It Destroys a Country, it Destroys a Family, it Destroys a Soul

Tasting the Sky is a very poetic novel. The author captures the beauty amidst all the struggle. At the same time, she depicts the angst of war and tyranny on, not only lifestyles, but how these things begrudge the human soul. People were created to live freely. When placed in an environment where they lack liberty the soul cannot breathe; an individual cannot be. In the book, the narrator creates her own freedom, her post office box. This magical little box give her access to the entire world. She writes to people of all different ethnicities and countries. She is no longer the progeny of a war-torn country. She is just a mere resident of Ramallah. She writes of her day. She writes of the beautiful language of Arabic. She answers their questions and asks her own. In that post office box holds her small freedom.

The narrator also talks of her  father and his dreams. In his nightmares, he screams and rages and thrashes about. She talks of when she wakes him and he cannot even speak about the horrors his subconscious has grudged up from the deep. In dreams, you cannot run away. She ponders the thought, “Is that because he has lived his whole life not knowing freedom? Or does he hide his freedom somewhere, the way I hide mine in Post Office Box 34?” Her father is not only plagued in real life by the fears that have filled his life, but those fears have followed him into his sleep. Lack of freedom, destroys.

It destroys a country, it destroys a family, it destroys a soul.