Adam was born in Syria and as the current troubles increase he leaves to live in Malaysia. This novel looks at his life and family in Syria and how he copes living away from them in Malaysia.
Asaad covers an awful lot of ground in his novel. His writing style is similar to Jeremy Clarkson and you can imagine Adam deploying a Yorkshire accent as he rants about Syria, politics, religion and women in a very blokey Top Gear way. I liked Adam’s character as he appeared very knowledgeable, educated and street-wise. I very quickly developed an empathy for Adam. This was achieved in a simple stand-point as Adam calls himself a global-citizen and not a Syrian or an Arab. This is very easy for the reader to identify with as Adam then comes across as another bloke rather than a member of a country or race. I feel the same way myself, I am just an ordinary bloke rather than a white skinned Englishman living in Wales. Adam does have a good rant at how race plays an integral part in his life in Malaysia and how this ignorance is both frustrating and wrong. Asaad has a very extensive vocabulary which makes his novel very descriptive.
The structure of this novel is soft. There are opinion related bits where Adam puts the world to rights, parts relating to his life in Syria and parts following his life in Malaysia. Then there are parts just reflecting on the differences between cultures before moving onto the shock and awe of war torn Syria. So this novel does float about quite a lot but the general direction is a bloke in the pub ranting about what is wrong with the world, to a depressing end of what a hell of earth Syria has become.
I found this to be a good book to read. It was interesting and refreshing to get a personal opinion about ordinary life far away from home. It did not provide a regular novel reading experience though. There was not a big range of developed characters building an extensive plot. This book is more an exploration of life, how it is now. It is not a story that builds hope in the reader as it grows to a happy end. It is not an entertaining read although there is some sarcasm to bring the odd smile. To call this book a novel is misleading as it lacks the storyline and structure of your average book/novel/tale/thriller. It does however highlight the plight of people living a very different life to people in the Western world. It does provide an escapism for readers in their peaceful and stable homes. When you get to the end of a good regular novel you sit back and marvel at how much you enjoyed the characters and the plot. When you get to the end of An Ishmael of Syria you feel very sad and angry at the total mess the country Syria has become. You feel depressed about man’s inhumanity to man, the senseless violence sweeping the Middle East and the total waste and cheapness of life in Syria.
I am pleased a friend on Goodreads put me onto this book. I think it is a good book that I will vote 4 stars. It does not work as a novel in the storytelling sense but scores highly in the eyeopener stakes. Readers can enjoy fiction because they are shielded from reality but An Ishmael of Syria is based on the actual misery of ordinary people in Syria. So if you want a heart warming, cosy and loving read this is not a book for you. But if you live in the real world and can accept the brutality of war, this book is worth you time although it left me feeling very sad and thankful for the location of my accident of birth.
Thanks to NetGalley and Asaad Almohammad for giving me a copy of this book on the understanding that I provide an honest review.
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