Scan barcode
A review by books_ergo_sum
Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear: Poems from Gaza by Mosab Abu Toha
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
5.0
This was, quite frankly, incredible.
I read this poetry memoire in one sitting. I told myself I would only highlight my absolute favourite poems—and then proceeded to highlight almost all of them.
I needed this book. I’ve been reading historians, philosophers, and journalists talking about Gaza. But it can all get so… removed.
And this was the exact opposite. It felt close.
I’m not a poetry girl so I thought these would just be sad and overwrought? But they weren’t at all. The poetry part of it was just how ‘let in’ I felt as I read it.
It wasn’t just about grief or unfairness or how living in Gaza is like living in an irl Kafka novel… it was also kind of existential? It reminded me of The Stranger by Camus. And not just because of the setting.
And like every book I’ve read about Palestine, I was overwhelmed with déjà vu. With the way that this book felt like it was set in Gaza right now but it was published in 2022, about events that had taken place over the author’s entire life.
He said in an interview: “The word for poetry in Arabic, sha’ir, doesn’t refer to a particular form, it only has to do with feeling. So you have to be an expert in showing your feelings…”
And yeah, the man is a poet.
I read this poetry memoire in one sitting. I told myself I would only highlight my absolute favourite poems—and then proceeded to highlight almost all of them.
I needed this book. I’ve been reading historians, philosophers, and journalists talking about Gaza. But it can all get so… removed.
And this was the exact opposite. It felt close.
I’m not a poetry girl so I thought these would just be sad and overwrought? But they weren’t at all. The poetry part of it was just how ‘let in’ I felt as I read it.
It wasn’t just about grief or unfairness or how living in Gaza is like living in an irl Kafka novel… it was also kind of existential? It reminded me of The Stranger by Camus. And not just because of the setting.
And like every book I’ve read about Palestine, I was overwhelmed with déjà vu. With the way that this book felt like it was set in Gaza right now but it was published in 2022, about events that had taken place over the author’s entire life.
He said in an interview: “The word for poetry in Arabic, sha’ir, doesn’t refer to a particular form, it only has to do with feeling. So you have to be an expert in showing your feelings…”
And yeah, the man is a poet.