great story of the Middle East ( )

This was an interesting fictionalized account of the reasons behind the never ending tensions in the middle east. It took a close look at the hatred between the Jews and the Muslim people. A good, solid read. ( )

The Haj is a sweeping historical saga told in the first person by Ishmael, a boy born in Palentine in 1936, son of Haj Ibrahim al Soukori al Wahhabi, the Muktar of Tabah, a village strategically located on the main road to Jerusalem. Ishmael’s story is sad yet compelling and sometimes hard to read as the author describes the horrific life and beliefs of the Arab culture during this turbulent time of constant war, torture, trickery, and death. Always trying to please his father, who would beat him unmercifully for the slightest infraction of Arab protocol, Ishmael tries to make the best of living in a rigidly stifling society ruled by religious fanatics who put hatred and mistrust above love and family. Although Ishmael and his father develop a respectful and sometimes caring relationship, it is not enough to change thousands of years of mistrust and betrayal the Arabian people have embraced as their way of life. When Ishmael comes to love his sister, Nada, he is driven to madness when the man he has worshipped all his life ruthlessly murders her for the family’s honor. Leon Uris opens a window into the culture of the Middle East, where the poverty, living conditions, and harsh weather have created a race of people who cannot show love, mercy, or forgiveness and carry on a constant war with the Jews over their occupation of Palestine. This book is a must-read for all historial fiction readers. ( )

Uris was notoriously racist toward Arabs, which I've just recently learned, and I am learning more about the Palestinian & IsraelI complexities now. Read in 1985 because I enjoyed Uris; would not choose to read if given the fresh chance today. ( )

The Haj is an absorbing saga of the Palestine in the first half of the twentieth century, told through the life of a Palestinian Muslim village chief. Without knowing the history of the time intimately, it is not possible to comment on the veracity of the author's representation of historical facts and personages. However, I feel that there is at least some amount of bias in this novel towards the Jews.
As a fictional work, The Haj kept me glued to it throughout its length of 500-plus pages. The characters are very well developed, each with its own personality, and the description of persons, places and actions is vivid. I am inspired, after reading The Haj, to read more about the centuries-old conflict in the Middle East that seems never-ending... ( )