aflovell2's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
5.0
thisotherbookaccount's review against another edition
4.0
Rating The Beekeeper by Dunya Mikhail is difficult, and this is not the first time this year I am feeling this way. The stories told in this book are compelling and brutal. These are first-hand accounts of the horrors of ISIS — or Daesh, as they are referred to in this book — told (mainly) from the perspectives of the women that were kidnapped, imprisoned, enslaved and raped. Then there is the titular Beekeeper, or Abdullah, who's made it his life's mission to rescue as many people from the clutches of ISIS as possible by buying and smuggling them out one by one.
By all accounts, this should be a shoo-in to the five-star hall of fame. However, like many similar books that I read this year, I find it hard to give it that final 0.5 star to push it over the line. While the stories here are incredibly compelling and moving, the structure of the book is a little piecemeal. Majority of the book are transcripts of conversations between Mikhail and Abdullah or one of the victims of war. And there isn't a discernible structure to the book as well. Instead of telling the story of one survivor in a chapter, sometimes you get three — or none at all. Sometimes the author inserts her own memories of childhood in Iraq. There is even a strange chapter where she recounts a dream of her speaking with Pluto (yes, the planet).
This reminds me of the time when I read A Grief Observed by CS Lewis, written after Lewis had lost his wife. The book was written in long hand and published under a pseudonym. The content of the book is raw and unadulterated. CS Lewis committed all his thoughts, doubts and emotions onto the page without holding anything back, which makes for an insightful book about a man dealing with his grief and loss. With that said, maybe that’s why his editor thought it’d be prudent to keep as much of the book intact as possible. Meddling with the raw thoughts and emotions of a grieving author is just not something you want to do as an editor. You don’t want to take the draft back to the author and say, hey, Lewis, you know this chapter over here? It really slows the book down — you just don’t do that. The result is a book that, while compelling, feels at times a little all over the place.
I don’t think The Beekeeper is quite as bad in that regard. I think Mikhail does a fairly good job at keeping the narrative straight. It’s just that, since she is predominantly known as a poet, the muscles in her brain is perhaps tuned differently from prose writers. There is something a little off about the way she structured the whole book. I can’t quite put my finger on the issue, but that is what I feel whenever I read a book that’s been written by a poet of some kind. Something just feels off, like there isn’t a cadence to what I am reading.
With that said, this is still a highly recommended book. It is even more compelling considering that most of these events happened in very recent history. The violence here were not recorded on video and posted online for the world to see. We saw drownings and beheadings of soldiers and ‘infidels’, but the women that were kidnapped, imprisoned, enslaved and raped were never shown. So to read these accounts, to me, is important. It gives perspectives to the conflicts that are happening in the Middle-east right now.
What I love even more about this book is that it doesn’t try to vilify a religion or gender — something that many books I have read recently tend to do, especially those that concern this part of the world. Instead, Muslims are often depicted as kind and brave people, and men and women both help to rescue these women from ISIS. If there is one takeaway from this book, it is the fact that humans are capable of the greatest evil, but also the greatest kindness as well. I just wished that this book had read less like a record or documentation.
By all accounts, this should be a shoo-in to the five-star hall of fame. However, like many similar books that I read this year, I find it hard to give it that final 0.5 star to push it over the line. While the stories here are incredibly compelling and moving, the structure of the book is a little piecemeal. Majority of the book are transcripts of conversations between Mikhail and Abdullah or one of the victims of war. And there isn't a discernible structure to the book as well. Instead of telling the story of one survivor in a chapter, sometimes you get three — or none at all. Sometimes the author inserts her own memories of childhood in Iraq. There is even a strange chapter where she recounts a dream of her speaking with Pluto (yes, the planet).
This reminds me of the time when I read A Grief Observed by CS Lewis, written after Lewis had lost his wife. The book was written in long hand and published under a pseudonym. The content of the book is raw and unadulterated. CS Lewis committed all his thoughts, doubts and emotions onto the page without holding anything back, which makes for an insightful book about a man dealing with his grief and loss. With that said, maybe that’s why his editor thought it’d be prudent to keep as much of the book intact as possible. Meddling with the raw thoughts and emotions of a grieving author is just not something you want to do as an editor. You don’t want to take the draft back to the author and say, hey, Lewis, you know this chapter over here? It really slows the book down — you just don’t do that. The result is a book that, while compelling, feels at times a little all over the place.
I don’t think The Beekeeper is quite as bad in that regard. I think Mikhail does a fairly good job at keeping the narrative straight. It’s just that, since she is predominantly known as a poet, the muscles in her brain is perhaps tuned differently from prose writers. There is something a little off about the way she structured the whole book. I can’t quite put my finger on the issue, but that is what I feel whenever I read a book that’s been written by a poet of some kind. Something just feels off, like there isn’t a cadence to what I am reading.
With that said, this is still a highly recommended book. It is even more compelling considering that most of these events happened in very recent history. The violence here were not recorded on video and posted online for the world to see. We saw drownings and beheadings of soldiers and ‘infidels’, but the women that were kidnapped, imprisoned, enslaved and raped were never shown. So to read these accounts, to me, is important. It gives perspectives to the conflicts that are happening in the Middle-east right now.
What I love even more about this book is that it doesn’t try to vilify a religion or gender — something that many books I have read recently tend to do, especially those that concern this part of the world. Instead, Muslims are often depicted as kind and brave people, and men and women both help to rescue these women from ISIS. If there is one takeaway from this book, it is the fact that humans are capable of the greatest evil, but also the greatest kindness as well. I just wished that this book had read less like a record or documentation.
perusinghannah's review against another edition
3.0
(6.6/10) - ⭐⭐⭐
Content warnings can be found here
The Beekeeper of Sinjar is a collection of accounts from Yazidi women who were kidnapped by Daesh (ISIS), and the man who does his best to help them escape and smuggle them back to safety. It's such an important read for the topic alone, and I think it mostly did a good job of telling their stories without embellishing them unnecessarily. Everything speaks for itself, and there's a lot of power in these women's testimonies that will hit you to your core.
However, I can't say I fully understand the choice of the author to structure this novel around herself. Given that she's not one of these women, nor someone involved in the rescue operations (from what I can tell), I don't see the need for her to include herself at all, and I think it would've been a much smoother read had she just focussed on Abdullah and the women instead of seemingly transcribing conversations they had with her. As it was, it made for quite a clunky reading experience for no other apparent reason than to make herself appear on page.
However, given the topic and how little information about these women has ever made it outside of the Middle East, I do definitely think it's worth anyone's and everyone's time. I've tried to provide an extensive list of content warnings through the link, and advice anyone who wants to pick up this book to consult them before reading.
Content warnings can be found here
The Beekeeper of Sinjar is a collection of accounts from Yazidi women who were kidnapped by Daesh (ISIS), and the man who does his best to help them escape and smuggle them back to safety. It's such an important read for the topic alone, and I think it mostly did a good job of telling their stories without embellishing them unnecessarily. Everything speaks for itself, and there's a lot of power in these women's testimonies that will hit you to your core.
However, I can't say I fully understand the choice of the author to structure this novel around herself. Given that she's not one of these women, nor someone involved in the rescue operations (from what I can tell), I don't see the need for her to include herself at all, and I think it would've been a much smoother read had she just focussed on Abdullah and the women instead of seemingly transcribing conversations they had with her. As it was, it made for quite a clunky reading experience for no other apparent reason than to make herself appear on page.
However, given the topic and how little information about these women has ever made it outside of the Middle East, I do definitely think it's worth anyone's and everyone's time. I've tried to provide an extensive list of content warnings through the link, and advice anyone who wants to pick up this book to consult them before reading.
debbiecuddy's review against another edition
4.0
Summer bingo-Outside your comfort zone
Beautifully written and heartbreakingly sad, this book is well worth reading.
Beautifully written and heartbreakingly sad, this book is well worth reading.
anitaofplaybooktag's review against another edition
3.0
I have mixed feelings about this book.
It essentially is a series of transcribed interviews with a wonderful person who rescues (mostly Yazidi) women kidnapped by Daesh. The man is a true hero, and I love that his story is being told. He risks a lot to save women who have undergone the most horrific atrocities. The book also relates the stories of these women, and all I could think of was how much it reminded me of the Holocaust. Honestly, these first person accounts truly raise awareness of the plights of people in the face of pure evil. From that standpoint, this book should be read.
But there was something about how it was written that just left me cold. The stories weren't written into a narrative that really gave us much insight into the man doing the rescuing. Meanwhile, the author did have points where she talked about herself and her return to Iraq, but those elements didn't really add anything to the book. The atrocities were so many and so similar that it began to feel like the same awful tale over and over; yet somehow the victims didn't come to life for me and neither did any other elements (history, religion, politics - - the drivers behind the evil).
All in all, I feel it is important to bear witness to the atrocities and to let the world know about them. This book does so, and the first few stories brought tears to my eyes. For that alone, I would recommend it.
It essentially is a series of transcribed interviews with a wonderful person who rescues (mostly Yazidi) women kidnapped by Daesh. The man is a true hero, and I love that his story is being told. He risks a lot to save women who have undergone the most horrific atrocities. The book also relates the stories of these women, and all I could think of was how much it reminded me of the Holocaust. Honestly, these first person accounts truly raise awareness of the plights of people in the face of pure evil. From that standpoint, this book should be read.
But there was something about how it was written that just left me cold. The stories weren't written into a narrative that really gave us much insight into the man doing the rescuing. Meanwhile, the author did have points where she talked about herself and her return to Iraq, but those elements didn't really add anything to the book. The atrocities were so many and so similar that it began to feel like the same awful tale over and over; yet somehow the victims didn't come to life for me and neither did any other elements (history, religion, politics - - the drivers behind the evil).
All in all, I feel it is important to bear witness to the atrocities and to let the world know about them. This book does so, and the first few stories brought tears to my eyes. For that alone, I would recommend it.
rose_peterson's review against another edition
4.0
I can't believe these human rights atrocities happened under my nose while I was in college, and I was completely oblivious to them. Mikhail has captured the stories of the women, as filtered through Abdullah, a man who is nothing short of a hero, rescuing hundreds of abducted and abused women. Someday, kids will learn about this in school and wonder how these events were allowed to happen at this point in history. I will wonder the same, even as I lived through them, and resolve to be more aware, more compassionate, less ignorant in the future.