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4ndysmith's review against another edition
5.0
It was a difficult to reflect on this book and attempt to assign it a rating out of five stars. I felt it would take a special sort of cognitive dissonance to give it a star rating after having just read about a real, absolutely horrendous experience - and not an experience that happened years ago - but something that happened over the course of just the last five years. And yet, it was such a poetically, well-written book. This made me struggle to fit what I read into a well-known category.
Then I read this excerpt from the Translators Reflections:
”Rather than categorise his writing as 'refugee narrative' or 'refugee memoir, the book is better situated in other traditions: clandestine
philosophical literature, prison narratives, philosophical fiction, Australian dissident writing, Iranian political art, transnational literature, decolonial writing and the Kurdish literary tradition.”
And so, as such, I have no doubt this deserves a 5-star rating, but really, a 5-out-of-5 rating for a book like this seems rather vapid. This book really just deserves to be read, to be a catalyst for change, and then to be a part of history along with the events described.
Then I read this excerpt from the Translators Reflections:
”Rather than categorise his writing as 'refugee narrative' or 'refugee memoir, the book is better situated in other traditions: clandestine
philosophical literature, prison narratives, philosophical fiction, Australian dissident writing, Iranian political art, transnational literature, decolonial writing and the Kurdish literary tradition.”
And so, as such, I have no doubt this deserves a 5-star rating, but really, a 5-out-of-5 rating for a book like this seems rather vapid. This book really just deserves to be read, to be a catalyst for change, and then to be a part of history along with the events described.
naoki's review against another edition
5.0
Kurdish journalist Behrouz Boochani was imprisoned in Manus Island’s Offshore Detention Centre for 6 years. He wrote this book while still incarcerated by sending WhatsApp messages on a secret phone to a translator in Australia.
Even for someone who has followed Australia’s disgusting treatment of refugees, Boochani’s descriptions of the horrific reality of living in detention are shocking.
When writer Linds Jaivin reviewed this book she wrote, “Begin mandatory reading. End mandatory detention.” This is exactly how I feel. Every Australian should read this book.
Boochani talks openly about writing as an act of resistance. No Friends But the Mountains is exactly that. A powerful act of resistance by someone who refuses to be silenced. READ IT.
Even for someone who has followed Australia’s disgusting treatment of refugees, Boochani’s descriptions of the horrific reality of living in detention are shocking.
When writer Linds Jaivin reviewed this book she wrote, “Begin mandatory reading. End mandatory detention.” This is exactly how I feel. Every Australian should read this book.
Boochani talks openly about writing as an act of resistance. No Friends But the Mountains is exactly that. A powerful act of resistance by someone who refuses to be silenced. READ IT.
sophiemadgwick's review against another edition
5.0
This was difficult to read and should be far more widely read. I particularly appreciated the translator’s notes.
codosbankarena's review against another edition
4.0
The purity in Boochani’s writing makes for a horrifying story, one which we can connect with as humans and sufferers, but on a level that is so unspeakable and disturbing that you can’t help but feel ashamed in our treatment of refugees and seekers of solitude.
clarereids's review against another edition
5.0
Incredibly powerful, harrowing, heartbreaking.
In beautiful and vivid prose (written in Farsi via thousands of text messages and translated into English by Omid Tofighian), Behrouz Boochani details the horrors of his and his fellow asylum seekers' imprisonment on Manus Island. A very difficult book, but one I believe every Australian should read. This is done in our name.
In beautiful and vivid prose (written in Farsi via thousands of text messages and translated into English by Omid Tofighian), Behrouz Boochani details the horrors of his and his fellow asylum seekers' imprisonment on Manus Island. A very difficult book, but one I believe every Australian should read. This is done in our name.
blairmahoney's review against another edition
5.0
A powerful and important read by an asylum seeker who has been illegally detained by the Australian government on Papua New Guinea's Manus Island for the past six years, but it's not just one of those books to read out of a sense of duty, it's a carefully constructed piece of writing that is of great aesthetic merit. Of course it needs to be read by all politicians as a first step to changing Australia's inhumane 'border protection' policies, but it should be read by everyone who is interested in literature as well. It recently won Australia's richest literary award, the Victorian Premier's Literary Award. The circumstances of its composition are in themselves remarkable, with the book composed by Boochani in Farsi and sent as text messages on a cellphone that he had to keep hidden from prison. Boochani is a journalist and has had a lot of work published in The Guardian reporting on the conditions on Manus. There are a couple of essays by the translator included in the book and he does a good job of locating Boochani's work in the Kurdish literary tradition in particular, mentioning a lot of writers that I was completely unfamiliar with. Highly recommended.
fhammond_36's review against another edition
4.0
Read for book club. Hard to get started, especially the harrowing sea crossing. An interesting way to write - that made it easier to read considering the topic - with poetry and all the descriptive names. Part story part academic exploration of the horrible prison system. Things need to change. For all humanity.
maryvdb2024's review against another edition
4.0
Incredibly powerful book. And incredibly sad to know that the author remains incarcerated. Such a clear harrowing description of a boat journey which ended with the boat capsizing. A real insight into what “stopping the boats “ means for the refugees caught in the nightmare of abandonment and indefinite imprisonments.
Boo ha I shows great courage in writing this story and exposing the shame we should all feel as Australians for the inhuman treatment of refugees. A must read.
Boo ha I shows great courage in writing this story and exposing the shame we should all feel as Australians for the inhuman treatment of refugees. A must read.