THE SIRENS OF BAGHDAD

by Yasmina Khadra



The Sirens of Baghdad, the last in Yasmina Khadra's Islamic fundamentalism trilogy, is best described by a passage on the dust jacket of the hardcover: "A masterful and chilling look at violence and its effects on ordinary people." This book went where I thought The Attack was going to. It went into the mind of an ordinary young man from an ordinary Iraqi village. It showed me the horrors he sees as the Allies invade and occupy his country. And it showed me how a kind, non-violent person can be driven to commit a murderous and ultimately suicidal act.

There are good guys and there are bad guys, and the Allies are not always the ones in white. If that bothers you, skip this book. But if you would like to see the Iraq War from the other side, put any prejudices aside and open your mind to what this book has to say. I'm not saying it's always right, but sometimes we need a blatant reminder of the humanity behind the headlines.

Lezlie


The books in Khadra's trilogy:

Book One: The Swallows of Kabul (My Review)
Book Two: The Attack (My Review)
Book Three: The Sirens of Baghdad

THE ATTACK

by Yasmina Khadra




After spending his shift at a Tel Aviv hospital working on the human carnage caused by the latest suicide bombing, Arab-Israeli citizen and celebrated surgeon Amin Jaafari is shocked to be told his wife was the bomber.

While I didn't find The Attack to be as mesmerizing as The Swallows of Kabul, it is still a deeply thought-provoking story. I expected to be brought into the mind of a suicide bomber, to see what turns a person to that kind of act of violence. But The Attack focuses more on the other people whose lives are affected by the actions of the bomber -- the husband, the friends, the family -- who may or may not have been aware of the devastating plans. I felt Jaafari's helplessness as he searched for the motivation that caused his beloved, kind wife to engage in seemingly senseless violence that perpetrated only more senseless violence until the final, horrific end.

Perhaps the whole world would be a better place if we all thought long and hard about the words Dr. Jaafari's father told him as a child:

If you start from the principle that your worst enemy is the very person who tries to sow hatred in your heart, you're halfway to happiness.

Lezlie

The books in Khadra's trilogy:

Book One: The Swallows of Kabul (My Review)
Book Two: The Attack
Book Three: The Sirens of Baghdad (My Review)

THE SWALLOWS OF KABUL

by Yasmina Khadra



The first book in Yasmina Khadra's trilogy about Islamic fundamentalism is the story of two couples whose lives under the rule of the Taliban become linked and changed forever at the scene of the stoning to death of a prostitute.

This is a gut-wrenching little book. The despair of life under the Taliban thumb nearly stains your fingers as you turn the pages. The writing is capivatingly beautiful, but the beautiful words tell an ugly story. One character's courageous act at the end nearly appears as selfish desperation against the backdrop of such a miserable existence. If this is a true picture of life in that society, and I have no reason to believe that it is not, I am speechless. Books like this bring you to your knees, thankful for the blessings of your own life.

Lezlie

The books in Khadra's trilogy:

Book One: The Swallows of Kabul
Book Two: The Attack (My Review)
Book Three: The Sirens of Baghdad (My Review)