Review (PDF) The Way To The Spring: Life And Death In Palestine
From an award-winning journalist, a brave and necessary immersion into the everyday struggles of Palestinian life Over the past three years, American writer Ben Ehrenreich has been traveling to and living in the West Bank, staying with Palestinian families in its largest cities and its smallest villages. Along the way he has written major stories for American outlets, including a remarkable New York Times Magazine cover story. Now comes the powerful new work that has always been his ultimate goal, The Way to the Spring. We are familiar with brave journalists who travel to bleak or war-torn places on a mission to listen and understand, to gather the stories of people suffering from extremes of oppression and want: Katherine Boo, Ryszard Kapuściński, Ted Conover, and Philip Gourevitch among them. Palestine is, by any measure, whatever one's politics, one such place. Ruled by the Israeli military, set upon and harassed constantly by Israeli settlers who admit unapologetically to wanting to drive them from the land, forced to negotiate an ever more elaborate and more suffocating series of fences, checkpoints, and barriers that have sundered home from field, home from home, this is a population whose living conditions are unique, and indeed hard to imagine. In a great act of bravery, empathy and understanding, Ben Ehrenreich, by placing us in the footsteps of ordinary Palestinians and telling their story with surpassing literary power and grace, makes it impossible for us to turn away.
Hardcover: 448 pages
Publisher: Penguin Press (June 14, 2016)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1594205906
ISBN-13: 978-1594205903
Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 1.4 x 9.6 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #75,719 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #16 in Books > History > World > Religious > Ethnic & Tribal #75 in Books > History > Middle East > Israel & Palestine #111 in Books > History > World > Religious > Religion, Politics & State
The Way to the Spring is profoundly sad and also infuriating reading. Ehrenreich's is a powerful, deeply informed and deeply committed perspective that deserves and should receive a lot of attention. While I knew quite a bit about the occupation beforehand, his book provides both overall context and a horde of telling details. I won't soon forget the Palestinian boy who shared an IDF soldier's packet of chips in the morning, and found the same soldier training a gun on him in his bedroom at night. The child wet himself in terror. Or the grim details of Palestinians simply trying to go about their daily lives despite a horde of physical and legal impediments, and the constant threat of settler violence. I defy anyone to read this book and not conclude that this situation must not continue.
It is only right that we hear from the occupied, as this book so ably achieves. If it is uncomfortable for supporters of the occupiers to hear, so much the better. Any American, any modern citizen of the world, who believes in the inalienable rights of all humanity, cannot but question who we support and why after reading this book.
Splendid book. Ben Ehrenreich writes beautifully and his on-the-spot research tells Americans things we need to learn.
Extremely enlightening and incredibly well written,I wanted to start over and reread as soon as I was finished.
I was trying to determine whether or not to order this book. After reading all the 1 star comments; I notice that none of the negative comments are certified purchases; they also seem to reference the same arguments of opposition. After looking at all the names of folks who have not purchased the book but hate it and dismiss it as propaganda, there seems to be a specific trend (see if you can spot it) and obvious bias.This has convinced me this book is going to be worth my time. Will purchase in my next batch and look forward to the read.
Finally a courageous and an enlightened writer and a true inspiration to those who seeks the truth , thank you Ben !
Ben Ehrenreich writes of his experiences in Palestine with a deft touch, invoking the futility of the struggle while maintaining a journalist's unbiased reporting. Although he befriends and lives among the people in a small Palestinian town, he avoids dramatization or partiality. It's the reader who can't maintain detachment for long as the villagers are constantly losing land to Israeli settlers or being harassed and killed by Israeli soldiers. It seems to be a hopeless situation, but Ehrenreich also shows us the joy and hope still alive in the peoples' hearts. I, for one, could never imagine my town being relentlessly invaded by a military force. This book gives us a birds-eye look at how that feels.
An absolutely tremendous book. It far exceeded my expectations. I have read approximately 200 books on the conflict and it takes a lot for me to get excited about new book on Israel/Palestine. The writing is as good as any journalistic account. It is up there with Robert Fisk, Amira Hass, Jonathan Cook, Max Blumenthal, and David Hirst. If someone asked me right now what book they should read to understand what is happening in Palestine this is the book I would point them to. Of course like any book sympathetic to the Palestinians there are lots of trolls writing one star reviews for a book I doubt many of them have read.
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