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Instead of a thriller with a traditional hero or team racing to prevent a tragedy, A Vision of Angels uses a varied cast of characters to present the many issues facing Israelis and Palestinians in the region alike, apparently avoiding any obvious bias (though of course others with a more-direct link to the area might perceive something that this reviewer missed). Tension rises through each encounter of one belief with another, and tragedy is ever-present, given that many of the opposing characters are well aware of an opponent’s beliefs but are unable or unwilling to make any accommodation, even for something as supposedly simple as allowing a Palestinian farmer through the Israeli security checkpoint to sell his load of tomatoes before they spoil.
But of course, given the locale, the Israelis are right to be suspicious of the farmer’s chosen truck drivers, and what else might be on those trucks. Reasons that the Palestinians have for sending those trucks seem logical, though tragic; the reasoning used by the Israeli security forces at the checkpoints for holding shipments up are equally rational; and this is but one example of the small conflicts the entire region’s populace faces daily. As a result, the book’s action serves not only to entertain but also educate the reader, because it deals in quotidian details not usually addressed by news headlines.
It is likely that personal names from the region are less familiar for many readers than the conflict itself, and this may require additional attention to the cast while reading. Characters range from the Palestinian farmer and his family, with differing opinions about their displacement from the family farmland, to the senior Israeli security officer and his family, to the American reporter attempting to craft a coherent story about a particular group of dissidents, and many more. Though the story develops clearly, and the overall plot is easy to follow, the large cast of characters was challenging to keep straight, and this was one of the rare cases of a book which could have been a little longer, to allow for additional character development and definition, which would in turn have yielded even greater emotional impact as the book’s events near their conclusion.
This was an enjoyable, informative read, and I give this book 3 out of 4 stars.
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