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Woman in the Crossfire : Diaries of the Syrian Revolution by Samar Yazbek (2012, Trade Paperback)

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New Trade paperback

About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisheriC-Haus Publishing

ISBN-101908323124

ISBN-139781908323125

eBay Product ID (ePID)114190332

Product Key Features

Book TitleWoman in the Crossfire : Diaries of the Syrian Revolution

Number of Pages270 Pages

LanguageEnglish

Publication Year2012

TopicSociology / General, World / Middle Eastern, Political

GenrePolitical Science, Social Science, Biography & Autobiography

AuthorSamar Yazbek

FormatTrade Paperback

Dimensions

Item Height0.1 in

Item Weight13 Oz

Item Length1 in

Item Width0.6 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceTrade

Reviews'An essential eyewitness account, and with luck an inaugural document in a Syrian literature that is uncensored and unchained.', 'A unique window into the anguish of Syria: an intimate journey into the head and heart of a woman trying to maintain her sanity, humanity and, above all, love for her deeply wounded nation...', 'A powerful account conveying the idealism and fear that united diverse religious and ethnic groups in Syria to rise againsttheir autocratic government, with the outcome still uncertain.', Well before the Syrian uprising, Samar Yazbek was challenging the existing taboos of Syrian society in her novels. Since the early days of the revolution, she was involved in the pro-revolutionary movements on the ground, despite the daily threats she was submitted to. On four occasions, Yazbek was taken to detention centres in order to "improve her writing" as one regime officer once put it. A Woman in the Crossfire is her diary of the first four months of the revolution, in which she mixes first-person chronicles of her everyday life and exclusive testimonies of various eye-witnesses (doctors, officers, activists). Some of her chronicles were initially published in the Arab press as early as during spring 2011; hence Yazbek was one of the first voices to describe the reality of the Syrian uprising from the inside., "A Woman in the Crossfire" is elevated beyond politics or reportage by Yazbek's intimate style and her willingness to reveal and involve herself in the book.The book is made up of both testimonies Yazbek gathered and events she experienced during Syria's first four months of struggle, before she was forced to flee the country. Translator Max Weiss calls these months "the early, heady days" in his afterword. Despite this, "A Woman in the Crossfire" never succumbs to unguarded optimism. Violence is omnipresent, and - though Yazbek argues passionately for a nonsectarian Syria - the threat of civil war lurks everywhere.Yazbek describes how, from the earliest days, the ruling regime fomented sectarian tension. In the regime's narrative of events, Sunni protesters - who the regime conflates with Salafis - are inexorably pitted against Alawites and Christians. Yazbek is from the ruling Shia Alawite sect, and she likens the use of her sect to the creation of "human shields" to protect the regime.But while Yazbek takes a clear and unapologetic stance on Bashar al-Assad's regime, "A Woman in the Crossfire" is a literary act rather than a political one. Ultimately, the book is not about any particular party or movement, but about freely telling Syria's stories. It is a stand against all the forces silencing and misrepresenting Syrians....Weiss writes in the afterword that he would not have "been able to bear the emotional toll of the project without the support of many people." A similar emotional toll affects the reader. In the book's most horrible moments, in which humanity is stomped on and brutalized, our brains distance us; we experience these sections as we would fiction. Indeed, Yazbek describes herself as doing the same when she is faced with grave danger and humiliation....The account is, for the most part, straightforwardly and plainly told, with occasional leaps into startling, poetic language. But despite these moments, "A Woman in the Crossfire" remains very much a diary rather than a shaped narrative. The book eschews most devices that generally hold a reader's attention, such as dialogue and rising action. Instead, the reader's attention is fixed by the need to listen, the urgency of these stories and how much those telling them want to be heard....Many people, including Yazbek, risked their lives to bring us this book. "A Woman in the Crossfire" is thus an act of fierce resistance against the forces of silencing and simplification. It is anything but an effortless read, but it does wedge open a space wherein, for a moment, it feels possible to genuinely listen., '[A]n unvarnished and sobering account of what she describes as the abuse and violence against the Syrian people.', "An essential eyewitness account, and with luck an inaugural document in a Syrian literature that is uncensored and unchained."— Kirkus Reviews "She has the novelist's eye for telling detail…Hers is the urgent task of showing the world what is happening. Thanks to her, we can read about the appalling things that go on in secret, underground places."— The Guardian "Her book is infused with a hauntingly poetic narrative style. Chilling, disturbing, but irresistibly compelling."— The Daily Star "Four new books confront the [Syrian] revolution head-on…Of the four writers, Samar Yazbek provides the most arresting, novelistic prose…uncompromising reportage from a doomed capital."— The Spectator "Impassioned and harrowing memoir of the early revolt…"— New York Review of Books "The heartbreaking diary of…a Syrian who risked her life to document the regime's brutal attacks on peaceful demonstrators."— The Inquirer "Its importance is in its existence, the effort of so many Syrians to share their stories and Yazbek's own courage and ability to record them."— The National "It's heavy and horrible, like so much related to the war. But the book also reminds that Syria is—was—utterly beautiful."— CNN 'If you want to put a face on the Syrian revolution, try an activist named Samar Yazbek…she's a walking refutation of the argument that the conflict in Syria is simply a sectarian civil war between Assad's Alawites and the Sunni majority. —David Ignatius, Washington Post, 'It's heavy and horrible, like so much related to the war. But the book also reminds that Syria is -- was -- utterly beautiful. Yazbek takes us to its mountains. We can smell its lemon trees and ride along its country roads.', 'Yazbek writes that "intellectuals live in a frozen environment, the world has passed them by. And the mobilisation that has taken place in Syria, what spurred people into the street, was not the writers or the poets or the intellectuals." But they can still bear witness, and Samar Yazbek's document does that with courage, lyricism and mordant wit.', '[F]our new books confront the [Syrian] revolution head-on... Of the four writers, Samar Yazbek provides the most arresting, novelistic prose... In its uncompromising reportage from a doomed capital, Yazbek's book recalls the late Iraqi artist Nuha al Radi's Baghdad Diaries, a searing chronicle of the disintegration of Saddam's Iraq during the embargo of the Nineties.', 'The heartbreaking diary of... a Syrian who risked her life to document the regime's brutal attacks on peaceful demonstrators.', '[A] powerful narrative which contains many insights drawn from her closeness to what was happening, and knowledge of Syrian society.', 'She has the novelist's eye for telling detail... Hers is the urgent task of showing the world what is happening. Thanks to her, we can read about the appalling things that go on in secret, underground places.', "An essential eyewitness account, and with luck an inaugural document in a Syrian literature that is uncensored and unchained."-- Kirkus Reviews "She has the novelist's eye for telling detail...Hers is the urgent task of showing the world what is happening. Thanks to her, we can read about the appalling things that go on in secret, underground places."-- The Guardian "Her book is infused with a hauntingly poetic narrative style. Chilling, disturbing, but irresistibly compelling."-- The Daily Star "Four new books confront the [Syrian] revolution head-on...Of the four writers, Samar Yazbek provides the most arresting, novelistic prose...uncompromising reportage from a doomed capital."-- The Spectator "Impassioned and harrowing memoir of the early revolt..."-- New York Review of Books "The heartbreaking diary of...a Syrian who risked her life to document the regime's brutal attacks on peaceful demonstrators."-- The Inquirer "Its importance is in its existence, the effort of so many Syrians to share their stories and Yazbek's own courage and ability to record them."-- The National "It's heavy and horrible, like so much related to the war. But the book also reminds that Syria is--was--utterly beautiful."-- CNN 'If you want to put a face on the Syrian revolution, try an activist named Samar Yazbek...she's a walking refutation of the argument that the conflict in Syria is simply a sectarian civil war between Assad's Alawites and the Sunni majority. --David Ignatius, Washington Post, 'Yazbek's is not a crafted memoir but an immediate record of three months of fear, torture, intimidation and, eventually, flight from her home told through diaries that stop and start, sometimes repeat, and always offer another detail of popular will and regime cruelty. Its importance is in its existence, the effort of so many Syrians to share their stories and Yazbek's own courage and ability to record them. It is a hard, painful read, not only for what Yazbek witnesses and suffers but also for that of the other Syrians that she interviews. Their testimonies come through on the page as atrocities happen all around her.', 'Samar Yazbek is excellent on the dress and behaviour of the demonstrations. Pro-Bashar demonstrations were supported by well-dressed young people who looked as if they were off to a party... [she] is eloquent on the dehumanising brutality of the security forces.', "A Woman in the Crossfire" is elevated beyond politics or reportage by Yazbek's intimate style and her willingness to reveal and involve herself in the book... The book is not about any particular party or movement, but about freely telling Syria's stories. It is a stand against all the forces silencing and misrepresenting Syrians... Many people, including Yazbek, risked their lives to bring us this book. "A Woman in the Crossfire" is thus an act of fierce resistance against the forces of silencing and simplification. It is anything but an effortless read, but it does wedge open a space wherein, for a moment, it feels possible to genuinely listen., 'Thanks to her [Yazbek] skills as a fiction writer, her book is infused with a hauntingly poetic narrative style. Chilling, disturbing, but irresistibly compelling, "A Woman in the Crossfire" paints a picture of how, in four months, a peaceful uprising turned into a bloodbath.'

Dewey Edition23

TitleLeadingA

Dewey Decimal956.91042092

SynopsisA well-known novelist and journalist from the coastal city of Jableh, Samar Yazbek witnessed the beginning four months of the uprising first-hand and actively participated in a variety of public actions and budding social movements. Throughout this period she kept a diary of personal reflections on, and observations of, this historic time. Because of the outspoken views she published in print and online, Yazbek quickly attracted the attention and fury of the regime, vicious rumours started to spread about her disloyalty to the homeland and the Alawite community to which she belongs. The lyrical narrative describes her struggle to protect herself and her young daughter, even as her activism propels her into a horrifying labyrinth of insecurity after she is forced into living on the run and detained multiple times, excluded from the Alawite community and renounced by her family, her hometown and even her childhood friends. With rare empathy and journalistic prowess Samar Yazbek compiled oral testimonies from ordinary Syrians all over the country. Filled with snapshots of exhilarating hope and horrifying atrocities, she offers us a wholly unique perspective on the Syrian uprising. Hers is a modest yet powerful testament to the strength and commitment of countless unnamed Syrians who have united to fight for their freedom. These diaries will inspire all those who read them, and challenge the world to look anew at the trials and tribulations of the Syrian uprising., A devastating and personal account of the ongoing uprising in Syria from a prominent Syrian journalist now in hiding

LC Classification NumberDS98.72