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acsaper's review against another edition
3.0
I think I might've been too tired on the plane to appreciate this book. I raced through it, sort of just hoping that it would end - or, become more interesting.
It was lent to my with a promise of greater understanding of the current conflict in Syria. Not sure it exactly provided that, but I think it did offer a glimpse into the various factions and motivating factors from those who are fighting against the current regime.
Haris gets stuck at the border, trying to make his way back to fight, as some sort of repentance for a life lived serving the US Military in Iraq. He's left behind his sister he's sworn to protect and on some sort of personal quest to find his 'purpose.'
He's halted along the way and manages to spend the entire book at the border, looking for ways to get across, and questioning his motivations for doing so. I suppose it's a lament on war, atrocity, revenge, heroism, courage, and cowardice - but I just don't think I enjoyed it all that much. Seems like it could make a great movie though...
It was lent to my with a promise of greater understanding of the current conflict in Syria. Not sure it exactly provided that, but I think it did offer a glimpse into the various factions and motivating factors from those who are fighting against the current regime.
Haris gets stuck at the border, trying to make his way back to fight, as some sort of repentance for a life lived serving the US Military in Iraq. He's left behind his sister he's sworn to protect and on some sort of personal quest to find his 'purpose.'
He's halted along the way and manages to spend the entire book at the border, looking for ways to get across, and questioning his motivations for doing so. I suppose it's a lament on war, atrocity, revenge, heroism, courage, and cowardice - but I just don't think I enjoyed it all that much. Seems like it could make a great movie though...
torihoo's review
3.0
A good read for any wanting to understand the chaos and horror of the war in Syria right now from a narrative standpoint. Only 3 stars because it felt difficult to connect with Haris, the main character, and to get at his emotions.
smokeyshouse's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Interesting setting and premise, but the characters were not developed enough to justify the plot; the ending was not satisfying. But there were moments of tension in the novel that were well written. Also, this was about the resistance to Assad in Syria, but was very topical to what is going on in Gaza now.
jcgrenn_reads's review
5.0
4.7ish. Ackerman is an author to be read with a mind to be explored. Dark at the Crossing is a big book in a few pages, the characters dirty, tangible, and sad.
kshiner's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.0
This is a tightly written narrative about trust, loyalty, grief, and responsibility and how none of that is clear in a war.
literarylife221b's review
4.0
This was one of those books I may not have picked up on my own, but I am glad was sent to me. Essentially, the main character is an Arab American who moved from Iraq to Dearborn, MI. You know he has had a troubled past that haunts him, and learn more about what happened to him as the story unfolds. While living in MI, he feels lost; his life is unfocused and without purpose, so he decides to go fight the regime in Syria. However, once he arrives in Turkey and attempts to cross the border, he is robbed and loses his passport and money. This leads to his meeting a handful of other main characters to the story...and to a gut wrenching and heartbreaking look into the lives of those living in the midst of Civil War. I really enjoyed the author's writing style, for such a complex subject he was straightforward and yet very descriptive so everything came to life in my mind.
alisonjfields's review against another edition
2.0
There are a lot of problems with this book. I’m not sure how many are directly attributable to “this is a book entirely about Iraqis and Syrians written entirely by an American Iraq War vet,” but some of the background politics here (and reasons why people make the decisions they do) feel kind of like exactly the thing an American Iraq War vet would feel and maybe not what a displaced Iraqi translator/Syrian refugees would feel.
jdintr's review
4.0
In Dark at the Crossing, Elliot Ackerman, himself an Iraq War veteran, ties the fighting of the Aughts to the terror of our present decade through the character of Haris, an Iraqi expatriate returning to the region to fight against the Assad regime for.... Well that's part of the tangled Syrian web, isn't it?
Haris, like many American collaborators, has left Iraq with his sister, living for a time in Michigan, but the beginning of the novel finds him on the Turkish border city of Kilis, trying to cross a closed border to fight on behalf of rebel forces. Daesh (ISIS) is also in town, and Haris's handlers pry the murky ground of mixed allegiances that emerge in any war zone.
There is a relationship Haris forges with Daphne, a grieving mother desperate to return to Aleppo to comb the rubble for her missing daughter. I don't want to call this a 'love story,' because while Haris and Daphne certainly draw closer, the intimacy one would look for in such a tale is completely missing. I could say they come together like two rafts lashed together to run a rapids more than "two ships passing in the night."
Ackerman's sense of setting is vivid, but I never got the motivation of key characters like Haris and Amir, costing this well-written book a fifth star in my opinion.
For those who enjoyed Iraq War novels like The Yellow Birds and Redeployment, this is a novel that is definitely worth adding to the canon.
Haris, like many American collaborators, has left Iraq with his sister, living for a time in Michigan, but the beginning of the novel finds him on the Turkish border city of Kilis, trying to cross a closed border to fight on behalf of rebel forces. Daesh (ISIS) is also in town, and Haris's handlers pry the murky ground of mixed allegiances that emerge in any war zone.
There is a relationship Haris forges with Daphne, a grieving mother desperate to return to Aleppo to comb the rubble for her missing daughter. I don't want to call this a 'love story,' because while Haris and Daphne certainly draw closer, the intimacy one would look for in such a tale is completely missing. I could say they come together like two rafts lashed together to run a rapids more than "two ships passing in the night."
Ackerman's sense of setting is vivid, but I never got the motivation of key characters like Haris and Amir, costing this well-written book a fifth star in my opinion.
For those who enjoyed Iraq War novels like The Yellow Birds and Redeployment, this is a novel that is definitely worth adding to the canon.
pearloz's review
4.0
All that effort, all that preparation. This book was surprisingly tense and human--but human without much warmth, at least not until the last scenes. The girl with the envelope full of seeds in her pocket really got to me.