the political, social, and historic tensions of an ancient city under occupation. A contemplative feast of deep, subtle undertones, Shukair's writing mobilizes an intimate, calm narrative to explore the convulsions lurking beneath the strained surface of Jerusalem."
Hisham Bustani, author of The Perception of Meaning

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