Exodus by Leon Uris

Fantastic. Amazing. This is the first review I am writing well, because "Exodus" by Leon Uris is well-worth writing a review for.

The book is a work of fiction based on the establishment of a Israel, some World War II Era and after. Actually it's hard to distinguish the fact from fiction. It has many characters, that to mention all of them would not leave me space for a review, but they are handled in such a way that they don't become annoying. It focuses more on the plight of the Jews, and I guess a lot of us know something about that. But it discusses more of it, somethings we might not even know.

We have Ari Ben Canaan as the main character - a hard, strong character that works for the (re)establishment of Israel. He goes around many places to immigrate people to Palestine to go to the "Promised Land." But on the way, he also faces some of his own issues on love, friendship, loyalty, etc. He is surrounded by other characters that complement each other well with the same goal - to have a Jewish State. But obviously, there are many roadblocks to this. We have the British (who at that times held some of the Middle East), the Arab nations literally surrounding the very small area of Israel (get a map and you'll see what I mean), and many other political and religious factors.

While the story mainly revolves on events during the late 1940s, there are also many recounts of events that took place like almost a century before. These could be actually be very long, and for my taste, a little bit dragging, that's why I gave 4 stars. Well actually, 4.75 stars because, later I realized the importance of these flashbacks on the establishment of the characters, which is a very good aspect of the book. You get to know more of the characters, the more you get hooked! I realized that, without the necessary foundation, the characters would actually seem bland, and have no "motives."

How I love the book. First, I am particularly interested in war themes on any type of medium. Why? Maybe because I want to understand why they have to go to war, why they have to fight, what drives them. Well, as many people know me, I am far from aggressive, so I am fascinated at why people resort to aggression. Second, I like love stories (well, for a HR like me LOL). The story has its own dash of it and it was quite interesting and different. Third, I am interested in religious or "faith" themes. Thought the story doesn't dive into it so much, it still held on to the basic principles that a Christian like me would know, as well as issues with other religions. The book is pretty heavy, as you will really get a lot from it.

I myself knew quite some general things about what the Jews have gone through in the past millenniums - the Bible, Hitler, Auschwitz, Arab-Israeli Conflicts, blah-blah - but I did know what I got from the book! There were so many things that astounded me that made me think, "Wow, they sure are a bunch of people." I can't believe (or rather lost hope) that people can be what the Jews have been as described in the book. I believe many events in the book are based on real events, but there I face my problem - separating fact from fiction. It was so goodly written that it made me wonder which was true from what's not. So I really made it a point to search in the internet so many things in the book.

Now that I finished the 1.5" thick book with 9-sized Times New Roman and more than 600 pages, I have a new dream - to visit Israel. I really want to see first hand if how they are faring right now. I understand there are still wars, but with how the book (published 1958 mind you LOL) described the Jews determination, I want to see if they still have that passion in them. It's like I want to visit those places described in the book (though I really don't know if some places mentioned there still exist). I also want to understand more of Judaism. I even thought of giving my child, if ever, a Hebrew or Hebrew-related name. Maybe Dov or Ein. Dunno yet. Hehe.

Dang, you must read it. It's the first of its kind that I have had read. It was worth my while. I look up to Ari, and to also many other characters, like David, and to the Jews as well. Get a copy if you can.

I can't wait to get my hand to the movie adaptation. But based on the summary, the story is quite on a different road, but to the same goal. And it is over 3 hours long (?). But, heck ,who cares?

^_^