‘..The book will be a best seller of the decade…’ Huffington Post was right! This would be a best seller for sure.
An awesome debut by any standards, this is a story that would resonate with the reader no matter where he is from. The purpose of literature would be to the serve in a way that it transports him to the realm of the story telling and make him an inclusive witness. If you wanted this experience then give it to the author MIchelle Cohen Corasanti for she makes you live the experience.
Its so very much like the title and the tree that stand the test of time this story would leave you with a healing touch for ever, standing beneath the tree like the characters do.
The story has a kind of uplifting experience when you take the trek through the eyes of the protagonist Hamid and his family. The author takes the audacious route to actually celebrate human weakness in the characters. It takes a kind of extraordinary guts to make the characters live through the situation and yet not give in to the kind of sword mongering that can happen.
The relationship among the characters are well etched throughout with each character standing on their own. The reader has the task of not judging since that’s the very aspect that the author wants to take a stance on.
There are times you would be hearing the rain pitter patter and some time you can hear the gunshots just beyond the window pane.
It has been an experience to read through the novel which travels across a lifetime in a perspective that has a chance to redeem the lost love between human beings who on the garb of nationality and religion have discarded their own nature of being good.
To be frank, you will have tears swelling up as you read, sometimes anger seething within and sometimes empathy as you travel with the story. To think this is a debut novel, an extraordinary effort that goes into understanding human emotions and human relationships this is a great surprise and a revealing novel from the author. More than that it has the opportunity of talking to the people holding the guns across the borders of the land they call their homeland.
A story of positive human emotions, moulded by the characteristic of looking at other men and women as an extension of their self so much articulated by the character Hamid. I loved the characterization of the relationship between a father and a son.
There are many inspirational times that you get to be a part of the tale and makes you sit up and decide. You would pause and recreate the image as the story progresses.
It’s a fast paced tale for sure, but a gripping one with pauses to think over and decide for the characters. I would be failing in my duty if I don’t thank Readers Cosmos for the book.
Read the original review on http://www.rsenthilkumar.com/2013/12/the-almond-tree-by-michelle-cohen-corasanti-a-book-review/
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