Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing, witty diary of the War in Iraq from a man in Iraq, 18 Sep 2003
This book is pretty much a must-read for anyone wishing to have an insight into how people lived through the war on Iraq. It's also a great read, for those who want a witty, intriguing, thoughtful view on why the world is how it is and in particular, a view from Iraq.In September 2002, a young Iraqi calling himself Salam Pax began posting accounts of everyday life in Baghdad on to the Internet. Written in English, in the form of a 'blog' ( a form of web log/diary for those of you who haven't come across them yet - they've been a huge internet phenomenon over the last two years) , these bulletins contained everything from musings on his CD collection to open criticisms of Saddam's regime. Many didn't believe Salam was from Iraq at the time. He was taking a risk that could have cost him his life. The diary entries soon attracted a worldwide readership and as the American-led force gathered to invade Iraq, Salam's diary became an extraordinary record of the expectation, resentment, bemusement, horror and sheer terror felt by a man living through the final days of a long dictatorship, and the chaos in its aftermath. Salam has continued to write and it is his humour and irreverence (and a healthy dose of cynicism) that make his diaries so readable. That it records an amazing moment (for better or for worse we are still to find out) is almost incidental.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Essential record of 2003's 'military action'..., 26 Dec 2003
This is a great compiliation of the writings and musings of 'Salam Pax', an Iraqi weblogger caught in the middle of a country the inviasion (or 'liberation') of which was increasingly likely. A gay man in his late twenties, cynical architect and irreligious muslim (with parents from both sides of the sectarian divide) he hardly typifies the Iraqi experience, but this witty and interesting insights into one man's experience of the war are fascinating. He himself often seems bemused by the media attention he received (I remember even hearing an article on him on BBC World Service), and comes over as a totally normal moody twenty-something. I read it in a single session, but thankfully the weblog remains active...
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A very good Raed, 5 Sep 2005
I never thought reading a book of someone's personal blog could be quite so interesting (I say interesting rather than fascinating because really its just opinionated musings of daily life, only during the recent war in Iraq). These are really just letters published on the Internet so Pax's friend Raed in Jordan can read them. Somehow you feel drawn to this book because it goes against something that would never have been allowed in controlled Iraq, although all it really is is a published web log, copied-and-pasted straight off the Internet. Somehow it grips because of all this inside information. Many times does Pax put himself at risk just to keep his blog updated. Friends and relations are reduced to first initials or pseudonyms as to not give away identities, and only a mysterious blog-friend Diana is entrusted with many of his secrets. What gripes me about this book is that its available for viewing on the Internet completely free of charge in its original format.
What is also difficult is there are footnotes at the bottom of nearly every page! This means you have to do a lot of referencing in order to understand some of what you're reading.
Its also quite hard for people who have never 'blogged' before to understand the layout of it.
Fortunately for me I picked it up in the library though...
A good read? Yes.
Finally there's something I can read and at the same time look back on when comparing it to what I saw on the news at the time. It was a risk writing something like this, but reading it fascinates the mind as you experience the same images we saw on TV only through the eyes of someone in Iraq at the. Its humorous and well written and I recommend it to anyone interested in Iraq affairs or just those who need a better understanding of a land constantly in our headlines portrayed in a such a negative way.
Read the book, it will change some of your opinions. Although as I said, its also free to read on Pax's blogsite anyway.
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