While listening to the Canada Reads discussions this spring, I knew I wanted to read the winner, By Chance Alone and the runner-up, Homes. By Chance Alone was a poignant reflection on living through a traumatic part of our history as a prisoner in Auschwitz. Homes by Abu Bakr Al Rabeeah with Winnie Yeung is also a reflection. It is impacting the world as we speak. The narrator is Abu Bakr Al Rabeeah as he lives through a move from Iraq to Syria to finding a home in Edmonton, Alberta. What he experiences is expressed beautifully through the eyes of an adolescent. Living in Canada, I have no experience of what it would be like to live day-to-day in a war zone. I am amazed by how life goes on with resilience, as it does for Abu Bakr.
was a poignant reflection on living through a traumatic part of our history as a prisoner in Auschwitz. Homes by Abu Bakr Al Rabeeah with Winnie Yeung is also a reflection. It is impacting the world as we speak. The narrator is Abu Bakr Al Rabeeah as he lives through a move from Iraq to Syria to finding a home in Edmonton, Alberta. What he experiences is expressed beautifully through the eyes of an adolescent. Living in Canada, I have no experience of what it would be like to live day-to-day in a war zone. I am amazed how life goes on with resilience, as it does for Abu Bakr.
The theme that is going to stick with me the longest will be his fear. The story works through his day and we see vignettes of family life in Homs while government and rebel forces lob bombs at each other. Fear becomes a steady state with explosive episodes only occasionally. Even as his family picks up all the worldly possessions that they can carry to fly across the planet to Edmonton, fear continues to be present. It is a different kind of fear. It is a fear that silence brings:
As I went through the old, familiar prayers, something felt off. I paused and listened. What could it be> No bullets nor shattering glass. That was it: the stillness. No voices joined in prayer around me, no cousins having a fit of giggles. An old wooden desk to my right, a stack of plastic chairs to my left: that’s all there was. (page 202, Homes)
This beautiful story reminds me of our common humanity. We all live our lives the best we can, wherever we are.