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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
a WOW of a book,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Vicious Circle: A Novel of Complicity (Hardcover)
This book is drawn from past, present, and the future of unrest in our world. So much so, it dominates our lives.
Near a time when a Middle Eastern peace treaty is set to be signed, a famous Rabbi and his secretary have been kidnapped in Israel by a prominent Muslim in hopes for the release of Arab prisoners being held by the Israelis. In this captivity, the two, the rabbi and the doctor speak in terms of the Torah and the Qur'an and we see the writings are almost identical - ok the words are different, but the philosophies are basically the same. If these people were to see without the constraints of their prejudices, maybe they could find common ground (literally and figuratively) to live together. It is very symbolic that the captor and captive are almost blind. They cannot see the truth. Littell has written a gem of a book to let us see that problems that tear countries apart could come to some common ground if they were willing to listen to the other's words. The dialogue between the rabbi and the doctor makes the situation in the Middle East crystal clear. And frustrating because we know this is a vicious circle that has been happening for millenia. Circle is the kind of book that will make you stop and think. You are drawn to it to keep reading for hours. You will find this book fascinating. Regardless of your philosophy, you feel frustrated with the viciousness of the situation. Like it's like your great-grandmother stepped on my great-grandmother's new shoes and we will keep this bad will towards each other and our families - even after they are gone, the bad blood lingers. And we see that so much of our problems in the world are truly a vicious circle.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An informative and exciting thriller about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,
By Bookreporter (New York, New York) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Vicious Circle: A Novel of Complicity (Hardcover)
You can't be an enemy by yourself. Robert Littell's new book illustrates the reciprocal nature of violence and revenge, taking readers to Jerusalem, ground zero for payback since the state of Israel was created. Taking place in the fictional not-too-distant future, Israel and Palestine are on the brink of signing a historic peace accord that will bring an end to decades of violence.
Unfortunately, there are fundamentalists on both sides who view any compromise as defiance of God's will. One such man is Dr. al-Saath, a Palestinian terrorist hardened in Israeli jails. He kidnaps Rabbi Isaac Apfulbaum, well-known speaker for the Jewish cause in the Middle East and not necessarily above violent means himself. The plan is to exchange him for Palestinian prisoners in Israel, but both sides are keenly aware that an exchange is unlikely and the Rabbi's death certainly will quash the peace process and lead to further violence. Dr. al-Saath holds the Rabbi prisoner and tortures him, hoping that he will confess to the secret identity of Ya'ir, leader of an underground Jewish movement dedicated to the destruction of the Palestinian state. The Rabbi and the doctor are very similar --- so similar that the reader will have to put a little extra effort into keeping track of them. They are both nearly blind, for instance, clearly symbolic of fundamentalism's failure to acknowledge its devastating effects. They are also both considered to be messiah figures among their own people, and each man realizes that they would not have been so revered if they did not have a well-matched opponent to prove himself against. Will either of them be able to break the circle that has bound them together, years of culture and history ensuring their enmity? One of the highlights of VICIOUS CIRCLE is that it shares this history with the reader; it's extremely informative without ever preaching or taking sides. Drawing on the Torah as often as the Qur'an, the histories of the two men, who could have been inseparable friends in other times, illustrate the history of the region, one tragedy always leading to another. --- Reviewed by Colleen Quinn [...]
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
A boring thriller,
By
This review is from: Vicious Circle (Paperback)
In keeping with current events I'd have to say that my Littell stock has just plummeted. After reading Sisters, The Amateur, and a couple of others I thought highly of this author. But this book is not just talky -- it's predictable and repetitive talky -- and just drags. One of those books where (horrors) you actually look at the handful of pages in your right hand and contemplate just jumping ahead.
Don't bother waiting for the interesting plot twists... they're pretty minor and you spotted them at a distance. Character development seems to be what he was aiming for but it's just a mass of cliches. Move on, dear reader, there are far better ways to spend your reading time.
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