I began my readings with Loubna Mrie\u2019s memoir, she had an emotional story to tell. Although she discussed being unable to come to terms with her mothers death, or face the reality of it, perhaps this memoir and reflection was a way of doing that.<\/p>\n
I felt these chapters reflected a journalistic intent to investigate, particularly when attempting to track down her mother. Mrie reflects on calling anyone and everyone to find her mother, \u201cI try reaching out to everyone I know who has worked for him,\u201d (238) then proceeds to list all of the connections or connections to connections, it is frantic, it is honest and it is brutal. At the same time, the readers cling onto a hope that she will find her mother, we are safe behind the pages, we keep the faith that in a few pages time, Mrie and her mother will be reunited. But as Mrie eventually explains, \u201cto see my own story unfold in the same space where I have shared the suffering of countless others,\u201d (247) highlights a harsh truth \u2013 this was a sickening reality to exist in. One line which I felt particularly moved by was Mrie\u2019s understanding of her mother\u2019s disappearance as fragmented into two parts: \u201cbefore my mother\u2019s disappearance and after,\u201d this is very much how grief feels. There is a life that exists before a loss, a life with the person \u2013 it looks different, more colourful, and then there\u2019s the bleak and grey aftermath \u2013 it takes time to return to normalcy, but normal will never be the same again. Then she questions whether she is grieving correctly, unsure how to deal with it, reckoning with its unusualness. I feel that Mrie captures this unavoidable part of life so well but also so uniquely as she mentions at the end of chapter 21, that therapy is unheard of in her hometown.<\/p>\n
For Anand Gopal\u2019s, Days of Love and Rage<\/i>, I had read the first few pages about Abdul Hadi Bisher\u2019s dreams of becoming a footballer and thought it would be a sporting success story similar to the movie \u201cThe Swimmers\u201d which I had watched with a full heart a few years ago. However, this one quickly became political, when Bashir fell-short of professional football and seemed to\u00a0 channel his failed sporting passions into activism instead. Again I hoped that for this chapter, it would end in optimism, especially as Bashir\u2019s parents philosophy endorses \u201cthe faith that everything will work out in the end.\u201d Bashir\u2019s efforts fail, and I don\u2019t think we see the reconciliation we\u2019d wanted but Bashir appears to learn a lot about himself.<\/p>\n
With Patrick Kingsley\u2019s The New Odyssey, <\/i>the structure felt as though it began with a typical family introduction, and quickly evolved into a statistical and graphic recounting of all the different violent events that occurred in the detention centers. None of these readings hold back from being dysphemistic with descriptions of the torture and crimes to mankind that took place. It certainly gets to point across, it cannot be ignored when it’s staring us directly in the face.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I began my readings with Loubna Mrie\u2019s memoir, she had an emotional story to tell. Although she discussed being unable to come to terms with her mothers death, or face the reality of it, perhaps this memoir and reflection was a way of doing that. I felt these chapters reflected a journalistic intent to investigate,<\/p>\n