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S'està carregant… The Kurdish Bike: A Novelde Alesa Lightbourne
   Cap No hi ha cap discussió a Converses sobre aquesta obra.  TimBazzett | Nov 21, 2019 |   An unusual story set in Northern Iraq where divorced teacher, Theresa Turner takes on a stint of teaching in a ultra conservative school, the International Academy of Kurdistan, for the upper echelon in the far reaches of Kurdistan in 2010. Somewhere between a novel and a memoir, I was fascinated by Theresa's purchase of a bike and steps towards exploring the culture she was working within. Her developing relationships with the women of the village is a jewel. Her entree into their hopes and dreams, their disappointments and the rules they live by is eye opening. Her brief moments of journeying with these women is wonderful. What's not so precious is the showing up of the teacher she's replaced with a somewhat sinister aura. That played into sinister shadows of disgruntled converts, something I didn't like and didn't think was necessary. And why didn't Theresa just toss the guy's mysterious package he'd left in her apartment out? Then there's the educational and employment practices of the school and the treatment of the teachers who become somewhat trapped in the system. But returning to the women. By sharing their joys and problems, Theresa becomes a conduit for the reader into a world we know nothing of. I become unsure as to whether it's rewarding or condescending. I want it to be the former. The education practices of the school, the teaching conditions and the traps for unwary players are less likable. Certainly there's a note of beware what you get yourself into for all those thinking about going to more conservative countries for employment. Theresa's first impressions of the educational compound do not bode well. "My new home is more like a military barracks, a bastion of something as yet unclear." That clarity comes with hooks not before discernable. Despite this I keep coming back to the romantic idea of the immense privilege that is Theresa's when she takes chances and is accepted by the women into their homes and culture, all on the wing and promise of a bike! However whether Theresa returns that respect is sometimes moot. I'm still conflicted. An Alesa Lightbourne ARC via NetGalley (  ) eyes.2c | Jul 30, 2019 | Ms Lightbourne's stint in KRI ended a decade before I got there and the economy and it's upward trend changed, especially after the oil crisis and the disastrous 2017 independence referendum. Even though the book is structured as a novel, I think I recognize the places she talks about – maybe not the exact place, but sort of. I picture her in Algosh, on the Mosul side of Duhok that was devastated by the ISIS war, although it was more likely to have been up near Akre. It doesn't matter, really, the site is a composite. Ms Lightbourne arrives in Kurdistan on a short teaching contract at a very odd high school. To keep from going stir crazy she buys a bike and rides around the countryside (with no mention of landmines). As in "Guests of the Sheik", Ms Lightbourne found her most warm and human experiences with the women of the villages she visits. Her students are her escorts. As in "Guests" love and sex are important parts of women's lives. There is a lot of discussion of FGM in this book, a practice has been banned in KRI for over a decade. I found the mother's story of her daughter being captured during the war and sold into sexual slavery very poignant. The mother was comforted by the knowledge that because she was cut, the prostituted daughter was never shamed by lust. (My sources of info on FGM today were limited. One male friend said that besides being against the law, FGM was being touted as an "Arab" custom, not a Kurdish one, and that the strong antipathy of the Kurds for anything Arab was effective in suppressing it. I didn't have any good medical or female sources to ask.) Unlike "Guests", Ms Lightbourne is a teacher, not an anthropologist, and her stay in Iraq was short. She has pulled her experiences into an enjoyable short novel that provides a glimpse into a particular place at a particular time and makes no claim to much ethnography. I enjoyed the book very much. I received a review copy of "The Kurdish Bike" by Alesa Lightbourne (self-published) through NetGalley.com. (  ) Dokfintong | Apr 21, 2019 | Alesa leaves behind the uncertainties of teaching students in the US for the uncertainties of teaching students who had become internationals during the years that Saddam Hussein dominated their homeland. She makes friends among her colleagues, learns to fake compliance with a repressive educational system, learns new words. But her best achievements are being befriended by a local young woman and her mother and helping to change awareness of the practice of female circumcision. There are good times and bad, highs and lows, especially those related to financial issues back in the states. This book is a novelization of the author's own experiences, and I am glad that part of that process included melding some characters together, the book itself is a learning experience for those of us who think that we have problems. I generally prefer books which are narrated by the author, who better to know how to convey emotions and in some cases pronounce non English words! I requested and received a free audio copy courtesy of AudioBookBOOM. (  ) jetangen4571 | Sep 3, 2018 | I really enjoyed this audio version of The Kurdish Bike, a novel based on the author's experiences as an expat teacher in Iraqi Kurdistan. The main character, Theresa, is an older, mature teacher, who has been through a messy divorce and decides to up-sticks to somewhere completely new to her. To have an adventure and escape from old memories. The job in Northern Iraq looks like the perfect opportunity. Once in Kurdistan, she goes against protocol and buys a bike, then uses it to go into the village and meet some of the locals. She is adopted into a Kurdish family and we enjoy all their trials and tribulations alongside Theresa. For me this worked extremely well as a way of introducing various issues, such as female circumcision, the rights of women and the recent history of the area. The school was an eye-opener, I suspect there is a similar school near me, where all children are on the same page of the same book on any given day, irrespective of their level of ability or even whether they have had a teacher for the last term. The book was narrated by the author and she did a great job - except there are a few places where she stumbles, which is something that I never hear with professional narrators. On the plus side, she does the 'asides' perfectly and I suspect these might have annoyed me in the written version as I'm not a fan of aside comments. Hopefully she will correct these issues in the near future. I am genuinely hoping that Theresa will go back to the village for another year of teaching - at the end of the novel she was offered an opportunity...will she take it?? ( ) DubaiReader | Aug 27, 2018 | Sense ressenyes | afegeix-hi una ressenya
This award-winning novel is quickly becoming a book club favorite, and is widely considered to be the definitive classic on modern village Kurds. Based on a true story, The Kurdish Bike follows Theresa Turner, an American teacher who takes a job in northern Iraq in 2010. Responding to an online ad asking for "courageous teachers to help rebuild a war-torn country," she finds herself working in a repressive school for elites. She yearns to experience a more "real" Kurdistan, and buys a bicycle, which lets her explore the nearby villages and countryside. When she is befriended by a village widow, Theresa is embroiled in the joys and agonies of traditional Kurds, especially the women who survived Saddamâ??s genocide only to be crippled by age-old restrictions, female genital mutilation (FGM), brutality and honor killings. Theresaâ??s greatest challenge will be balancing respect for cultural values while trying to introduce more enlightened attitudes toward women â?? at the same time seeking new spiritual dimensions within herself. The Kurdish Bike is gripping, tender, wry and compassionate, an eye-opener into little-known customs in Kurdistan and the Middle Eastâ?? one of the worldâ??s most explosive regions â?? a novel of love, betrayal and redemption. Although its themes are serious, it is also filled with humor, cultural insights and stories of resilience. The Kurdish Bike is the winner of the Gold Medal for Best Regional eBook from Independent Publishers, and First Prize in the North Street Book Awards. Like Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner, The Kurdish Bike is highly recommended for book clubs. The author gives frequent presentations to book groups throughout Central California, and also to international audiences via Skype. Groups as diverse as public libraries, university groups, churches, women's clubs, community service groups, retirement homes and humanist societies have enjoyed her talks on Kurdish culture. The author is a passionate supporter of women's causes in rural Kurdistan, and is committed to helping the people described in the book create a better life for themselves. "What would you do if you could do anything in the world," the main character is asked at the outset by her college-age son. Without a moment's hesitation, she replies that she would teach overseas again, as her life as a college professor has grown stale. Her son challenges her to pursue her dreamâ?? and she does. Countless readers have found this to be motivational, inspiring them to bust out of ho-hum lives and try something different for a change. While many novels discuss the expatriate experience, few showcase a woman who is no longer a spring chicken, who takes a gigantic leap of faith into potential danger in Iraq. Another key theme of reviewers is the deep friendship the main character develops with local women. Theresa discovers aspects of Kurdish culture that no longer exist in the United States, such as the deep bonding that occurs when village women grieve together, or the unconditional generosity she is offered when struck by financial disaster. The Kurdish Bike is filled with surprises. Well-developed characters face life-and-death decisions. Western teachers are not always the people they seem to be. Unexpected changes in the United States have devastating impacts on the expatriates. And it is impossible to determine who is a genuine ally in such a foreign setting. Add to this the main character's desire for spiritual redemption, and you have a must-read page turner that haunts t No s'han trobat descripcions de biblioteca. |
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 Google Books — S'està carregant…GèneresClassificació Decimal de Dewey (DDC)813.6Literature English (North America) American fiction 21st CenturyValoracióMitjana: (4.22)
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2
While the writing is quite good, the storyline seems a bit too scattered, causing the narrative to stutter along, to ebb and flow, so it was something of a struggle to stick with. I could not relate closely to any of the characters, so that was a problem. The narrator-protagonist, sixty-ish Theresa Turner, seemed at times a touch too gullible to be real, but I liked her sense of humor, so that kept me reading. But the ending seemed so anticlimactic that, well, it was hardly an ending at all.
That said, it was still a "pretty good book" and yeah, I'd recommend it, especially to readers curious about Kurdish life and expat teachers in the mideast. (three and a half stars)
- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER (