32. Home Fire by Kamala Shamsie

listened on Chirp
276 pgs.

2017
Adult realistic fiction
Finished 4/10/24
Goodreads rating: 4.03
My rating: 4
Setting: contemporary Massachusetts, London, Syria

My comments: I started this once, ages ago, but restarted from the beginning in one of my trying-to-fall-asleep sessions.  And it didn't go in any sort of direction that I thought it would.  This is a story that makes you think.  And tremble.  Terrorism.  Families.  Religious beliefs, and religious fanatics.  Patriotism.  Governments.  This is a tragic story, but what I'm sure is very, very real to thousands of people in our world.  I keep going back to thoughts about religious beliefs.  I look at what's going on in America right now, the huge differences between conservatism and liberalism.  Just like the hug differences between Hasidic Jews, reformed, and cultural Jews, and the vast differences between ultra religious Muslims and more liberal Muslims..... Political beliefs and religious beliefs all lumped together.  REALLY tough story, hard to rate.  I usually like stories that flip-flop between points-of-view and though I did not particularly care for it in this case, but to see all the different sides is definitely the best way for this story to be told.  

Goodreads synopsis:  Isma is free. After years of watching out for her younger siblings in the wake of their mother’s death, she’s accepted an invitation from a mentor in America that allows her to resume a dream long deferred. But she can’t stop worrying about Aneeka, her beautiful, headstrong sister back in London, or their brother, Parvaiz, who’s disappeared in pursuit of his own dream, to prove himself to the dark legacy of the jihadist father he never knew. When he resurfaces half a globe away, Isma’s worst fears are confirmed.

Then Eamonn enters the sisters’ lives. Son of a powerful political figure, he has his own birthright to live up to—or defy. Is he to be a chance at love? The means of Parvaiz’s salvation? Suddenly, two families’ fates are inextricably, devastatingly entwined, in this searing novel that asks: What sacrifices will we make in the name of love?

The suspenseful and heartbreaking story of an immigrant family driven to pit love against loyalty, with devastating consequences.

MOVIE - Thanks for Sharing

R (1:52)

Limted release 9/20/2013 (TODAY!)  There were only 14 people at the 2:15 showing

RT Critic 52: Audience: 72

Cag:  5.5 - Gotta say that I really loved it

Directed by Stuart Blumberg

Lionsgate/Roadside Attractions

(Great music, too.)

Actors: Mark Ruffalo, Tim Robbins, Gwyneth Paltrow, Josh Gad, Pink

Rotten Tomatoes Summary: On the surface Adam (Ruffalo), an over-achieving environmental consultant, Mike (Robbins), a long-married small-business owner, and Neil (Gad), a wisecracking emergency-room doctor, have little in common. But all are in different stages of dealing with addiction. Confident and successful in his career, Adam is afraid to allow love back into his life, even if that means losing a chance to start over with smart, beautiful and accomplished Phoebe (Paltrow); Mike's efforts to control his wife, Katie(Richardson), and son, Danny (Fugit), as tightly as he does his impulses are tearing the family apart; and Neil is still deeply in denial when befriended by Dede (Moore), who has just begun to take her own small steps back to health.. As they navigate the rocky shores of recovery, Adam, Mike and Neil become a family that encourages, infuriates and applauds each other on the journey toward a new life.

My comments:  This was really good and very moving.  An addiction is an addiction, and sometimes we just consider someone addicted to sex as a pervert.  If nothing else, this movie makes you think.  And think.  The actors were really, really good.  Pop singer Alecia Moore and Broadway star Josh Gad, both unknowns to me, were terrific and put the .5 after the 5 in my rating.