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it's the big book about the marine corps ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Biased but Still Readable.
This is one of the Spanish translations of Exodus.
First of all let me state that this novel plot is ideologically biased.
That is no surprise; Leon Uris (1924 - 2003) was a Jewish writer with Pole and Russian parents that had suffered harsh circumstances in their lives.
He was in love with Israel and the meaning of having a Country that may be claimed by any member of the community anywhere all over the world.

Nevertheless it is a very interesting book to read.
Why?
Well here are some clues:
Starting from post-WWII scenery (1946) placed in Cyprus refugee-detainee camp, Uris trace and describes many historically events:
Show the birth of Zionism, started by the shock produced by Dreyfuss' Trial in a sensible visionary journalist.
Give vivid reconstruction and picture of Jews' life conditions in Russia before WWI and the same for Jews everyday life in Poland before and pending WWII.
Describe different emigrations phases of Jews into Palestine.
Portray the struggle of Jewish colonists against great odds.
Depict the stark reality of displaced Jews in the aftermath of WWII.
The story follows many family threads converging into Palestine-Israel from 1880 till 1950.
All this matters renders the novel a good read for anyone interested in Middle East affairs.

A very sensible issue of great relevance these days is shown in this novel. It is how a community reacts in front of their own extremist members (the Macabee in the book) and the complex decisions they should take. Furthermore taking into account that many of them are close relatives, and then strong contradictory feelings erupt.

Main characters as Ari Ben Caanan, Barak his father, Dov Landau, Dr. Libermann and Akiva amongst other have unmistakable real historically persons as models.

Uris' prose is not so great. His style is more related to a journalistic chronicle. He is better describing facts and situations than giving deepness and complexity to his characters.

Reviewed by Max Yofre.

De vuelta a la Tierra Prometida
Con las historias individuales de Kitty Fremont, Ari Ben Canaan, Karen Clement, Dov Landau, los hermanos Rabinsky entre otros personajes de ficción de esta novela, nos sumergimos en la historia colectiva del nacimiento del Estado de Israel desde la Primera Aliyah a Palestina en 1881 con los primeros judios que huían de los Pogroms de Europa del Este, en la vida de los judios en los guettos europeos y en los mellahas árabes, la dura vida de los kibbutz reconquistando las tierras baldias a los desiertos y pantanos, en la resistencia del Palmach, Haganah y los Macabeos primero contra el Imperio Otomano y luego contra el Mandato Británico 1922-1948, la lucha por romper el bloqueo a la immigración ilegal de judios a Palestina y la hostilidad árabe que degeneró una vez proclamada la independencia en la Primera Guerra Arabe-Israeli de 1948.
Una obra magistralmente escrita que nos cuenta la historia de un país muy singular desde el nacimiento del sionismo hasta la creación del Estado de Israel, los sacrificios, luchas, sueños y deseos de libertad y de identidad del pueblo judio que decidió abandonar en masa sus paises de origen para emigrar muchas veces solo con lo puesto para volver a ser judios en la Tierra Prometida ... Read more

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Leon Uris at his best describes the beginnings of the Berlin Airlift. As the Russians try to force the Allies out of Berlin. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Bitter Medicine for the Arabs
"The Haj" by Leon Uris is an important book (in print or audio form) for understanding the negative aspects of Arab culture and little known aspects of the Arab-Israeli conflict that the great majority of the media won't share with us. Specifically, "The Haj" is historical fiction about a Palestinian-Arab family before and after the 1948 War for Israeli independence (From about 1922 to sometime around the 1960's or 1970's).

Leon Uris wrote this about the book (in the beginning of "The Haj"):

"Many of the events in The Haj are a matter of history and public record. Many of the scenes were created around historical incidents and used as a backdrop for the purpose of fiction. There may be persons alive who took part in events similar to those described in the book. It is possible therefore, that some may be mistaken for characters in the novel. Let me emphasize that all of the characters in the Haj are the complete creation of the author, and entirely fictional. The exceptions, of course, are the recognizable public figures who were associated historically with this period, such as David Ben-Gurion, the Mufti of Jerusalem, Abdullah, Yigal Allon, and others."

There is no question that this book is fiction regarding the details its' story tells, but the story itself is a real one. Arab refugees did stream out of Israel during the 1948 war and Arab leaders telling them to do so (there are taped broadcasts of these calls) was definitely one of the major causes of the plight of the Palestinian-Arab refugees. There was also very definitely a very active terrorist movement among the Arabs in the Middle East, which survives to the present day (witness groups like Al Qaeda, Hamas, Hizbollah, the PLO / Palestinian authority, and others). The Palestinian-Arabs continue to suffer under poor leadership that represses their rights (witness many human rights organizations' reports of extrajudicial killings by the Palestinian Authority, the same autocratic leader, Yassir Arafat, who refuses to transfer the reins of power, and other facts). It is also a well-documented fact that the Mufti of Jerusalem was an ally and guest of Hitler during WWII. These things are facts and are indisputable. "The Haj" tells a story using the device of historical fiction to relay the often-ugly facts of life for the regular "fellah" (sometimes translated as peasant) in the land the British called Palestine and is now known again as Israel.

The book is well written (good grammar, punctuation, style, etc.) and the story flows. I enjoyed reading about the characters of the story, but often wanted to cry for them. Some of the most poignant moments of "The Haj" occur during the flight of the Haj's (the main character is Haj Ibrahim and the book is the story of him and his family) family during the 1948 war and in refugee camps in Jordan. It was very sad to see how members of the same culture (the Arab culture) and most of the time the same religion (Islam) can be so cruel to each other. This is still an endemic problem in the Arab world (witness how the Arab governments squabble among each other and often fight and kill one another). Some of the depictions of the relations between the largely city-dwelling Palestinian-Arabs and the nomadic Bedouin are among the saddest. There is still a strong hatred between these groups to the present day.

Why read "The Haj?"

Read "The Haj" because this is real information presented in a novel format that you can no longer get from most university classes about the Middle East. Read it to learn what AP and Reuters news services constantly gloss over in their writings used by newspapers around the world. Most of all, read "The Haj" to understand that one of the fundamental truths about problems in the Middle East is that the problems have less to do with Israel and Jews than cultural, political, and even religious problems and divisions in the Arab world. Israel is really a side issue at best (and excuse used by the Arab governments to cover their faults). Autocratic tyrannies (or gangster governments like Yassir Arafat's Palestinian Authority) are the true source of unhappiness in the Arab world. It's easy to understand that truth after reading "The Haj."

You can get this same information from a pile full of academic texts (and I do recommend reading more research about the Middle East after reading "The Haj"), but this is the easiest and quickest way to introduce yourself to the bitter realities of politics in the Middle East.

I highly recommend "The Haj."

Review by: Maximillian Ben Hanan ... Read more