A review by gabrielastbr
Recognizing the Stranger: On Palestine and Narrative by Isabella Hammad

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

I haven’t read Hammad’s novels, but I’ve only heard great things. This made me jump at the chance to request this advanced copy of this audiobook.

At its core, I think this text tries to convey the importance of stories as a tool to recognize the humanity of “strangers” or “others.” The author explores the concept of anagnorisis or having an “aha” moment when interacting with art. The hope, I think, is that people not only get that moment of recognition with the Palestinian people, but turn it into action.

This isn’t a deep dive into the complex sociopolitical landscape of Palestine and Israel. Instead, I took this as an invitation to keep exploring the stories written by Palestinian people, recommend them, and turn recognition into support and pressure to get policymakers on the right side of history.

Wonderfully written. And the audiobook also includes the recording of the lecture, too!

I want to thank RBmedia for providing an advance copy of this audiobook through NetGalley. This is out today, September 24th!