A review by zreader
Between Two Worlds: Escape from Tyranny: Growing Up in the Shadow of Saddam by Laurie Becklund, Zainab Salbi
3.0
Salbi’s story of growing up in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq was tough to read, but also tough to put down.
She shares her life story of growing up in his shadow, as the book’s title explains. It wasn’t a story of growing up around Hussein, but a story about Salbi and her time both in and outside Iraq.
Hussein was able to completely manipulate an entire country through the use of terror. His power came from fear. More than half of the book is the story of adults being so scared that they forget how to make their own decisions.
Because of her family’s proximity to Hussein, they had to make themselves available to him whenever he called on them and live the life he wanted them to live.
This story does a great job of letting us live the life of an affluent family in Iraq at that time.
However, Salbi explains her family’s relationship with Hussein as, somehow, different than any other affluent family that was in his inner circle. She says that, to everyone else in the country, she was an outsider because her family was “Friends of Saddam.” Within Hussein’s inner circle, she considered her family outsiders, as well. While she may believe that is true, I find it hard to believe that the people her family spent the most time with saw them as outsiders.
Understandably, she seems to have trouble coping with her relationship with Hussein. She goes back and forth when she talks about how she felt. She describes knowing two different versions of Saddam Hussein. She makes comments about hating him as a child and young adult but also tells stories about how she had fun with him or while in his company. So I wonder if her recollection of hatred is real, or only hindsight.
In all, an excellent book with a story that helped me view the world from a different perspective.
She shares her life story of growing up in his shadow, as the book’s title explains. It wasn’t a story of growing up around Hussein, but a story about Salbi and her time both in and outside Iraq.
Hussein was able to completely manipulate an entire country through the use of terror. His power came from fear. More than half of the book is the story of adults being so scared that they forget how to make their own decisions.
Because of her family’s proximity to Hussein, they had to make themselves available to him whenever he called on them and live the life he wanted them to live.
This story does a great job of letting us live the life of an affluent family in Iraq at that time.
However, Salbi explains her family’s relationship with Hussein as, somehow, different than any other affluent family that was in his inner circle. She says that, to everyone else in the country, she was an outsider because her family was “Friends of Saddam.” Within Hussein’s inner circle, she considered her family outsiders, as well. While she may believe that is true, I find it hard to believe that the people her family spent the most time with saw them as outsiders.
Understandably, she seems to have trouble coping with her relationship with Hussein. She goes back and forth when she talks about how she felt. She describes knowing two different versions of Saddam Hussein. She makes comments about hating him as a child and young adult but also tells stories about how she had fun with him or while in his company. So I wonder if her recollection of hatred is real, or only hindsight.
In all, an excellent book with a story that helped me view the world from a different perspective.