jbmorgan86's review against another edition
4.0
A crucial aspect of Joseph Campbell's "Hero's Journey" is "Crossing the First Threshold." Bilbo and Frodo both leave the Shire. Dorothy opens the door to Oz. Alice chases the White Rabbit into Wonderland. The crossing of the threshold shows that the hero is fully committed to the journey. The novel Dark at the Crossing, however, is all about crossing the threshold (the threshold being the Syrian border).
Haris is an Iraqi-American citizenship who won his citizenship for being a translator for American forces in Iraq. However, life hasn't turned out well for him in America. He works as a janitor at a university so he can put his sister through the university. Now, his sister decides to marry a wealthy man and move back to the Middle East. Haris decides that he must also return to the Middle East. However, he isn't going for love. He's going for war.
The whole novel is about Haris attempting to cross the Turkish-Syrian border so he can join the fight against Bashar Al-Assad. He meets allies and opponents along the way. How will he cross the border? With democratic-loving freedom fighters? With Da-Esh (ISIS)?
The resounding message of the novel is that war is hell. I was somewhat surprised by this when I learned that the author had served several tours in Iraq.
The novel was short-listed for the National Book Award.
Haris is an Iraqi-American citizenship who won his citizenship for being a translator for American forces in Iraq. However, life hasn't turned out well for him in America. He works as a janitor at a university so he can put his sister through the university. Now, his sister decides to marry a wealthy man and move back to the Middle East. Haris decides that he must also return to the Middle East. However, he isn't going for love. He's going for war.
The whole novel is about Haris attempting to cross the Turkish-Syrian border so he can join the fight against Bashar Al-Assad. He meets allies and opponents along the way. How will he cross the border? With democratic-loving freedom fighters? With Da-Esh (ISIS)?
The resounding message of the novel is that war is hell. I was somewhat surprised by this when I learned that the author had served several tours in Iraq.
The novel was short-listed for the National Book Award.
pentalith5's review against another edition
4.0
This gripping tale of war at the Turkish border with Syria grapples with the essence of what it means to be human in a world of conflict and tragedy. It's well written and filled with many gems such as these:
If you're interested in these kinds of ideas - what it means to devote yourself to a cause, or to identify yourself as having a home in one country and not another, I highly recommend this book.
Side note: I went to high school with the author, who was a year ahead of me, hence why this book popped out as I was browsing Overdrive!
“But I won’t help under the assumption that you’re a good man punishing a bad one,” she added. “I’m exhausted by those ideas. He took something from you. You’re going to take it back, nothing more. Agreed?
He believed in the war but not as a cause. He believed in it as an impulse, the way a painter paints, or a musician plays, a necessary impulse.
If you're interested in these kinds of ideas - what it means to devote yourself to a cause, or to identify yourself as having a home in one country and not another, I highly recommend this book.
Side note: I went to high school with the author, who was a year ahead of me, hence why this book popped out as I was browsing Overdrive!
carmenere's review against another edition
4.0
Haris Abadi is an Iraqi by birth, American by gratitude. As an interpreter, his duty is blurred by emotion which leads to regret. Perhaps to set things right, he chooses to return to the Middle East and become a fighter for the Free Syrian Army. He meets Daphne and Amir who also struggle with events in their past and together they work to achieve their desires and cross the border back into Syria but the war is far reaching and filled with deception, revenge and betrayal. There is no place for naivete and the gullible. One needs to know where they're convictions lie, who the enemy is, what they are fighting and why. This story had an unexpected though not fulfilling conclusion and serves to reiterate just how ongoing and complicated this war can be.
cat_manders's review against another edition
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
itsgg's review against another edition
3.0
3 stars. This book is worth reading not necessarily for its quality, but because it humanizes an important moment in current world events. Like Virgil in Dante's Inferno, protagonist Haris leads us back and forth over the Syrian border and introduces us to characters living in a variety of circumstances whose life courses have been altered by the civil war. It's moving and specific in a way that news reports are not. I recommend it for anyone interested in getting more insight into the conflict there.
alexkerner's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting and topical but the prose isn't particularly impressive or engaging
agarje1's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 Stars
For me, the most interesting aspect of this book was how it dealt thematically with the idea of borders. Of course, there is the physical border between Turkey and Syria that the main character, Haris, is trying to cross. But there are also evident borders (or barriers) between each of the characters because none of them completely understands the feelings and motivations of the others. As a result of this, Haris often ends up completely misreading people and situations. The idea of crossing a border seems simple enough, but the trials and tribulations that Haris goes through to try to cross the actual border mirrors how difficult it is to cross the barriers people put up between themselves.
The portrayal of Antep and the Turkish border towns seemed to come from a place of intimate knowledge on the author's part, which was nice to read. The characters were also very deeply drawn and had complex relations with each other that I can only just begin to untangle. The writing style was also quite sophisticated and really fit the somber mood of the story very well.
However, the story dragged a bit towards the middle, and if it wasn't for the audiobook it probably would have taken me forever to get through it. Despite that, this book was a good portrayal of people made broken and listless by a horrific war.
For me, the most interesting aspect of this book was how it dealt thematically with the idea of borders. Of course, there is the physical border between Turkey and Syria that the main character, Haris, is trying to cross. But there are also evident borders (or barriers) between each of the characters because none of them completely understands the feelings and motivations of the others. As a result of this, Haris often ends up completely misreading people and situations. The idea of crossing a border seems simple enough, but the trials and tribulations that Haris goes through to try to cross the actual border mirrors how difficult it is to cross the barriers people put up between themselves.
The portrayal of Antep and the Turkish border towns seemed to come from a place of intimate knowledge on the author's part, which was nice to read. The characters were also very deeply drawn and had complex relations with each other that I can only just begin to untangle. The writing style was also quite sophisticated and really fit the somber mood of the story very well.
However, the story dragged a bit towards the middle, and if it wasn't for the audiobook it probably would have taken me forever to get through it. Despite that, this book was a good portrayal of people made broken and listless by a horrific war.
abeanbg's review against another edition
3.0
This was good, but rushed. I liked the tone, setting, and themes that Ackerman was working with here. But he rushes through the whole plot in a week, which makes the relationships sort of absurd. A bunch of adults in a war zone acting like, well, like characters in a book. What makes this strange is that this isn't even very plot-heavy! He could have drawn it out, or added more, I dunno. It's a solid 3.5/5 sort of novel, but not on a par with something like A Constellation of Vital Phenomena.