Summary Of In Year Of The Locust

In Year of the Locust: A Soldier’s Diary and the Erasure of Palestine’s Ottoman Past, Salim Tamari—an Israeli native and highly revered sociologist—poses two arguments for his audience. First, he explores how the Great War transformed the people of the Ottoman East. This transition goes beyond the obvious changes in physical living conditions, but digs deeper into the mental and emotional challenges that Palestinians of this era were faced with. Secondly, Tamari addresses what Ottoman journalist, Falih Rıfkı Atay, deemed the “Turkish problem”. In Year of the Locust, the “Turkish Problem” is described as the inefficiency of the Ottoman government to reform the constitution into one which would allow a more multiethnic realm. This lack of

Agreeing with what Polat had to say, it seemed a little disorganized and difficult to follow, however I did appreciate the way he included the diary of Ishan Turjman to represent how day-to-day life was conducted during such a hectic time in history. I do not consider this book to have changed the way I think about certain aspects of Middle Eastern history, but rather, deepened my understanding on the topic of Ottoman Palestine. What I found most alluring in this book was how (relatively speaking) normal Ishan Turjman’s diary entries were during such a chaotic time. I expected the diary to be more dramatic as opposed to him describing situations in which he is “playing with his moustache” In conclusion of this review, I would say my feelings are mixed. There are parts of the book I found very interesting and parts that I feel may have gotten lost in translation. Overall, I would not recommend this book to someone who is looking to further their academic knowledge on the subject, but instead to someone who takes interest in this particular place and time, and would like to be informed on minuscule details of the day to day