Book Review - Thura's diary

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October 2005

Thura's Diary

book reviewed by Imogen Wegman

I don't know where to start. Everything's changing so quickly. Normal life is coming to an end. For the second day in a row thousands of people have been leaving the city. They bring cars to put all their stuff in, everything they need including their water and putting chains , making sure there will be no way a thief can get in. Then they leave. Day by day, hour after hour, a family leaves and another house is empty. They are all running away from this way that is coming to Baghdad. There is fear in our hearts and panic in our minds, just like I 1991. It's hell and there is no way to get away from it except to leave the city. pp 59-60

When the Iraq War was shown on tv, I could not get a sense of what it was really like there. To me it just looked like yet another scene from a bad Steven Seagal movie. I didn't want war, wished there was someway I could stop it, was horrified about the unnecessary violence towards the millions of innocent civilians, and prayed for the end. Despite all this it was still so distant. Thura's diary changes this for me. Being the first literature from the Iraq side of the war I've read, meant it was my first encounter with primary experience and descriptions of the effect on the Iraqis.

There are no dramatic rescues from bombed buildings, no blossoming love story, or any other extraordinary occurrences. Thura records what she sees, hears and feels, as a way of controlling her own emotions during a terrifying time. She starts a few days before the bombing starts, and ends when Saddam Hussein is captured. She writes about her family and her observations on how people react are very insightful. She shows the human side of the Iraqi people very effectively.

This diary has been translated from Arabic, and is very easy to read (I borrowed it from an Austrian girl who read it to practise her English). Despite the easy reading level, it is a very moving book, as Thura describes hospitals being raided and emptied by thieves, her eight year old sister's fear at night, and their worries about where to keep her other sister's insulin, and whether they'd have enough. Thura's Diary really gives an educating look at how one ordinary Iraqi family dealt with the war and its aftermath of shortages, anarchy and constant threat.

For the duration of the Iraq War, I watched from my armchair, doing nothing more to help than praying (and not doing enough of that) for the safety of all involved, willing or not. I fell prey to the typical unchristian attitude - 'It's there, I'm here, doesn't affect me'. This book brought home to me that they really are real people involved in wars and power struggles, not just actors, stunt doubles or computer trickery. Shortly after finishing, I found a proverb I believe fits well with this book, and the manner in which Christians need to respond more vigorously to such situations:

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those who are perishing. Yes speak up for the poor and helpless and see that they get justice. Proverbs 31: 8-9 (NLT)

Thura's Diary by Thura Al-Windawi, 144 pages Puffin Books, 2004

Imogen Wegman is spending a year as a student in Linz, Austria.

	The Anglican Church in Tasmania Search
	a healthy church...transformingLIFE
	Home About Contact us News Issues Parishes Prayer Calendar Youth Resources

				October 2005

		Thura's Diary book reviewed by Imogen Wegman I don't know where to start. Everything's changing so quickly. Normal life is coming to an end. For the second day in a row thousands of people have been leaving the city. They bring cars to put all their stuff in, everything they need including their water and putting chains , making sure there will be no way a thief can get in. Then they leave. Day by day, hour after hour, a family leaves and another house is empty. They are all running away from this way that is coming to Baghdad. There is fear in our hearts and panic in our minds, just like I 1991. It's hell and there is no way to get away from it except to leave the city. pp 59-60 When the Iraq War was shown on tv, I could not get a sense of what it was really like there. To me it just looked like yet another scene from a bad Steven Seagal movie. I didn't want war, wished there was someway I could stop it, was horrified about the unnecessary violence towards the millions of innocent civilians, and prayed for the end. Despite all this it was still so distant. Thura's diary changes this for me. Being the first literature from the Iraq side of the war I've read, meant it was my first encounter with primary experience and descriptions of the effect on the Iraqis. There are no dramatic rescues from bombed buildings, no blossoming love story, or any other extraordinary occurrences. Thura records what she sees, hears and feels, as a way of controlling her own emotions during a terrifying time. She starts a few days before the bombing starts, and ends when Saddam Hussein is captured. She writes about her family and her observations on how people react are very insightful. She shows the human side of the Iraqi people very effectively. This diary has been translated from Arabic, and is very easy to read (I borrowed it from an Austrian girl who read it to practise her English). Despite the easy reading level, it is a very moving book, as Thura describes hospitals being raided and emptied by thieves, her eight year old sister's fear at night, and their worries about where to keep her other sister's insulin, and whether they'd have enough. Thura's Diary really gives an educating look at how one ordinary Iraqi family dealt with the war and its aftermath of shortages, anarchy and constant threat. For the duration of the Iraq War, I watched from my armchair, doing nothing more to help than praying (and not doing enough of that) for the safety of all involved, willing or not. I fell prey to the typical unchristian attitude - 'It's there, I'm here, doesn't affect me'. This book brought home to me that they really are real people involved in wars and power struggles, not just actors, stunt doubles or computer trickery. Shortly after finishing, I found a proverb I believe fits well with this book, and the manner in which Christians need to respond more vigorously to such situations: Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those who are perishing. Yes speak up for the poor and helpless and see that they get justice. Proverbs 31: 8-9 (NLT) Thura's Diary by Thura Al-Windawi, 144 pages Puffin Books, 2004 Imogen Wegman is spending a year as a student in Linz, Austria.