Review by Asunta -- Hidden: Nistar by Batya Casper
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Asunta
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Review by Asunta -- Hidden: Nistar by Batya Casper
[Following is a volunteer review of "Hidden: Nistar" by Batya Casper.]
3 out of 4 stars
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Hidden: Nistar by Batya Casper comprises two war stories: Hidden: Nistar and Hanover Gardens. Hidden: Nistar is a story of an Israeli family set in the mid-20th century and how the Israeli-Palestinian conflict along with ensuing wars sees generations of the same family suffering in several ways. The main focus of this story is human perception or feelings; how some people try to get their lives together after a war and how some people just can’t. The fact that there’s a war going on is made visible only through scattered war updates here and there, otherwise, it’s about humans trying to live a day at a time, struggling, trying to find a purpose, trying to find meaning in things. It is only towards the ending chapters when one can infer that things are the way they are as a result of the war.
Hanover Gardens is a story of another family in England during the second world war with a husband enlisted in the war trying to find Jewish friends and sending a few of them to his house in Hanover Gardens, England as refugees. The story is told in the perspectives of the residents of the house and unlike the previous story, this one makes it clear from the first page that it’s a war story and it’s going to chronicle lives of a few people in a city upturned by sirens and bombings while loved ones are either dead or missing without a word for years.
The one thing that’s common in both these stories, besides war, is its focus on the behavior of children during war. Adults go about their lives silently suffering, trying to be a pillar of strength for the children, telling them made-up stories and lies to protect them from the evils of the world, thinking children don’t understand anything but they actually do, more than what adults give them credit for. Maybe they don’t get the complexities of it but they know it, they feel it when something isn’t right.
What follows is several episodes of conflicted behavior. Children are just children after all. They might be terrified, they might be sad but there are a lot of things that don’t make sense to them. When will the war end? What is soon? Why do our fathers have to fight? Do they not love us enough to be by us when we are scared? There’s an innocence in their perception and their questions that is so brutally heart-breaking. The way they perceive death, the way they perceive God, how they get frustrated when adults don’t pay attention to them when they’re talking amongst themselves, all of it tugs at your heart.
I loved how the writer has been so thorough with capturing the feelings of children in the stories. The point-of-view of adult characters is also very alluring. I can say that although the narratives in both the stories are very different, Casper has done a brilliant job in presenting these stories to the world. The verses flow very poetically and powerfully as if they have a life of their own. I can’t think of one instance where I felt displeased with the writing or plot or anything else while reading this book.
I’d have given this book a perfect 4-star rating had it not been for the editing errors. I know bad editing is a sore-point with lots of readers and it is for me too, but I must say that the writing is so beautiful that I noticed the errors only because I had to do it as a reviewer. The prose is so pleasingly overwhelming otherwise but it might not be the case for everyone. That being said, I’m giving this book 3 out of 4 stars. Anybody interested in reading wartime stories must check this book out. This book is also perfect for readers interesting in reading elaborate writing on human feelings and relationships. But honestly, I’m just going to go recommend this to everyone.
******
Hidden: Nistar
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
3 out of 4 stars
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Hidden: Nistar by Batya Casper comprises two war stories: Hidden: Nistar and Hanover Gardens. Hidden: Nistar is a story of an Israeli family set in the mid-20th century and how the Israeli-Palestinian conflict along with ensuing wars sees generations of the same family suffering in several ways. The main focus of this story is human perception or feelings; how some people try to get their lives together after a war and how some people just can’t. The fact that there’s a war going on is made visible only through scattered war updates here and there, otherwise, it’s about humans trying to live a day at a time, struggling, trying to find a purpose, trying to find meaning in things. It is only towards the ending chapters when one can infer that things are the way they are as a result of the war.
Hanover Gardens is a story of another family in England during the second world war with a husband enlisted in the war trying to find Jewish friends and sending a few of them to his house in Hanover Gardens, England as refugees. The story is told in the perspectives of the residents of the house and unlike the previous story, this one makes it clear from the first page that it’s a war story and it’s going to chronicle lives of a few people in a city upturned by sirens and bombings while loved ones are either dead or missing without a word for years.
The one thing that’s common in both these stories, besides war, is its focus on the behavior of children during war. Adults go about their lives silently suffering, trying to be a pillar of strength for the children, telling them made-up stories and lies to protect them from the evils of the world, thinking children don’t understand anything but they actually do, more than what adults give them credit for. Maybe they don’t get the complexities of it but they know it, they feel it when something isn’t right.
What follows is several episodes of conflicted behavior. Children are just children after all. They might be terrified, they might be sad but there are a lot of things that don’t make sense to them. When will the war end? What is soon? Why do our fathers have to fight? Do they not love us enough to be by us when we are scared? There’s an innocence in their perception and their questions that is so brutally heart-breaking. The way they perceive death, the way they perceive God, how they get frustrated when adults don’t pay attention to them when they’re talking amongst themselves, all of it tugs at your heart.
I loved how the writer has been so thorough with capturing the feelings of children in the stories. The point-of-view of adult characters is also very alluring. I can say that although the narratives in both the stories are very different, Casper has done a brilliant job in presenting these stories to the world. The verses flow very poetically and powerfully as if they have a life of their own. I can’t think of one instance where I felt displeased with the writing or plot or anything else while reading this book.
I’d have given this book a perfect 4-star rating had it not been for the editing errors. I know bad editing is a sore-point with lots of readers and it is for me too, but I must say that the writing is so beautiful that I noticed the errors only because I had to do it as a reviewer. The prose is so pleasingly overwhelming otherwise but it might not be the case for everyone. That being said, I’m giving this book 3 out of 4 stars. Anybody interested in reading wartime stories must check this book out. This book is also perfect for readers interesting in reading elaborate writing on human feelings and relationships. But honestly, I’m just going to go recommend this to everyone.
******
Hidden: Nistar
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
My faults and mistakes are what I am, making up the brightest stars in the constellation of my life
- RM
- RM
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