A Land of Permanent Goodbyes

I'm lucky to have a job where I can listen to audio books or text-to-speech books on my Kindle every day. So I listen to 2-3 books every week...lots of books every year. THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS I HAVE LISTENED TO IN YEARS!!! It was a real page turner. It is so good. So this weekend I had my 14 year old grandson watch a documentary on the history of the Syrian war and Syrian refugees before he begins to read this book. Excellent book to help him ( and me ) understand current events...you 'll feel like you are traveling with characters.... I hope someone makes a movie based on this book. Planning to read her other novel next.

“A Land of Permanent Goodbyes" is a timely and well-researched book. Not only because the Syrian civil war is ongoing and the refugee crisis continues to be a reality—though it no longer makes headlines—but also because of the Trump administration’s Muslim ban. This novel humanizes the Syrian people in a way that few news stories can. Tareq and his family—like families everywhere—have very real hopes, dreams, and basic needs of stability and security. It’s the injustice and brutality of Bashar Al-Assad’s government that forced many Syrians to become refugees, not by choice, but by destiny—only to end up on Europe’s doorstep hoping to regain their humanity.

A Land of Permanent Goodbyes is a devastating and compelling tale of a Syrian teenager trying to find a better life for himself after most of his family is killed. Abawi keenly observes a traumatic situation and does with with great humanity, showing the reader that the protagonist Tareq, is just young guy who wants what everyone wants - love, acceptance, a job, his family. Abawi's attention to the little details of a refugee's crossing will stick with me: The longing Tareq has for his Syrian hometown that existed just a few years ago; the seaside towns in Greece that sell fake life jackets to the desperate people about to risk their lives in rubber dinghies in the open water. A beautiful told story that stuck with me for weeks after reading.

I bought this for my 14 yr old daughter who reads way beyond her grade level and she told me this book was too simplistic for her. I gave it to my 10 year old and she said it was, "too sad." I read it and loved it. I think my 14 year old just didn't want to read something that I suggested. It was well written and a bit simplistic however, it is intended to be for young adults not a 52 year old man with an advanced degree. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it and found it illuminating.

Although written with teen readers in mind, it is a good read for adults. For several years I have followed the horror of the Syrian conflict, but Abawi's accounts of Tariq's goodbyes and hardships scar me deeper than newsreels. Not long ago I walked the Aegean shores in Turkey with my 3 year old granddaughter. We picked up children's shoes and mittens, adult coats and sweaters, blankets and scarves that belonged to refugees attempting to cross to Greece to the island of Lesvos and onto Europe. Did they drown or did they throw these belongings overboard to lighten the load of the smugglers' cheap rafts? They were the people that the author writes about. They chose to leave the horror only to be 2nd class citizens wherever they land. I wish Assad could open his mind to a book like this and have some empathy.

I have to say that I disliked this book just because it is too romanticized. She also describes everything, like what the guy across the street is feeling, how the neighbors are feeling, etc. It feels fake because of that. The story is interesting, but the fact that she finds time to put some romance in the story and describes everything in the minimal details, makes me feel all the time that is a fictional book, and it does not make me feel anything for the characters.

This was a really powerful book and it looked at the Syrian conflict and refugee crisis from multiple angles, but it didn't get across quite the impact I was expecting due to the narrator; having it be Destiny caused a certain removal from what was actually happening and sometimes lead to little monologues about life and death and destiny. While beautiful, it took away from an already heartbreaking story.

Well written story about the heartbreaking journey of one family caught in the terrifying reality of a war torn country and the loss endured by the survivors. This will rip your heart out and make you grateful to live in safety. Be a helper!

This book should be on the national curriculum for older schoolchildren. All government ministers and world decision makers should read it too. Harrowing, heartbreaking and a real insight.

interesting read