The Haj

By: Leon Uris

Narrated by: Neil Shah

Length: 21 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

Leon Uris retums to the land of his acclaimed best-seller Exodus for an epic story of hate and love, vengeance and forgiveness. The Middle East is the powerful setting for this sweeping tale of a land where revenge is sacred and hatred noble. Where an Arab ruler tries to save his people from destruction but cannot save them from themselves. When violence spreads like a plague across the lands of Palestine - this is the time of The Haj.

©1984 Leon Uris (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

I now understand...and it's terrifying.

Uris is known for his ability to put actual events,people and philosophies into a "fictional " form. He has done it again here and anyone who thinks that the Western world can come to a meeting of the minds and achieve a lasting peace with the Arab world is delusional. Uris takes you on a walk through history through the eyes of an extraordinarily likable character. He sees and often internally battles with his own culture. In the end, you have seen what molded the events in the Middle East, understood the how and why's, and come out with the frightening understanding that it can't and won't ever change. I think we all have suspected it, but now we know why. Very well written and performed. A gripping story.

Racist

This book might be able to be excused if it was written in the 1950's, but it wasn't. The Arabs in this are portrayed in a way that would be unacceptable for any other group (for example, Jews or African Americans). Leon Uris is a good writer, but that makes the racist piece even worse. I can't even call this historical fiction since it is so biased against Arabs that it's hard to imagine whatever else he wrote about being true. Neil Shah did an excellent job narrating this book.

The haj

This book met my expectations. The narration was very good. I like leon uris writings. A good depiction of the arab nations.

Fantastic!

If you really want to understand the culture, religion, and politics of the Middle East and why hatred continues, this novel covers it all. Nothing has changed since it was written. The narration was brilliantly done.

Formation of Israel through an Arab youth's eye

Leon Uris wrote a stunning and moving tale of the formation of Israel as seen by Israelis and pro-Israelis, Exodus. The Haj turns things around and is a tale of the same event as seen through the eyes of an Arab youth. Both were written by Mr. Uris. History can be seen as a source of learning and improving, or it can be seen as a time that draws us back and prevents progress. Exodus was written as a representation of learning and improving, The Haj was a representation of a culture stuck in the past. Both books bring out emotion and food for thought. Exodus is a positive; The Haj is a negative.The Haj is replete with horror and despair. Exodus, while being tense, is uplifting and hopeful.

Mr. Uris develops his characters fully and in detail. Although not history books, they were well researched. It must be difficult for an author to maintain a neutrality towards his subject. I felt pain and sorrow for the Arabic family in The Haj; they were stuck in the grip of their cultural history.

Tha Haj opened my eyes to a part of the world of which I know so little, yet a part that is in the news so often. Yes, I recommend reading it. This was a long book, but the reader were wonderful.

Excellent, Excruciating, Tragic

A raw and difficult book to read, but helpful to understanding an "honor-bound" culture.
A painfully riveting saga.

Great story

This was one of the most interesting thought provoking novels . The narration was awesome.
Great job

A sweeping saga of Arab/Israeli conflict

This was a book that confirmed my impressions about blind hatred and how much damage it can do. I found it so sad that the family who were the "protagonists" of the story, that of Haj Ibrahim, were all victims of the hatred that they espoused and continued. One by one, the children died due to savagery on the part of their own people, not the Israelis. There were a number of references in the book to the fact that the Arabs really had very little problem with the "Jews" but had a lot of problems with their own people. The notion that one was raised from infancy to hate a people for no reason blew me away, though I have known for some time that this happens. It is like a family feud that is fuelled by nothing but a history of the feud itself. Many of the Arabs refused to take supplies offered by the Jews so as not to give them the impression that they needed them in order to survive. And yet, the Arabs in this story fed on hatred and it ultimately consumed them in both a spiritual and physical sense. There were very disturbing parts of this book but I feel it was probably fairly accurate. I am sure that there are people who would think that this book was biased. I do not think so. The Haj was a very good book and a sad story of a family self-destructing.

Amazing.

Thank you Leon Uris for such a clear story of Arab life and historical relationship with the Jews. What's next?

Narration is a turn-off

The story is good, especially the tension surrounding male-female roles and relationships. It also provides some fascinating perspective on Middle East relationships, and how they have - or have not - changed in the 35 years since the book was written. The narration, on the other hand, comes across as almost a mockery of regional accents, so overblown I had a hard time listening. I listened to roughly six hours before setting this title aside for almost two years. I resumed it because I enjoy history but it has been one of the most difficult books I’ve ever listened to.