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The Struggle Audiobook by Nelson Lowhim
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Title: The Struggle
Author: Nelson Lowhim
Narrator: Nelson Lowhim
Format: Unabridged
Length: 13 mins
Language: English
Release date: 06-19-12
Publisher: Eiso Publisher
Genres: Fiction, Contemporary
Publisher's Summary:
"The struggle knows not the logic of morals" is an Arabic saying.
Baghdad, 2006: In the midst of a city at the brink of civil war, stands a man, Walid, trying to find his place in life. He has discovered that he is not as strong as he hoped. With his family's well-being in jeopardy, a decision looms and we witness his personal struggle with the darkness that lies within us all.
This audio version includes an excerpt from the sequel novel, The Struggle Knows Not.
Members Reviews:
More reverberations from the plains of Karbala...
Nelson Lowhim is a combat veteran of the Iraqi War. He has written several works, including a number of short stories, in part, drawn from his experiences there. The cover alone was enough to "draw me in," a picture of palm trees in a sandstorm, with rebar, still untrimmed, rising up from concrete walls, a seemingly ubiquitous image in the Middle East, that seems to proclaim: this project is still unfinished, we will be adding more floors, or making the wall higher, someday, insh'allah.
And I was not disappointed. At some level, his is a very unusual story for a veteran. He, and by extension, the Americans, are not there, except as deep background. This is actually a story about the IRAQIS. And it is the sorrow and the pity. Not to give the story away, but it is about "manhood," cowardness, and that awful motive force that dominates events even today: sectarian violence. Age-old religious differences that date back to events on the plains of Karbala, in the 7th Century.
Lowhim seems to have defined the human interactions authentically. Impressively, he picked up enough Arabic to sprinkle it throughout the story for some "local color." I'm a combat veteran of the Vietnam War, and probably learned 10 words of Vietnamese during my tour (no, "beaucoup" does not count, to those who assumed it was a Vietnamese word). Serendipity led me to pick up a considerable amount of Arabic, somewhat later in life, so I could understand his usage and the meaning. I just wonder how that is going to work for someone totally unfamiliar with the language. (As a first approximation, it must be like those who understand not a word of French, and see French words repeatedly placed - non-translated - in English works). Of course, there is an impressive antecedent for Lowhim; in the early `60's, Thomas Pynchon placed some non-translated Arabic in his classic,V..
Lowhim's short story served at least one purpose, like that untrimmed rebar. I'll be reading more of him... someday... insh'allah. 5-stars for this effort.
Vivid and Intense
THE STRUGGLE, an intense short story that draws upon Lowhim's experiences serving in Iraq, offers a perspective few Americans would consider: that of a Shi'a insurgent named Walid. Haunted by past violence, Walid finds himself entangled in events that both sicken him and impel him to prove his manhood in brutal ways. We can viscerally feel Walid's internal struggle and conflicted emotions as this brief story unfolds. Lowhim's writing as at once terse and vivid, with a gritty realism accentuated by the bits of Arabic peppered throughout the dialogue.
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Title: The Struggle
Author: Nelson Lowhim
Narrator: Nelson Lowhim
Format: Unabridged
Length: 13 mins
Language: English
Release date: 06-19-12
Publisher: Eiso Publisher
Genres: Fiction, Contemporary
Publisher's Summary:
"The struggle knows not the logic of morals" is an Arabic saying.
Baghdad, 2006: In the midst of a city at the brink of civil war, stands a man, Walid, trying to find his place in life. He has discovered that he is not as strong as he hoped. With his family's well-being in jeopardy, a decision looms and we witness his personal struggle with the darkness that lies within us all.
This audio version includes an excerpt from the sequel novel, The Struggle Knows Not.
Members Reviews:
More reverberations from the plains of Karbala...
Nelson Lowhim is a combat veteran of the Iraqi War. He has written several works, including a number of short stories, in part, drawn from his experiences there. The cover alone was enough to "draw me in," a picture of palm trees in a sandstorm, with rebar, still untrimmed, rising up from concrete walls, a seemingly ubiquitous image in the Middle East, that seems to proclaim: this project is still unfinished, we will be adding more floors, or making the wall higher, someday, insh'allah.
And I was not disappointed. At some level, his is a very unusual story for a veteran. He, and by extension, the Americans, are not there, except as deep background. This is actually a story about the IRAQIS. And it is the sorrow and the pity. Not to give the story away, but it is about "manhood," cowardness, and that awful motive force that dominates events even today: sectarian violence. Age-old religious differences that date back to events on the plains of Karbala, in the 7th Century.
Lowhim seems to have defined the human interactions authentically. Impressively, he picked up enough Arabic to sprinkle it throughout the story for some "local color." I'm a combat veteran of the Vietnam War, and probably learned 10 words of Vietnamese during my tour (no, "beaucoup" does not count, to those who assumed it was a Vietnamese word). Serendipity led me to pick up a considerable amount of Arabic, somewhat later in life, so I could understand his usage and the meaning. I just wonder how that is going to work for someone totally unfamiliar with the language. (As a first approximation, it must be like those who understand not a word of French, and see French words repeatedly placed - non-translated - in English works). Of course, there is an impressive antecedent for Lowhim; in the early `60's, Thomas Pynchon placed some non-translated Arabic in his classic,V..
Lowhim's short story served at least one purpose, like that untrimmed rebar. I'll be reading more of him... someday... insh'allah. 5-stars for this effort.
Vivid and Intense
THE STRUGGLE, an intense short story that draws upon Lowhim's experiences serving in Iraq, offers a perspective few Americans would consider: that of a Shi'a insurgent named Walid. Haunted by past violence, Walid finds himself entangled in events that both sicken him and impel him to prove his manhood in brutal ways. We can viscerally feel Walid's internal struggle and conflicted emotions as this brief story unfolds. Lowhim's writing as at once terse and vivid, with a gritty realism accentuated by the bits of Arabic peppered throughout the dialogue.