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What Strange Paradise
What Strange Paradise: A Novel | Omar El Akkad
28 posts | 23 read | 18 to read
From the widely acclaimed author of American War: a new novel--beautifully written, unrelentingly dramatic, and profoundly moving--that brings the global refugee crisis down to the level of a child's eyes. More bodies have washed up on the shores of a small island. Another over-filled, ill-equipped, dilapidated ship has sunk under the weight of its too many passengers: Syrians, Ethiopians, Egyptians, Lebanese, Palestinians, all of them desperate to escape untenable lives in their homelands. And only one has made the passage: nine-year-old Amir, a Syrian boy who has the good fortune to fall into the hands not of the officials but of Vanna: a teenage girl, native to the island, who lives inside her own sense of homelessness in a place and among people she has come to disdain. And though she and the boy are complete strangers, though they don't speak a common language, she determines to do whatever it takes to save him. In alternating chapters, we learn the story of the boy's life and how he came to be on the boat; and we follow the girl and boy as they make their way toward a vision of safety. But as the novel unfurls, we begin to understand that this is not merely the story of two children finding their way through a hostile world, it is the story of our collective moment in this time: of empathy and indifference, of hope and despair--and of the way each of those things can blind us to reality, or guide us to a better one.
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review
melissajayne
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Mehso-so

3.5⭐️ I really liked the premise of the book, but I really got a bit confused as to what the actual “after” storyline was. It was a so-so book that I think needs another few reads to actually make sense of the story. #2023 #fiction #bookreview #bookstagram #refugeecrisis #middleeast #giller #contemporary

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SarahBookInterrupted
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Pickpick

Another good one from Canada Reads. It‘s an excellent book. I was hoping but not expecting a happier ending. There were so many gems in this book. It made me reflect personally but also globally. It‘s one of those books that will stay with me.

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TracyReadsBooks
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#Two4Tuesday

1. Most recently, the tagged book (refugees), Elie Mystal‘s Allow Me to Retort (the US constitution), and The Undocumented Americans (immigrants) all provided, through both fiction and nonfiction, invaluable stories & insight into very important aspects of our world. They give you lots to think about.

2. No, but I do have a friend who got married on Saint Patrick‘s Day…the stories she tells!

@TheSpineView

TheSpineView Thanks for playing! 💚🍀 2y
18 likes1 comment
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kwmg40
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Pickpick

This #CanadaReads contender is an intense and gripping story about a young refugee boy who survives a shipwreck and a girl who befriends him. El Akkad offers harsh but not unfair commentary about the West's attitude toward refugees.

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

BarbaraBB I am intrigued by your review. I still have this one unread on my shelves 2y
TheAromaofBooks Great progress!!! 2y
kwmg40 @BarbaraBB I thought American War was excellent. I'd be interested in hearing what you think of. 2y
kwmg40 @TheAromaofBooks Thank you! 2y
BarbaraBB I really want to read it, thanks for the recommendation! 2y
34 likes5 comments
review
Nebklvr
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Mehso-so

As more refugees will be heading away from conflict,this book is slotted to be a contender for CanadaReads. The shifting timeline bogged the story down and removed some of the intensity. No sweet fantasies are allowed here. Reality is grim and ever present.

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TracyReadsBooks
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Still thinking about this one…about choices and consequences…about journeys riddle with fear and danger but endured with hope and impossible dreams…a compelling examination of the human desire for more, for something better, and where that desire might drive you…

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TracyReadsBooks
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Pickpick

This book brings the global refugee crises to heartbreaking & utterly compelling life in telling the story of a 9-year-old boy who leaves Syria with his family in search of a more peaceful, better life. Amir survives an ill-fated boat trip across the Mediterranean Sea &, in alternating chapters, we learn how he wound up on the ship & what happened after he made landfall. Too many thoughts & not enough space. An excellent book. Highly recommended.

TrishB Great review 👍🏻 2y
31 likes1 comment
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TracyReadsBooks
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Starting this one tonight.

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Blueberry
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Pickpick

This had a slow start. I wasn't sure if I was going to like it but wow. It had a strong ending. 5 ⭐
#CanadaReads2022

66 likes2 stack adds
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Blueberry
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1. Right now it's the five #CanadaReads shortlist selections.
2. No, I haven't.
3. What Strange Paradise

Thank you for tags @TheSpineView and @DarkMina. I tag @NataliePatalie.

#WonderousWednesday @Eggs

TheSpineView You're welcome! 😊 2y
Eggs Thanks for playing 🥳📚🥳 2y
46 likes1 stack add2 comments
review
JacqMac
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Pickpick

Canada Reads book number two for me. The story of a little Syrian boy who washes up on a beach in Europe. I bet you can picture him now. It‘s a good read. And beautifully written. I give it four ⭐️s. I don‘t think it will win. It isn‘t set in Canada. It‘s not irrelevant, but I think it will be hard to defend. It will be a repeat of what happened with American War. It already won The Giller, so it‘s all good. We will see what the rest bring….

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TheKidUpstairs
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#CanadaReads 2022 finalists were announced today! I'm hoping to again read them all before the debates. The theme this year is books to inspire readers to think about community and who we are in the world we live in. The only one I've read so far is What Strange Paradise. Thoughts? Feelings?

Earlene The only one I read is Five Little Indians and it was the most heart wrenching book I have read in a long time. I haven‘t read the others. 2y
JacqMac The only one I read is Five Little Indians, too. It broke my heart, but I loved it. 2y
janeycanuck Haven‘t read any but Washington Black is on the shelf so I might try to get to it soon. I read El Akkad‘s American War and hated it so I‘ll probably steer clear of this one! 2y
TheKidUpstairs @Earlene @JacqMac I just started that one. It seems like a very intense list this year. I just read Scarborough and it was beautifully written by great breaking as well, and What Strange Paradise was emotionally wrenching too. 2y
TheKidUpstairs @janeycanuck I've got Washington Black on my shelf too, I hope to get to it this month. I have high hopes, I absolutely loved 2y
71 likes5 comments
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TheKidUpstairs
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"Perhaps it was not the presence of a revolutionary at a revolution that so enraged the secret police who took them, but the presence of an ordinary man."

62 likes1 stack add
review
CindiB
Pickpick

Amir, 9, follows his uncle/stepfather out of their apartment late at night and boards a boat. Without understanding, he becomes a migrant, stuffed into a rickety boat with others. They capsize and Amir is washed ashore, he flees and encounters a 15 year old girl Vanna. Going back and forth between Before and Now, the chapters are very short, building intensity and sweeping you along with this fantastic, gruelling, hopeful novel. 5/5

46 likes1 stack add
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Lindy
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Omar El Akkad describes his Giller award-winning novel as a Peter Pan fable, reinterpreted as a tale of a child refugee.

36 likes2 stack adds
review
Jolynne
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Pickpick

This book!
Absolutely stunning, the author gives us some of the worst of humankind and the beauty of friendship.
As for the ending, your decision.

8 likes1 stack add
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Lindy
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I‘ve got brief reviews of my 10 favourites of August up on my blog, including the tagged. Five of them are graphic novels this month. https://lindypratch.blogspot.com/2021/08/august-2021-reading-roundup.html?m=1

TrishB Great month 👍🏻 3y
DivineDiana 👏🏻📚👏🏻 3y
Lindy @TrishB @DivineDiana Thanks! ☺️ 3y
See All 7 Comments
Cathythoughts Great month 👍🏻❤️ 3y
Lindy @Cathythoughts I‘m usually so busy attending outdoor festivals in August but covid changed that (for the second summer in a row) so I read instead. 🤷‍♀️ 3y
LauraBrook Thank you for recommending In., I really enjoyed it! You‘re one of my go-to‘s for recommendations. Here‘s hoping your September reading is all outstanding! 3y
Lindy @LauraBrook I‘m so glad to hear you enjoyed In. 😁 3y
36 likes7 comments
quote
SaraBeagle
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Every man you ever meet is nothing but the product of what was withheld from him, what he feels owed.

14 likes2 stack adds
review
Hooked_on_books
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Pickpick

What an extraordinary, devastating book. The story follows a young boy on an immigrant boat alongside an island that could potentially be a safe haven for immigrants but instead is a vacation spot inconvenienced by the bodies that keep washing up onshore. It‘s so, so good. And as for the audio, two words: Dion Graham. 😍

Megabooks Yes, yes, and yes!! Agree. Great review! 3y
Hooked_on_books @Megabooks Thanks! I fully expect this one to be on my best of the year list. But I had to queue up something lighthearted to follow it, since it‘s so heartbreaking. 3y
53 likes1 stack add2 comments
review
Tamra
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Pickpick

This novel explores the disconnect between what tourists who come to the island want and expect to see, and the searing reality of refugees washing up on shore, dead and alive.

“The child lies on the shore.”

Evokes images of 3 year old Alan Kurdi, the Syrian boy who along with his mother and brother did not survive the journey to Turkey. I can‘t “unsee” those images. Author poses the question whose “problem” is this crisis and others like it?

Tamra We are in a drought so the rain is welcome, but it‘s interfering with my outdoor reading time. ☔️ 3y
Megabooks Great review! 3y
Tamra @Megabooks 👍🏾 It‘s difficult to say one “enjoys” these types of stories, but they are necessary. Plus there were a lot of beautifully written & insightful passages. There was a degree of discomfort when the author points a finger at the reader when he says the boy will be forgotten tomorrow, despite the present handwringing/outcry by a segment of the public. 😞 3y
Megabooks I agree. I appreciated that El Akkad so beautifully showed how a child could get passed up and passed around in the refugee process. Often Vänna was the only one who cared. The parts I find myself remembering better now are the ones on the boat. Such a clear and stark picture of desperation. ? 3y
65 likes4 comments
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Tamra
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Up next…..

Bloom & Thai Basil courtesy of market stands. I love this time of year!

Megabooks Enjoy! 3y
63 likes1 comment
review
Lindy
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Pickpick

The gripping tale of a 9-year-old Syrian refugee, only survivor from a boatload of desperate people. His safety is not assured, even after washing up on a tourist beach on a Greek island. Alternating before and after chapters build empathy and suspense. Excellent #audiobook narrated by Dion Graham. #shadowgiller2021 #CanLit

Hooked_on_books I have this audio on my library holds. I didn‘t realize it‘s read by Dion Graham! 😍😍😍 Now I‘m even more excited for it!! 3y
Lindy @Hooked_on_books Yep! You have a treat in store. 😊 3y
33 likes2 comments
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Lindy
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Vänna could not help but think of ancestry as a kind of shackle one could never fully unclasp. An umbilical cord that, no matter how deeply cut, could never be severed.

Alfoster Moss Hart once described it as being “made of piano wire” and I always loved that image! 3y
Lindy @Alfoster Yes! That‘s a great description. 😁 3y
28 likes2 comments
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Lindy
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“You‘ve got a storybook view of the world.”

Maher shrugged. “Books are good for the soul,” he said. “Books will wean you off cruelty.”

“And what will you be left with then?” Mohamed asked.

28 likes1 stack add
review
Megabooks
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Pickpick

A story that seems so simple brings a deep level of understanding to immigration and children.

Amir is a Syrian refugee child tricked into boarding a boat bound for Greece. His ship wrecks on a small tourist island where one of the local children, Vänna, finds him alive. Alternating chapters tell the story of Amir on the boat before the wreck and after when he is trying to outwit soldiers with Vänna.

Dion Graham‘s narration is ??? #audiobook

Tamra Alas, I looked for this today at Half Price and no luck!😒 (edited) 3y
Megabooks @Tamra it‘s so new. 🤞🏻 it shows up soon. This isn‘t getting as much promotion as American War, which is too bad. Solid 4⭐️ for me! (I‘m rarely giving out more than 4⭐️ these days.) 3y
Tamra @Megabooks I hope so! I‘m very stingy with stars. 3 is average, 4 is good, and 5 is 😱 I want to read it again. 5 is a rarity. 3y
See All 8 Comments
Cinfhen LOVE Dion!!!! Will definitely go audio 3y
Megabooks @Tamra most books for me fall between 3-4⭐️. About 10% fall above 4⭐️. About 15-20% fall below 3⭐️. If it‘s really bad, I just bail! Last year I felt I gave out too many 5⭐️, so now I save it for truly exceptional, memorable books - ones I‘d often read again and again. I‘ll keep my 🤞🏻 that HPB gets the El Akkad in soon! 3y
Megabooks @Cinfhen yes, he‘s fantastic!! I think you‘d find this one interesting. You live so close to Syria that you probably have a different perspective than most Americans. (Probably have a lot more info, too!) 3y
Reviewsbylola I expected to love his last book and hated it. This one sounds good though. (edited) 3y
Megabooks @Reviewsbylola it is completely different than his last one. Not dystopian. Really just straightforward literary fiction. 3y
83 likes2 stack adds8 comments
blurb
Megabooks
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It‘s midnight on the east coast, so that means I‘m sharing my #NewReleaseTuesday #audiobooks!

I loved American War, so I decided to sign up for El Akkad‘s narrated by Dion Graham! 😍

When I saw The Cult of We was narrated by my fav Therese Plummer, I had to order it.

Julia Whelan narrates Perversion of Justice about Jeffery Epstein, and I only added it after the effusive blurb from Ronan Farrow.

I forgot I was getting Until Proven Safe! 😂

See All 7 Comments
Cinfhen All 4 sound fabulous!!! Can‘t wait to hear your thoughts!!!!! As always, you‘re my #AudioGuru 🙌🏻♥️😘 3y
Megabooks @Cinfhen I‘m excited! It‘s been awhile since I had a week this big! 3y
BarbaraBB I have American War on my shelves. Glad to hear you loved it! 3y
Megabooks @BarbaraBB I did! I read it right when it came out as part of the BOTM challenge, and I believe I gave it 5⭐️. If not, it was close. I liked the way the plot was revealed as much as the plot itself. Some creative storytelling! 3y
70 likes7 comments
review
ChaoticMissAdventures
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Pickpick

Gorgeous and heartbreaking. Completely different from his last book, while still being character driven and a study in complex human relationships.
This book will publish on 20 July in the states.

Say hi to Mayhem who does show up here often! What a good girl she was here!

24 likes1 stack add
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TracyReadsBooks
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Today‘s #bookhaul.