3.5
Dark at the Crossing
By Elliot AckermanPublisher Description
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST
“Transports readers into a world few Americans know” —Washington Post
A timely new novel of stunning humanity and tension: a contemporary love story set on the Turkish border with Syria.
Haris Abadi is a man in search of a cause. An Arab American with a conflicted past, he is now in Turkey, attempting to cross into Syria and join the fight against Bashar al-Assad's regime. But he is robbed before he can make it, and is taken in by Amir, a charismatic Syrian refugee and former revolutionary, and Amir's wife, Daphne, a sophisticated beauty haunted by grief. As it becomes clear that Daphne is also desperate to return to Syria, Haris's choices become ever more wrenching: Whose side is he really on? Is he a true radical or simply an idealist? And will he be able to bring meaning to a life of increasing frustration and helplessness? Told with compassion and a deft hand, Dark at the Crossing is an exploration of loss, of second chances, and of why we choose to believe--a trenchantly observed novel of raw urgency and power.
“Promises to be one of the most essential books of 2017” —Esquire
“Transports readers into a world few Americans know” —Washington Post
A timely new novel of stunning humanity and tension: a contemporary love story set on the Turkish border with Syria.
Haris Abadi is a man in search of a cause. An Arab American with a conflicted past, he is now in Turkey, attempting to cross into Syria and join the fight against Bashar al-Assad's regime. But he is robbed before he can make it, and is taken in by Amir, a charismatic Syrian refugee and former revolutionary, and Amir's wife, Daphne, a sophisticated beauty haunted by grief. As it becomes clear that Daphne is also desperate to return to Syria, Haris's choices become ever more wrenching: Whose side is he really on? Is he a true radical or simply an idealist? And will he be able to bring meaning to a life of increasing frustration and helplessness? Told with compassion and a deft hand, Dark at the Crossing is an exploration of loss, of second chances, and of why we choose to believe--a trenchantly observed novel of raw urgency and power.
“Promises to be one of the most essential books of 2017” —Esquire
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3.5
Jessica Jeffers
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Kerrpott
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“I think this assures Ackerman's place as the modern day Hemingway, not stylistically but in relation to content. He's written about Afghanistan and now this about Iraq/Syria. His characters are not American (not natively anyway) nor would I consider the protagonist here American though he worked as a translator and was granted citizenship as a result.
My only criticism would be the brevity of the novel. I'd like to see more interiority on the other characters. Haris's flashback are effective in conveying how he's come to the point where we meet him here but would like to see something similar with Daphne, Amir, or Jamil.
I guess I'm saying that I'd like to see what Ackerman could do with an novel of epic
scope on these topics.”
About Elliot Ackerman
ELLIOT ACKERMAN, author of the critically acclaimed novel Green on Blue, is based out of Istanbul, where he has covered the Syrian Civil War since 2013. His writings have appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New Republic, and The New York Times Magazine, among other publications, and his stories have been included in The Best American Short Stories. He is both a former White House Fellow and Marine, and served five tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan where he received the Silver Star, the Bronze Star for Valor, and the Purple Heart.
Other books by Elliot Ackerman
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