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 enlarge | Author: Daoud Hari
Publisher: Random House
Category: Book
List Price: $23.00
Buy New: $11.50
You Save: $11.50 (50%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  21 reviews
Sales Rank: 11649
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 224
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.8 x 1
ISBN: 1400067448
Dewey Decimal Number: 962.4043092
EAN: 9781400067442
ASIN: 1400067448
Publication Date: March 18, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New. 100% money back guarantee. All books shipped from Strand Bookstore, New York City, USA.
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| Customer Reviews:
 The Translator June 4, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I just finished reading Hari's memoir, having read "The Kite Runner", similar yet different. Hari's exposure of the atrocities in Darfur and neighboring regions is gripping and informative. His story of escape, tenacity, and faith is compelling in that it defines and redefines what it means to be human. He uses the notion of being HUMAN to plead his case, refocus country-men fighting against their own, and admonish readers to support present day initiatives in place for Darfur. Congratulations, Daoud! Keep living and keep writing.
 A nicely done personal history of a large, sad tale June 2, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Unfortunately, the only thing that 99.999% of the world associates with the word "Darfur" is death, hate and tragedy. Daoud Hari's small memoir reminds the reader that Darfur was once home to millions - a place of family, friend, play and work.
That is the strongest asset of this short work - it puts a human face on a large tragedy. Written in simple, elegant English and with a wry sense of humor ("Most people like me, are tall - I am six feet - and are also a little thin because of all the walking, the hard work and the dieting that is one of the many advantages of poverty."[p. 108]), this book is an extension of Hari's way of fighting back against the forces that are destroying Darfur. Rather than taking up arms, Hari decided to expose Darfur to the world by escorting journalists from Chad into Darfur in Sudan.
This was not a choice for the faint of heart. Journalists and their guides were considered to be spies by the government of Sudan. Hari and his journalists were exposed to gunfire, captured multiple times and eventually one group was captured, tortured and eventually released through the efforts of former presidential candidate and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson.
Before reading the book, I suggest reading "Appendix 1: A Darfur Primer" at the end of the text. It helps give his story some context.
A REAL thriller with lots of violence, action, and plenty of mystery! May 14, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This book has all the ingredients of a best-selling thriller, unfortunately though all of it is the true and real memories of Daoud Hari's experience of the genocide in Darfur.
I want to thank the author of this book, Daoud Hari, for teaching me about the situation in Darfur. In the past, I've read newspaper and magazine articles, watched television and listened to radio broadcast that all had information on new events happening in that part of the world. After taking in this information I always felt just a little less ignorant, however I still didn't understand the big picture because as Daoud Hari has stated...This is not a simple genocide, but a complicated one. After reading his book, I understand better than ever the events that lead to this current and ongoing insanity.
If you are like me, feeling helpless against the terrible atrosities that are happening in Darfur and other areas of the world, read this book, then pass it on, write about it and talk about it. Awareness is paramount. If enough people all over the globe voice their concerns, how can world leaders continue to stand silent?
Collectively we all have to decide whether genocide is tolerated as a solution to conflict. What the world decides now will determine whether genocide will happen again somewhere else. It needs to be stoped now.
Gladly recommend this book to anyone who continually wants to understand world affairs.
The Translator May 4, 2008
Riveting story. Well told with simplicity and even a sense of humor in a very humorless situation.
Simple... powerful.. life changing... April 24, 2008
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
I was hesitant to purchase this book because the writing seemed very simple as I skimmed the book in the bookstore; however, it is this simple prose that empowers the journey you take with the author. From the opening story of his life being saved by a Journalist to the closing account of the torture and eventual freedom granted to him (don't worry, this doesn't reveal a surprise ending - after all, he did write the book), you feel that you are being told a story in the simple traditional form of an African tribal legend. Sadly, this is no legend!
When I read about the little girl killed by a soldier in a horrific way, I wept. When I read Daoud's commentary on why Darfur marriages last so long (they sleep separately), I laughed. What struck me was how much this man and his family has suffered and, yet, he laughs. He can teach us much about suffering and the ability to continue to believe and hope.
The more important part of the stories, however, is the part that should make us scream for change in the way we have dealt with this genocide and others like it. It's time to take faster action. When we have to wait until there are over 1000 stories to be heard (in order to decide if it is genocide), there's something VERY wrong with our process.
The author makes you feel like you've walked the sandy world in which he grew up. You feel as if you've ridden a camel, pushed a Land Rover out of a ditch, survived a beating and crossed borders illegally for the sake of human life. Why? Because he tells the story in very simple English, which makes you feel your hearing about it all from a child's mind. You connect with the story much as a child envisions she is in a traditional fairy tale. Very powerful!
The author ended his story by saying that he didn't think he stood a one percent chance of being saved from rearrest and possibly being traded back to the government of Sudan, which would likely kill him. Then he said of those odds, "for me, that was pretty good." Indeed, he was able to escape to work outside of the country and, among other things, write this book. I think we have to ask ourselves this: Are we going to give better odds to the people of Darfur and other such nations or are we only going to look at "past" holocausts like World War II and give the lip service "never again"?
Yes. This book has changed me.
I cannot recommend this book to you enough.
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