Damascus Gate

Rating:
Summary: What's the point?
Review: Self-indulgent and genuinely socially irrelevant. This is another of those long, "brilliant, thoughtful" books in which the author cynically chooses to wander aimlessly along the edges of (Israeli) society and then make it look relevant and dramatic by eventually throwing in some stock political action, like a terrorist bombing. I've now listened to three of fourteen cassettes in the audio edition, wondering for at least the last 90 minutes if there's any point in continuing. I like historical and political novels, well-considered mysteries and thrillers, and penetrating character studies. They don't have to start quickly, but they do have to show some depth and desire to pull me into a world that's worth being part of for awhile. I don't see or feel any of that here so far, just a lot of superficial meanderings, with outlandish rather than unique characters (to wit, the most soulful character so far is apparently bi-polar). I've recently wasted time with another book of this type. No reason to throw more good time after bad.

Rating:
Summary: Boring, irrelevant, slow, and misleading
Review: I found this book to be haunting, cautionary, and at the some time both hallucinogenic and sweetly human. It comes highly recommended, offering a unique and balanced glimpse and the confusion, misery and hope of the world's most troubled region while taking the reader on a magic carpet ride worthy of Kerouac.