Book Review: “Fast Times in Palestine” by Pamela Olson

“Fast Times in Palestine” is Pamela Olson’s powerful, deeply moving account of life in Palestine—both the daily events that are universal to us all (house parties, concerts, barbecues, and weddings) as well as the violence, trauma, and political tensions that are particular to the country. From idyllic olive groves to Palestinian beer gardens, from Passover in Tel Aviv to Ramadan in a Hamas village, readers will find Olson’s narrative both suspenseful and discerning. Her irresistible story offers a multi-faceted understanding of the Palestinian perspective on the Israel/Palestine conflict, filling a gap in the West’s popular understanding of the difficult relationship between the two nations.

it important to hear from someone’s first account to give you a feel for the situation other than the very biased news sources. Especially since she was filtering Arabic culture, which I am more and more familiar with, through an American perspective, albeit different from my own.  There are political aspects of the book, as one would assume. I am not an expert on the Palestine/Israeli conflict, but what I thought Ms Olson did a nice job of presenting the Palestinians point of view.   The people were fascinating. I learned quite a bit that I did not know about the culture of Palestine. It sounds beautiful. It’s a shame that the treasured Holy Land and sites are under such turmoil. All I can do is pray for peace for all sides. Maybe it is impossible, but one can hope.

Of the 103 people that rated this book on Goodreads.com 77 rated it as a 4 or 5 star book.  I think I will give it 4 stars.  Good book to read, insightful on the area and not a hard a read as a lot of books on the Palestine/Israeli conflict.

Disclosure: A free copy of the book was given to the volunteer with the expectation that they would write a fair and honest review of it.