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The Book of Jonas
An exceptional debut novel about a young Muslim war orphan whose family is killed in a military operation gone wrong, and the American soldier to whom his fate, and survival, is bound.
Jonas is fifteen when his family is killed during an errant U.S. military operation in an unnamed Muslim country. With the help of an international relief organization, he is sent to America, where he struggles to assimilate - foster family, school, a first love. Eventually, he tells a court-mandated counselor and therapist about a U.S. soldier, Christopher Henderson, responsible for saving his life on the tragic night in question. Christopher's mother, Rose, has dedicated her life to finding out what really happened to her son, who disappeared after the raid in which Jonas' village was destroyed. When Jonas meets Rose, a shocking and painful secret gradually surfaces from the past, and builds to a shattering conclusion that haunts long after the final page. Told in spare, evocative prose, The Book of Jonas is about memory, about the terrible choices made during war, and about what happens when foreign disaster appears at our own doorstep. It is a rare and virtuosic novel from an exciting new writer to watch.
Jonas is fifteen when his family is killed during an errant U.S. military operation in an unnamed Muslim country. With the help of an international relief organization, he is sent to America, where he struggles to assimilate - foster family, school, a first love. Eventually, he tells a court-mandated counselor and therapist about a U.S. soldier, Christopher Henderson, responsible for saving his life on the tragic night in question. Christopher's mother, Rose, has dedicated her life to finding out what really happened to her son, who disappeared after the raid in which Jonas' village was destroyed. When Jonas meets Rose, a shocking and painful secret gradually surfaces from the past, and builds to a shattering conclusion that haunts long after the final page. Told in spare, evocative prose, The Book of Jonas is about memory, about the terrible choices made during war, and about what happens when foreign disaster appears at our own doorstep. It is a rare and virtuosic novel from an exciting new writer to watch.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 2012
41 people are currently reading
2585 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Dau
1 book37 followersOriginally from Western Pennsylvania, Stephen Dau attended the University of Pittsburgh before working in post-war reconstruction in the Balkans and international philanthropy in Washington DC. He subsequently studied creative writing at Johns Hopkins University and received an MFA from the Bennington Writing Seminars. In addition to his debut novel, The Book of Jonas, his work has appeared in The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, McSweeney’s, and MSNBC, among other places. He lives in Belgium.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 390 reviews
January 1, 2015
This book made me deeply sad. I would still recommend it, because I think it's an important book for our current world.
For much of the story the reader is left as detached from the main character as he seems to be from himself. Jonas (Younis) is a kind of ghost drifting through his new life in America trying to make sense of his present, but purposefully not of his past. There are brief interludes of memory, wisps and hints here and there of his life before (and during) the trauma he faced.
It's only when he learns of a mother searching for answers that he feels no choice but to remember her son, Christopher, a U.S. soldier who enlisted when not much more than a boy himself. Jonas tells Rose that her son saved his life, but the rest of the story is too far repressed for him to reach, at least at that point in the book. There was plenty of foreshadowing about what ultimately happened on that mountain after Christopher deserted his unit to follow the wounded boy, but I still hoped to be wrong. I wasn't, but the way Jonas remembers it, chooses and even NEEDS to remember it, that's where the real complexity of the novel lies.
The Book of Jonas is a bit heavy on the symbolism, but despite that I found it to be well written and a work of real power. (For example, Christopher's symbolic story of the brief, strange bond between a grieving lioness and an orphaned gazelle was beautifully, if not subtly, rendered.)
For much of the story the reader is left as detached from the main character as he seems to be from himself. Jonas (Younis) is a kind of ghost drifting through his new life in America trying to make sense of his present, but purposefully not of his past. There are brief interludes of memory, wisps and hints here and there of his life before (and during) the trauma he faced.
It's only when he learns of a mother searching for answers that he feels no choice but to remember her son, Christopher, a U.S. soldier who enlisted when not much more than a boy himself. Jonas tells Rose that her son saved his life, but the rest of the story is too far repressed for him to reach, at least at that point in the book. There was plenty of foreshadowing about what ultimately happened on that mountain after Christopher deserted his unit to follow the wounded boy, but I still hoped to be wrong. I wasn't, but the way Jonas remembers it, chooses and even NEEDS to remember it, that's where the real complexity of the novel lies.
The Book of Jonas is a bit heavy on the symbolism, but despite that I found it to be well written and a work of real power. (For example, Christopher's symbolic story of the brief, strange bond between a grieving lioness and an orphaned gazelle was beautifully, if not subtly, rendered.)
April 14, 2012
The Book of Jonas is the story of a young Muslim boy, named Jonas, who is saved by U.S. troops after his small, remote village was demolished by an American military attack. The town was known to harbor insurgents, but there were also other inhabitants who were most definitely innocent, including young children.
After being hospitalized for injuries incurred during the attack, Jonas consents to live with a foster family in Pittsburgh, PA and attends sessions with psychiatrist in order to work through the emotional trauma due to loosing his family and home. From early on we learn that an American soldier, named Christopher, saved Jonas and that Christopher told him a story about a lioness and a baby gazelle while they were "holed-up" in a small cave. This story turns out to be a parable for the entire story within the pages of this book.
As Jonas moves through his day-to-day activities he starts having coping issues regarding Christopher because Christopher turned out to MIA and no one knows what happened to him, except, possibly Jonas. We get small glimpses of Jonas' time with Christopher in the cave and start wondering what happened. Jonas eventually comes to a point where he has to tell what happened in the cave before it eats him alive.
This story is told in a very sparse style, with very short chapters that I would call "snippets", where we get a glimpse that gives us the general idea of what happened, without leaving us in the dark. At this books' completion I, literally, had goosebumps. I could not help but wonder who is the lion and who is the gazelle? Can a gazelle become a lion when necessary? How does a person make amends when they go in to something with the best intentions and it turns out the exact opposite they imagined? I found this to be a very compelling read and I can't help but feel for both Christopher and Jonas. Initially I was unsure if this was a 4 or 5 star read, but considering I cannot stop thinking about it, I know it is 5-stars. This would be a great book club read, for it pushes the boundaries and will create much debate. Highly recommended!
After being hospitalized for injuries incurred during the attack, Jonas consents to live with a foster family in Pittsburgh, PA and attends sessions with psychiatrist in order to work through the emotional trauma due to loosing his family and home. From early on we learn that an American soldier, named Christopher, saved Jonas and that Christopher told him a story about a lioness and a baby gazelle while they were "holed-up" in a small cave. This story turns out to be a parable for the entire story within the pages of this book.
As Jonas moves through his day-to-day activities he starts having coping issues regarding Christopher because Christopher turned out to MIA and no one knows what happened to him, except, possibly Jonas. We get small glimpses of Jonas' time with Christopher in the cave and start wondering what happened. Jonas eventually comes to a point where he has to tell what happened in the cave before it eats him alive.
This story is told in a very sparse style, with very short chapters that I would call "snippets", where we get a glimpse that gives us the general idea of what happened, without leaving us in the dark. At this books' completion I, literally, had goosebumps. I could not help but wonder who is the lion and who is the gazelle? Can a gazelle become a lion when necessary? How does a person make amends when they go in to something with the best intentions and it turns out the exact opposite they imagined? I found this to be a very compelling read and I can't help but feel for both Christopher and Jonas. Initially I was unsure if this was a 4 or 5 star read, but considering I cannot stop thinking about it, I know it is 5-stars. This would be a great book club read, for it pushes the boundaries and will create much debate. Highly recommended!
April 17, 2012
The writing in this book is good and really appealed to me. But the book went on, and that was kind of all there was to it. The story traced only the barest outline of what it is like to be a refugee in America and a solider in the Middle East, respectively, and didn’t really have anything new to say about either. That’s fine, but then the book never really explores the characters in a meaningful or interesting way either. It read more like an artful recording of events rather than a compelling and arcing novel, and got messy especially toward the end. Also all of the secondary characters were painted in an oddly unflattering light, and while that may have been done to underscore the main character’s isolation, it didn’t feel real and was actually kind of annoying. I would read another book of this author’s though; the book felt more underedited and underdeveloped than bad. The author’s notes hint that it was an extension of a short story, which would make sense, and which I personally think fewer authors should do (Murakami, I’m talking to you). 2 stars.
June 2, 2014
My daughter and I listened to this driving Houston together to set up her new apartment. We both agreed the book contained good writing—technically speaking—but we were disappointed in the overall story. It seemed to promise more than it delivered. Too bad. The best part was the metaphor involving the lioness and a baby gazelle that presumably represented the young American serviceman and the boy he saved.
I wish I could recommend it.
I wish I could recommend it.
March 3, 2012
It seems only fair to begin this with the truth that I'm horrifyingly predisposed to love this book. Deep, deep bias here, people. I'm also going to ask that you overlook this truth because it turns out it wouldn't have mattered who wrote it or what I already knew of it or its author before reading: it's fucking beautiful.
I read this all the way through on a flight from Portland, Oregon to Chicago. It may be the first time I've ever really teared up when reading on a plane. This was a little embarrassing, but I absolutely couldn't put it down to save myself that embarrassment. In all honesty, I'm still processing it (the book, not the tears), but I have to spew some initial impressions, and this is the space in which I do these things.
In a nutshell: Younis/Jonas is a 15 year old refugee/survivor from an unnamed country of deserts and mountains who has been transplanted to Pittsburgh in the aftermath of an attack on his village. The novel essentially follows his challenges in making this transition (which he may never fully accomplish), his resistance to remembering/discussing his original country (particularly the events that led to his transplantation in the first place), and his decline into alcoholism and self-sabotage in his efforts to not have to face the reality of what he's lived through. We get the truth of what happened in his home country in only the smallest puzzle pieces, but the puzzle does complete itself by the end of the book--in heartbreaking ways, but also perhaps the only possible ways the pieces could have fit.
There's so much in here. The book title and the section labels are pretty clear faith/biblical/mass references, and questions of faith come up in the book in a variety of ways, some obvious (such as the stunning conversation in which a young Younis asks if a mute child, one therefore unable to recite the required words of faith, could still be a believer) and some less so (such as the never directly stated questions of how or even if we can reestablish faith in other human beings once it's been lost).
There's also something woven throughout this narrative that I really love about the slippery nature of truth. Jonas lies and lies and egregiously lies and tells partial truths and these things give us just enough to start putting together a picture that would perhaps be too hard to see all at once AND let us know that it's also too much for him to see or tell or even consider all at once. His avoidance tactics tell us more about what is true than I would have expected. Maybe even more than the absolute direct truth in one neat package could. This also extends to the apparent dichotomies between Jonas's truth and Rose's truth and Christopher's truth. Even the ending is a gesture--equal parts appropriate and insufficient (the gesture, not the ending)--toward revealing a new layer of truth.
The absolute best thing about this book, though, is the writing. I marked far more passages in it than I can possibly justify sharing on Goodreads. I'll try to pick just a few. Check this out:
Jonas hesitates. His mind is a whirl of images and half-remembered events, and he is aware mostly of the necessity of choosing his words carefully, of the importance of the next few moments, of the unbearable weight of both lies and truth.
He tries to rid himself of the accent, practicing for hours in front of a mirror, but it is hard-wearing, like stone, a singsong abomination.
He gets A's in everything.
He wanders the halls like a ghost.
What is it like to lose everything, they ask. The question takes various forms, and that day, sitting in plastic chairs beside a shattered house, he developed his one and only response.
"What is it like to lose everything?" asked the man, the stranger who was there to help.
And Younis fixed him with his pale green eyes and said, "What is it like not to?"
See? Gorgeous. Heartbreaking. True.
I read this all the way through on a flight from Portland, Oregon to Chicago. It may be the first time I've ever really teared up when reading on a plane. This was a little embarrassing, but I absolutely couldn't put it down to save myself that embarrassment. In all honesty, I'm still processing it (the book, not the tears), but I have to spew some initial impressions, and this is the space in which I do these things.
In a nutshell: Younis/Jonas is a 15 year old refugee/survivor from an unnamed country of deserts and mountains who has been transplanted to Pittsburgh in the aftermath of an attack on his village. The novel essentially follows his challenges in making this transition (which he may never fully accomplish), his resistance to remembering/discussing his original country (particularly the events that led to his transplantation in the first place), and his decline into alcoholism and self-sabotage in his efforts to not have to face the reality of what he's lived through. We get the truth of what happened in his home country in only the smallest puzzle pieces, but the puzzle does complete itself by the end of the book--in heartbreaking ways, but also perhaps the only possible ways the pieces could have fit.
There's so much in here. The book title and the section labels are pretty clear faith/biblical/mass references, and questions of faith come up in the book in a variety of ways, some obvious (such as the stunning conversation in which a young Younis asks if a mute child, one therefore unable to recite the required words of faith, could still be a believer) and some less so (such as the never directly stated questions of how or even if we can reestablish faith in other human beings once it's been lost).
There's also something woven throughout this narrative that I really love about the slippery nature of truth. Jonas lies and lies and egregiously lies and tells partial truths and these things give us just enough to start putting together a picture that would perhaps be too hard to see all at once AND let us know that it's also too much for him to see or tell or even consider all at once. His avoidance tactics tell us more about what is true than I would have expected. Maybe even more than the absolute direct truth in one neat package could. This also extends to the apparent dichotomies between Jonas's truth and Rose's truth and Christopher's truth. Even the ending is a gesture--equal parts appropriate and insufficient (the gesture, not the ending)--toward revealing a new layer of truth.
The absolute best thing about this book, though, is the writing. I marked far more passages in it than I can possibly justify sharing on Goodreads. I'll try to pick just a few. Check this out:
Jonas hesitates. His mind is a whirl of images and half-remembered events, and he is aware mostly of the necessity of choosing his words carefully, of the importance of the next few moments, of the unbearable weight of both lies and truth.
He tries to rid himself of the accent, practicing for hours in front of a mirror, but it is hard-wearing, like stone, a singsong abomination.
He gets A's in everything.
He wanders the halls like a ghost.
What is it like to lose everything, they ask. The question takes various forms, and that day, sitting in plastic chairs beside a shattered house, he developed his one and only response.
"What is it like to lose everything?" asked the man, the stranger who was there to help.
And Younis fixed him with his pale green eyes and said, "What is it like not to?"
See? Gorgeous. Heartbreaking. True.
April 2, 2012
A military operation gone wrong in an unnamed Middle Eastern country, an American soldier and a young boy survivor who ends up in America. If there ever was a book that shows the different sides of a war, the repercussions for those involved and their families, this is the one. There are no winners and many many losers regardless of the side they are fighting on. The worst moments of a life may not ever be gotten over. There were so many poignant moments in this novel, and the way it is written in short alternating vignettes, with no wasted words do much to add to the impact. Another incredibly insightful first novel by a new author.
May 17, 2012
The Book of Jonas by Stephen Dau is the story of 15 year old Younis. His village in an unnamed Muslim, middle eastern country is destroyed under questionable circumstances by American military. Recovering in the hospital he is visited by an interfaith agency who offers him the opportunity to be placed with a family in America, and after some thought he agrees, though he is later not sure why. The book is broken up into 7 parts, titles with religious connotations, Processional, Invocation, Remembrance, Communion, Confession, Atonement and Recessional. That, along with the title of the book suggested to me that there would be significant religious overtones throughout the book but there were not. The first section, Invocation tells of his first years in America with a family and I found this part to be unbelievable and frustrating to read. What interfaith family would put this boy with a Christian family and not a Muslim family is beyond me and this family that he lives with has so little invested in Jonas emotionally (he changes his name on the way to America) that I’m not sure why they even signed up for this placement in the first place. The only time the mother reaches out to Jonas is to ask him if he wants to convert to Christianity in a very awkward and implausible scene in the book. After he leaves this family and goes off to college the writing and the story improves. The writing is beautiful at times and other times it came up short, it seemed many times to simply try to hard. Basically the book should have been better edited because I saw a lot of potential in Mr. Dau’s writing but felt it was uneven and the thread of the story underdeveloped. The dialogue faltered and felt clumsy. It often did not seem to fit the character., I thought Jonas carried a haunting sadness and created feelings of sympathy and a desire for him to succeed and find himself and his life. I loved how the author described the pivotal moment of Jonas’s decision to come to America and how his life could have followed so many other directions. I wanted to find closure for Jonas at the end and did not, there seemed to be only an ending for Rose, whose character I found one dimensional and weak. Christopher, the American soldier who helps Jonas in the beginning of the story is an interesting character but a bit hollow. I came away wanting to know more about what made him tick.
I hope that Stephen Dau will write again soon and give us more of his well crafted story telling and less of the parts that did not succeed here. Two stars for The Book of Jonas.
I hope that Stephen Dau will write again soon and give us more of his well crafted story telling and less of the parts that did not succeed here. Two stars for The Book of Jonas.
September 12, 2012
I was looking at a display of books for sale, reading the back cover of "The Book of Jonas" when the author happened to walk by.
He stopped and said, "Great book."
I recognized him as the author and said, "Really? I heard the author is kind of pretentious."
"Oh no," he replied. "He's nice and charming and I bet he would even sign your book. And then you could sell it on eBay for a lot of money."
So I bought the book because Stephen Dau was nice, even though the description of this novel didn't capture me at all. And he did sign it, "For Maggie, with gratitude and best wishes."
Now I think Stephen Dau should just hang around wherever books are sold, guilting people into buying his novel, because it is so worth it.
This book is gorgeous. The writing is spare and haunting. The story is told in little patchwork pieces that eventually spread out into something full and layered. It's a novel about trauma and memory and guilt, and how some things never truly heal. I think every reader will take away something different, beautiful and lasting.
It's one of those books that might stay with me forever. And, for the record, I don't think I'll ever sell it on eBay.
He stopped and said, "Great book."
I recognized him as the author and said, "Really? I heard the author is kind of pretentious."
"Oh no," he replied. "He's nice and charming and I bet he would even sign your book. And then you could sell it on eBay for a lot of money."
So I bought the book because Stephen Dau was nice, even though the description of this novel didn't capture me at all. And he did sign it, "For Maggie, with gratitude and best wishes."
Now I think Stephen Dau should just hang around wherever books are sold, guilting people into buying his novel, because it is so worth it.
This book is gorgeous. The writing is spare and haunting. The story is told in little patchwork pieces that eventually spread out into something full and layered. It's a novel about trauma and memory and guilt, and how some things never truly heal. I think every reader will take away something different, beautiful and lasting.
It's one of those books that might stay with me forever. And, for the record, I don't think I'll ever sell it on eBay.
March 19, 2012
"What is it like to lose everything?" asked the man, the stranger who was there to help.
And Younis fixed him with his pale green eyes and said, "What is it like not to?"
These are big questions, with no easy answers. They are the questions posed and explored in Stephen Dau's beautifully written debut novel, The Book of Jonas.
The novel opens as Younis, a 15 year old boy, is in the process of being repatriated from his war ravaged country (which is never named) to the United States. It's not clear then what has happened to him, only that it was cataclysmic. On the plane trip over he changes his name to Jonas, the English translation of his birth name, and begins a new life with an American host family in Pittsburgh.
But Jonas does not find it easy to easy to fit in among his new family and schoolmates and eventually ends up in trouble and in counseling. There, he slowly begins to allow himself to remember and reveal what happened to him and how it involved an American soldier, Christopher Henderson, who Jonas credits with saving his life.
This book is haunting me. I read it just as the news about the killings of Afghan civilians by an American soldier broke. It was impossible not to hear echoes of this book in the news coverage. And even though Younis/Jonas' story is heart rending, and it is tempting to turn away from such sadness, Dau's gorgeous writing and the importance of the moral issues he explores make that impossible too.
And Younis fixed him with his pale green eyes and said, "What is it like not to?"
These are big questions, with no easy answers. They are the questions posed and explored in Stephen Dau's beautifully written debut novel, The Book of Jonas.
The novel opens as Younis, a 15 year old boy, is in the process of being repatriated from his war ravaged country (which is never named) to the United States. It's not clear then what has happened to him, only that it was cataclysmic. On the plane trip over he changes his name to Jonas, the English translation of his birth name, and begins a new life with an American host family in Pittsburgh.
But Jonas does not find it easy to easy to fit in among his new family and schoolmates and eventually ends up in trouble and in counseling. There, he slowly begins to allow himself to remember and reveal what happened to him and how it involved an American soldier, Christopher Henderson, who Jonas credits with saving his life.
This book is haunting me. I read it just as the news about the killings of Afghan civilians by an American soldier broke. It was impossible not to hear echoes of this book in the news coverage. And even though Younis/Jonas' story is heart rending, and it is tempting to turn away from such sadness, Dau's gorgeous writing and the importance of the moral issues he explores make that impossible too.
August 18, 2014
“The Book of Jonas” follows Jonas (an Americanization of his real name, Younis) from his boyhood in an unnamed Middle Eastern country to troubled adulthood in America. Jonas’ village has been destroyed by American military forces in a botched operation to target insurgents. Gravely injured by the explosions that decimated his home and killed his family, Jonas escapes into a cave in the mountains. To his surprise, an American soldier tracks him to the cave. The soldier, Chris Henderson, stitches Jonas’ wounds and cares for him. Jonas floats in and out of consciousness in the cave, noting the soldier alternately sharpening his knife on a whetstone and writing in a journal. The next thing Jonas recalls is being in a hospital and being offered the opportunity to go to America. He chooses to go.
The story is told in a somewhat choppy fashion, alternating between what Jonas chooses to slowly disclose about his past, the voice of Chris Henderson via his diary, and Chris Henderson’s mother, Rose. Eventually, it is revealed what really happened to Jonas and Chris.
Not as deeply affecting as it could have been – the story is a terrible one about the cost of war and how one good person making a bad choice can have devastating consequences. I think the mechanics of the way the story was revealed and the aloof writing style kept me from bonding with the characters more closely.
3.5 stars.
The story is told in a somewhat choppy fashion, alternating between what Jonas chooses to slowly disclose about his past, the voice of Chris Henderson via his diary, and Chris Henderson’s mother, Rose. Eventually, it is revealed what really happened to Jonas and Chris.
Not as deeply affecting as it could have been – the story is a terrible one about the cost of war and how one good person making a bad choice can have devastating consequences. I think the mechanics of the way the story was revealed and the aloof writing style kept me from bonding with the characters more closely.
3.5 stars.
May 9, 2016
The Book of Jonas, a debut literary novel that was exciting and intriguing, was written by Stephen Dau. This book is Dau's only book and was published in 2012. Stephen Dau is a 45-year-old American-Belgian author from western Pennsylvania and he now lives in Brussels, Belgium. He attended University of Pittsburgh, Johns Hopkins University, and Bennington College and he is only known for writing The Book of Jonas. The book starts as a fifteen-year-old boy named Younis and he lives in an unnamed Muslim, Middle Eastern country. His village is attacked and destroyed by the United States military. He runs away from his village and onto a mountain where he finds a kind man called Christopher. Christopher is part of the U.S. military but at the time Younis did not know that. Younis was severely injured and he suddenly pops up into an hospital. Younis transferred into the United States of America and a caring family accepted him into their family. Younis changed his name to Jonas in America and he had troubles or problems while he was here. Jonas was physically bullied at school, had a drinking problem, and he had to visit a therapist called Paul once a week. Jonas starts off clueless in America and then started to understand the culture. Throughout the book, almost each chapter was perplexing and difficult to understand, but I had to read each chapter with thought and at the end everything fit just right.
This book is not like other books I have read. It was difficult to follow and find the plot of the story. Luckily in the end, all of the questions and cliffhangers that I had in my head were answered. This novel starts as, "What was it like to lose everything?"(Dau p.8). This is a great beginning of the book because it gives an intriguing hook. This was one of the most powerful parts of the book because the reader has no idea what is happening. This quote starts of the novel with questions in your head like, How did he lose everything?, What happened?, and Who lost everything? This is one of my favorite or is my favorite part of the book. Jonas was having trouble in America during the end of the book. He was an alcoholic, he goes to jail, and loses his girlfriend. "The next morning, Jonas has a plan. He decides that he wants to talk. There is something he knows he must do. His life now revolves around it."(Dau p.235) This is basically what the book has been leading up to the whole time and Jonas has finally gathered up enough courage to do it. Jonas has been holding in a lie and he must tell the truth but he does not know how to explain it.
In all honesty, I am pleased with this novel and how Dau decided to write it. Throughout the book, I had a challenging time understanding most of the story and the references but in the end it fits all together. The Book of Jonas could be compared to the book I read earlier in the year called The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh. The main characters in both of the books had trouble in America. The main character from The Book of Jonas is Jonas and he came to the U.S. from the Middle East and he had a hard time fitting in. The main character from The Loved One is Dennis Barlow and he is from Britain. Dennis had a difficult time being the stereotypical "englishman" and he did not make friends easily. Overall, this novel was remarkably personal and Dau makes the reader that he is in the book. Dau does an exceptionally great job with making the reader feel he is part of the story and makes the characters believable. If you are up for a difficult book to follow and stay along, then this book is for you. There are small details in the book and if you do not pay attention to them then you will be lost for the rest of the book. Read the first page, then you will want to finish the book.
This book is not like other books I have read. It was difficult to follow and find the plot of the story. Luckily in the end, all of the questions and cliffhangers that I had in my head were answered. This novel starts as, "What was it like to lose everything?"(Dau p.8). This is a great beginning of the book because it gives an intriguing hook. This was one of the most powerful parts of the book because the reader has no idea what is happening. This quote starts of the novel with questions in your head like, How did he lose everything?, What happened?, and Who lost everything? This is one of my favorite or is my favorite part of the book. Jonas was having trouble in America during the end of the book. He was an alcoholic, he goes to jail, and loses his girlfriend. "The next morning, Jonas has a plan. He decides that he wants to talk. There is something he knows he must do. His life now revolves around it."(Dau p.235) This is basically what the book has been leading up to the whole time and Jonas has finally gathered up enough courage to do it. Jonas has been holding in a lie and he must tell the truth but he does not know how to explain it.
In all honesty, I am pleased with this novel and how Dau decided to write it. Throughout the book, I had a challenging time understanding most of the story and the references but in the end it fits all together. The Book of Jonas could be compared to the book I read earlier in the year called The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh. The main characters in both of the books had trouble in America. The main character from The Book of Jonas is Jonas and he came to the U.S. from the Middle East and he had a hard time fitting in. The main character from The Loved One is Dennis Barlow and he is from Britain. Dennis had a difficult time being the stereotypical "englishman" and he did not make friends easily. Overall, this novel was remarkably personal and Dau makes the reader that he is in the book. Dau does an exceptionally great job with making the reader feel he is part of the story and makes the characters believable. If you are up for a difficult book to follow and stay along, then this book is for you. There are small details in the book and if you do not pay attention to them then you will be lost for the rest of the book. Read the first page, then you will want to finish the book.
May 8, 2016
The Book of Jonas, a novel written by Stephen Dau and published in 2012. The book is about one boy's life. Stephen Dau is a 45-year-old American author, born in Penselvanya. Mr. Dau is known for writing The Book of Jonas. Stephen Dau attended University of Pitsburg, Johns Hopkins University, and Bennington College. The book starts off with, Younis, a fifteen-year-old boy from the Middle East. Younis is asked, on the first page "What is it like to lose everything?" (The Book of Jonas p.1) This is an intriguing start which draws the reader in and keeps the reader on the hook. Later on, Younis responds with an equally captivating question, "what is it like not to?" (The Book of Jonas p.9) Younis or later known as Jonas is being followed through his experience, in moving to the United States. The reason for him to be in the United States is rather tragic, Jonas lost his parent in the hands of US soldiers, without a home an organisation based in the United States brought him over to Pensylvania. The US soldier responsible for saving Jonas's life is Christopher Henderson, who disappeared after the raid that destroyed Jonas village. Because Jonas had such a tragic past, he sees a psychologist, by the name of Paul. When Jonas first settles in he is not socially active and spend most of his time reading alone. Jonas lives with a host family, the Martins. In the family, there are two kids, Courtney and Adison. When Jonas first eats dinner with the family, he is thought of as "fierce and alien creature." (The Book of Jonas, p.19) Jonas goes to school and does well, partially attending classes he manages to get A's. As time goes on Jonas becomes more socially accepted, as this happens his grades drop, the teachers describe him as "well adjusted." (The Book of Jonas p.57) Jonas finds a friend and even has a girlfriend. As the book goes on the reader will find out more about Jonas, Christopher, and Christopher's family.
The book can be compared to Montana 1948. and Before We Were Free, the reason being, we follow the main characters life journey, going with them step by step. I enjoy books which engage a reader like, the The Book of Jonas, does. The book feels more personal; one can almost see everything through the characters eyes.
Stephen Dau does a perfect job at describing everything so the reader can see it. Stephen Dau wrote this book to draw attention to the terrible choices made during the war, and the outcome of the choices. Overall this is a great book which I recommend to a person interested in a very captivating story. If you are up for a challenging read I suggest this book; it has a lot of small critical details.
The book can be compared to Montana 1948. and Before We Were Free, the reason being, we follow the main characters life journey, going with them step by step. I enjoy books which engage a reader like, the The Book of Jonas, does. The book feels more personal; one can almost see everything through the characters eyes.
Stephen Dau does a perfect job at describing everything so the reader can see it. Stephen Dau wrote this book to draw attention to the terrible choices made during the war, and the outcome of the choices. Overall this is a great book which I recommend to a person interested in a very captivating story. If you are up for a challenging read I suggest this book; it has a lot of small critical details.
September 25, 2016
The novel, The Book of Jonas is written by Stephen Dau and is a fiction book that takes place in the Middle East and the United States in the state of Pennsylvania. The story is about a 15-year-old boy named Younis when his village is attacked and his whole family is killed. He later moves to the United States and changes his name to Jonas and lives with a foster family. During the time when Jonas was struggling to stay alive, a U.S. soldier named Christopher finds Jonas on the side of a mountain and saves his life. Rose Henderson, the mother of Christopher, meets with Jonas in Pennsylvania to discuss what happened with him and Christopher. “‘Your son saved my life,’ begins Jonas. And that, at least in part, is the truth.” (Dau 91) Christopher treated Jonas very well and told Jonas he was going to be all right. Christopher wasn’t an ordinary soldier, he cared for Jonas and listened to him and what he had to say “ He patted me on the helmet, smiled a little, like he was resigned to something.” (Dau 249)
When I first started reading the book, I was confused at first. The next chapter didn’t continue where the previous chapter left off, instead it showed a different perspective and time period of the story. It made me want to keep reading because at the end of a chapter, there could be a cliffhanger and wouldn’t continue until a few chapters later. However, at the beginning of the book I was confused where these events were taking place and was trying to put the events into chronological order. I think the author chose this was Jonas had many memories that were floating in his head and they were coming together so it can try and make sense. This book would fall into the category of historical fiction because this has probably happened to may children across the world because this story is fiction.
At the end of the story, I was a first confused until I realized what actually happened. I understand what Jonas had to do. I was very pleased with this story because it can be based off a true story and true stories from my view are the best. This text-to-world connection shows the struggles of adults and children and what they go through during perhaps the worst moments of their lives. Stephen Dau may have chosen to write this kind of book because he saw or knew what was happening in corrupt countries and wanted to get the world attention and to see what is happening to lives of innocent people. I hope this book review gave you a good preview and hope you would enjoy this book and it did for me.
When I first started reading the book, I was confused at first. The next chapter didn’t continue where the previous chapter left off, instead it showed a different perspective and time period of the story. It made me want to keep reading because at the end of a chapter, there could be a cliffhanger and wouldn’t continue until a few chapters later. However, at the beginning of the book I was confused where these events were taking place and was trying to put the events into chronological order. I think the author chose this was Jonas had many memories that were floating in his head and they were coming together so it can try and make sense. This book would fall into the category of historical fiction because this has probably happened to may children across the world because this story is fiction.
At the end of the story, I was a first confused until I realized what actually happened. I understand what Jonas had to do. I was very pleased with this story because it can be based off a true story and true stories from my view are the best. This text-to-world connection shows the struggles of adults and children and what they go through during perhaps the worst moments of their lives. Stephen Dau may have chosen to write this kind of book because he saw or knew what was happening in corrupt countries and wanted to get the world attention and to see what is happening to lives of innocent people. I hope this book review gave you a good preview and hope you would enjoy this book and it did for me.
May 12, 2016
For the past few weeks, the Cardigan 9th Grade white English classes are given the opportunities to read the The Book of Jonas. It was written by American-Belgian writer named Stephen Dau, who was born in the year of 1971. This fictional and yet mind-bending novel covers a wide range of topics and genres. One of the main themes of the book is the theme of Coming of Age. This particular theme consists of a description, or representation of one's growth and changes overtime, especially with people at the age of Teenage adulthood, similar to the age of the main character of the book, Jonas. In short, this book is basically about a refugee from an unknown country, where the civilians suffered from constant warfare. And the boy named Younis, who later became, Jonas, is one of the refugees and the story shows the changes that goes through his character overtime and how it ended up at last.
In my personal opinion, this book is consisted of several strengths that make it one of the best selling novels in Penguin Books Production. First of all, the author utilizes the different scenarios of different timing and situations in the book to jump around in between, keeping the readers very engaged in every moment. For example in the book, when the author is talking about one situation, it would suddenly jump to writings in italics, symbolizing journal entries. (Pg. 27 Stephen Dau) Once scattering pieces are collected, the author often brings key points at last, giving you the last piece of the puzzle to fully interpret the entire message he is trying to get across. On top of that, the author throws in humorous innuendos and jokes about cultures such as America itself during the reading, giving others a sense of foreignness from the perspectives of a foreign refugee. Like seen in the book, the joke "Welcome to America" was often mentioned as a sign of stereotypical American welcome for the foreigners. (Pg. 28 Stephen Dau) on the other hand, in my opinion, due to the excessive amount of jumping and skipping, the plot can apparently be hard to comprehend in full pieces, since they are not fully narrated in many situation. Another aspect that I think the author would be able to work on, is the finish of this story. I think if the readers are directed to a more open and positive ending, it would be more beneficial. It will allow the reader to actively think about the ending. Overall, I really recommend this book since it is one with heavy emotions and an interesting setting and plot that draws people in when they are reading.
In my personal opinion, this book is consisted of several strengths that make it one of the best selling novels in Penguin Books Production. First of all, the author utilizes the different scenarios of different timing and situations in the book to jump around in between, keeping the readers very engaged in every moment. For example in the book, when the author is talking about one situation, it would suddenly jump to writings in italics, symbolizing journal entries. (Pg. 27 Stephen Dau) Once scattering pieces are collected, the author often brings key points at last, giving you the last piece of the puzzle to fully interpret the entire message he is trying to get across. On top of that, the author throws in humorous innuendos and jokes about cultures such as America itself during the reading, giving others a sense of foreignness from the perspectives of a foreign refugee. Like seen in the book, the joke "Welcome to America" was often mentioned as a sign of stereotypical American welcome for the foreigners. (Pg. 28 Stephen Dau) on the other hand, in my opinion, due to the excessive amount of jumping and skipping, the plot can apparently be hard to comprehend in full pieces, since they are not fully narrated in many situation. Another aspect that I think the author would be able to work on, is the finish of this story. I think if the readers are directed to a more open and positive ending, it would be more beneficial. It will allow the reader to actively think about the ending. Overall, I really recommend this book since it is one with heavy emotions and an interesting setting and plot that draws people in when they are reading.
May 9, 2016
I really enjoyed reading The Book of Jonas by Stephen Dau. It was very exciting and was filled with relatable tales about a boy around my age. The story is of a fifteen year old boy named Younis from the Middle East who lost his parents in an American attack on his village. He moves to America and is faced with the struggles of adapting to a whole new world. The author wrote, "Somewhere over the Atlantic he assumes his new identity."(Dau 11) He is referring to Younis changing his name to Jonas, but also when he arrives in Pittsburgh everything is revised, including his character. Along with dealing with bullies and a new foster family, Jonas has to deal with the past he barely remembers through his counselor and the parent of a soldier Jonas used to know. This fictional novel really made me feel connected to the characters in the book with the whirlpool of emotions in Jonas's journey. One moment I feel empathy for him, then pride in his accomplishments, and then disappointment for his mistakes. This book was really able to catch both the beauty and the faults of our society from the view of an outsider.
This book was almost unlike any other I have read before. The books I typically read are filled with great adventures and thrilling conflicts, yet the way Dau wrote this emotional book still had me on the edge of my seat the whole time. One thing he did well was dividing the book into tiny chapters as small as half of a page. Each chapter had different settings and various perspectives or narrators keeping me invested in the plot for long periods of time. Another excellent aspect of this book was how it made me think differently about myself. When Jonas was asked what it was like to lose everything he responded,"What is it like not to?"(Dau 9) That was one of the most powerful moments of the book. On the other hand, Jonas did not seem know what was real and what was not from his vivid past, leaving me confused about what I had just read. It was an overall great book and I personally enjoyed reading it.
I would definitely recommend this book to almost everyone. Before writing this book Dau worked in post-war reconstruction and with this book he was able to describe the two sides of a conflict and how it affects everyone. This book also gave a great perspective on America that is relevant to everyone in the United States or not. I found this story very interesting and I learned a lot from The Book of Jonas.
This book was almost unlike any other I have read before. The books I typically read are filled with great adventures and thrilling conflicts, yet the way Dau wrote this emotional book still had me on the edge of my seat the whole time. One thing he did well was dividing the book into tiny chapters as small as half of a page. Each chapter had different settings and various perspectives or narrators keeping me invested in the plot for long periods of time. Another excellent aspect of this book was how it made me think differently about myself. When Jonas was asked what it was like to lose everything he responded,"What is it like not to?"(Dau 9) That was one of the most powerful moments of the book. On the other hand, Jonas did not seem know what was real and what was not from his vivid past, leaving me confused about what I had just read. It was an overall great book and I personally enjoyed reading it.
I would definitely recommend this book to almost everyone. Before writing this book Dau worked in post-war reconstruction and with this book he was able to describe the two sides of a conflict and how it affects everyone. This book also gave a great perspective on America that is relevant to everyone in the United States or not. I found this story very interesting and I learned a lot from The Book of Jonas.
April 23, 2012
"...how quickly everything changes, whether because of a decision you make or the decisions made by others, or just because of chance, and in a moment the entire path of your life, everything you knew and everything you will ever know, is altered" (102"
The Book of Jonas is Stephen Dau's debut novel a powerful story of a young boy who survives an American military attack on his village in an unnamed Muslim country.
The man character Jonas, is rescued and eventually comes to the United States as a refuge. The beautifully written narrative takes us back and forth through the events of Jonas' life.
Moments with his family in his village, times during and after attacks, the early years in America, college, counseling. Jonas struggles to deal with his past, and is hesitate to speak of the events that leave him scarred both physically and emotionally.
In the United States his path crosses with Rose Henderson the mother of the American solider who was there during the attack on his village.
The book is a powerful testimony about the realities of war and the realities of those on all sides of military. It takes a little bit of time to get used to the style of writing used by Stephen Dau.
The movement of the book is jumpy. Moving perspectives, years, times, and places. However, if you allow yourself to go with it, you'll be transported into the lives and the pain of the characters of this story as they all try to find peace within themselves for the war which intermingled the lives of 3 strangers.
I can't recommend this book enough. It's powerful, beautifully and uniquely written, a book and a story that will stay with you days after finishing the book.
I look forward to future works by Stephen Dau, an amazing first novel.
The Book of Jonas is Stephen Dau's debut novel a powerful story of a young boy who survives an American military attack on his village in an unnamed Muslim country.
The man character Jonas, is rescued and eventually comes to the United States as a refuge. The beautifully written narrative takes us back and forth through the events of Jonas' life.
Moments with his family in his village, times during and after attacks, the early years in America, college, counseling. Jonas struggles to deal with his past, and is hesitate to speak of the events that leave him scarred both physically and emotionally.
In the United States his path crosses with Rose Henderson the mother of the American solider who was there during the attack on his village.
The book is a powerful testimony about the realities of war and the realities of those on all sides of military. It takes a little bit of time to get used to the style of writing used by Stephen Dau.
The movement of the book is jumpy. Moving perspectives, years, times, and places. However, if you allow yourself to go with it, you'll be transported into the lives and the pain of the characters of this story as they all try to find peace within themselves for the war which intermingled the lives of 3 strangers.
I can't recommend this book enough. It's powerful, beautifully and uniquely written, a book and a story that will stay with you days after finishing the book.
I look forward to future works by Stephen Dau, an amazing first novel.
April 11, 2012
Oh, this was such a good book! I think the easy text was a wonderful contrast to the very emotional, thought provoking intent of the novel. It defined so much in what one experiences due to the ravages of war and how it leaves the human psyche often bereft of feelings.
The protagonist, a young man amidst the chaos and destruction of war, becomes a symbol of what life can become if you are subjected to war's odious effect. The young man, Jonas, a muslim, witnesses the destruction of his family and his village in an attack by the Americans that goes awry. He carries with him the mental scars of a war orphan as he tries to come to terms with his new life in America and meets the mother, Rose of a soldier who is MIA in the conflict that took the lives of Jonas's family. Jonas's contact with this soldier, who also suffers from the carnage of human life is what propels the story.
The story is oftentimes told in a sort of detached manner, which does feed into the concept of both this young boy and the soldier trying to make sense of the killings. One can readily see why you might want to absent your mind from what has been witnessed. In this case for Jonas, we see the post traumatic syndrome in full effect, through his relationships and his descent into alcoholism.
This story breaks your heart and makes you realize that war never does end. It continues in the minds and hearts of those who have fought, those who have survived, and those who wonder why their loved ones are sacrificed. It is a novel that will make one think of consequence long after the last word is read.
The protagonist, a young man amidst the chaos and destruction of war, becomes a symbol of what life can become if you are subjected to war's odious effect. The young man, Jonas, a muslim, witnesses the destruction of his family and his village in an attack by the Americans that goes awry. He carries with him the mental scars of a war orphan as he tries to come to terms with his new life in America and meets the mother, Rose of a soldier who is MIA in the conflict that took the lives of Jonas's family. Jonas's contact with this soldier, who also suffers from the carnage of human life is what propels the story.
The story is oftentimes told in a sort of detached manner, which does feed into the concept of both this young boy and the soldier trying to make sense of the killings. One can readily see why you might want to absent your mind from what has been witnessed. In this case for Jonas, we see the post traumatic syndrome in full effect, through his relationships and his descent into alcoholism.
This story breaks your heart and makes you realize that war never does end. It continues in the minds and hearts of those who have fought, those who have survived, and those who wonder why their loved ones are sacrificed. It is a novel that will make one think of consequence long after the last word is read.
August 5, 2013
I was very moved by this book. Dau captures the reader with a complex tale that weaves characters, time periods, faiths, hope, love and anger in a compelling way that makes this book hard o put down. The micro chapters move by so quickly that you have little awareness of the time you have spent reading. The author also twists the reader through emotional responses to the story and, as a result, I found myself reacting with different emotions as different times as I read the book. Anger, empathy, hope, despair, horror and sadness flowed through me at different times as I read further along and became more drawn into Jonas' fate (although fate may not be the right word, as he seemed to have choices and was aware of them, but then ignored the chance to make a choice). This is a fascinatingly compelling book that I have already bought two more copies to give to friends and colleagues to consider for teaching and discussion based reading with my students at our school. Truly a remarkable book that is so compelling and timely. Please consider reading this book.
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April 23, 2018The Book of Jonas by Stephen Dau was great read. This book is about a young kid whose name is Younis or as known in America Jonas. This kid lived in the Middle East and was shipped to America after the US came in and killed his family and destroyed his village. The book is about his life in America and how it has been and also how he survived the raid by the US Military. Book starts off by showing the past of Jonas with him in school being bullied and him not liking School. Also and with his new Foster Family he doesn't seem to quite understand. Later on in the book he needs a character called Rose Henderson who is a mother of 3 children, one of which save Jonas's life. He talks with her he tries to tell everything he knows but seems to not be able to. Also talks about him and his girlfriend, Shakri at college. Also his friends at college and what they do on a daily basis. He seems to have a drinking problem at College. The book slowly stops talking about the past and brings the book more towards the present. The book starts to talk more about the diary that Christopher, the man who saved Jonas's life, wrote in at War. Christopher has disappeared after helping Jonas and is said to be missing in action. Rose is trying to find out whether her son is alive or dead and where he is. The very interesting story because of the whites told throughout the book.
I thought the book very interesting plot and made you want to keep reading to find out what happened next in Jonas's life. I also thought it gave me a lot of perspective about what the US does when going into war and how bad War actually is. Also about what they don't tell you that happened in the war. Just made me feel more empathetic towards all countries that have to go to war and that there's always two sides of the story. Jonas just happened to survive and be able to tell that story. The only weakness to this book was it was kind of a hard read and follow. It switched between the thinking of different characters, like Rose Henderson's thoughts, Jonas's thoughts, and Christophers thoughts, very quickly.
I recommend this book to anybody who reads it. It was a very good book to read and was fun to analyze. It puts you in a different perspective of War and other countries dealing with it. It makes you think a lot more empathetic towards war and other countries battling. It shows that there's always two sides to a story.
I thought the book very interesting plot and made you want to keep reading to find out what happened next in Jonas's life. I also thought it gave me a lot of perspective about what the US does when going into war and how bad War actually is. Also about what they don't tell you that happened in the war. Just made me feel more empathetic towards all countries that have to go to war and that there's always two sides of the story. Jonas just happened to survive and be able to tell that story. The only weakness to this book was it was kind of a hard read and follow. It switched between the thinking of different characters, like Rose Henderson's thoughts, Jonas's thoughts, and Christophers thoughts, very quickly.
I recommend this book to anybody who reads it. It was a very good book to read and was fun to analyze. It puts you in a different perspective of War and other countries dealing with it. It makes you think a lot more empathetic towards war and other countries battling. It shows that there's always two sides to a story.
May 20, 2024
This was a good book, an interesting read. I thought it was very well imagined and quite moving. For some reason I am having trouble finding ways to describe this, the Goodreads blurb itself seems to have spoilers and it seems as if anything I say here would only add to it.
This is not long and Dau has a kind of stark style of writing. That may be a little harsh, he just doesn't guild the lily, this is well told without a ton of details. Lots of story though, strong stuff too. Very real.
Very much worth the trouble for a literary reader. The St Louis Public Library has a single copy, but it is a 12 year old book, it might not be at smaller libraries. I have had a copy floating around home for a while, I don't know where it came from, it doesn't have a Goodwill sticker on it, maybe it was from the St Vincent De Paul, hard to tell. It can be found cheap used on Amazon.
This is not long and Dau has a kind of stark style of writing. That may be a little harsh, he just doesn't guild the lily, this is well told without a ton of details. Lots of story though, strong stuff too. Very real.
Very much worth the trouble for a literary reader. The St Louis Public Library has a single copy, but it is a 12 year old book, it might not be at smaller libraries. I have had a copy floating around home for a while, I don't know where it came from, it doesn't have a Goodwill sticker on it, maybe it was from the St Vincent De Paul, hard to tell. It can be found cheap used on Amazon.
May 27, 2021
I ended up getting a copy of this book as a freebie when I went to buy some books at Zandbroz Variety in Fargo for Independent Booksellers Day. They offered a free wrapped book when you bought another book. As the book seller said, "Some are great, but some are real duds." Several years ago, I ended up with a dud, but this one was great. Younis/Jonas was an adolescent from an unnamed country when his village was bombed. He fled to a cave nearby and an American soldier followed him there. Later, Younis is offered sanctuary in the US and he changes his name to Jonas. This story is told through about 150 snippets told from three different voices: Jonas, the missing US soldier and the mother of the missing soldier. It is a very intriguing book.
July 9, 2017
This book had so much potential to be awesome; instead, it left me wondering what I had just read. The story lacked cohesion and resembled a rough draft that fell through the cracks, instead of the final draft which should have been edited on numerous occasions before making its way into my hands. With a bit of guidance, this story could have been truly beautiful. The author's intentions of trying to build connections amongst the characters fell flat, as did the over-ambitious attempt to create a powerful novel about war and its impacts on those both directly and indirectly involved.
June 3, 2017
A story about two individuals, intertwined by one event and the overwhelming human need to find peace and have closure
June 28, 2021
3.5 stars.
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May 8, 2016The Book of Jonas is a book by Stephen Dau. Dau is a writer from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He worked in a post-war reconstruction program in Balkanas.
The book falls into the genre of drama in my opinion. This book is the type of book that captures you and makes you want to keep reading to figure out what happens next chapter. One thing I really liked from this book was that Dau liked to make chapters extremely short which speeded up the reading and the transitions. I think Dau’s experience with his post-war reconstruction experience inspired him to write this book. It is super sad to realize all of the civilians who suffer from global conflicts where they loose everything. Like Jonas there are thousands of men, women and children who suffer from events like the one Jonas experienced.
I think Dau is a very experience author in the theme of war, and not only the war but the aftermath of war which is the hole story of Jonas. The most important thing about a book for me is their character. Dau very well thought the characters in this book. From the names to their action, Jonas, Shakiri, Paul, etc. represented exactly what Dau intended to do.
Christopher is also an important character in this book, which plays as the soldier who saves Jonas. “I watched you. I had to talk to you. I had to explain. I had to make you understand. I had to ask your forgiveness. And here I lie, prostrate in the dust before you. Waiting.” (Dau, 230) During the book, Dau like to shift from one setting to another. One of these setting is Christopher’s journal, which was a huge part of this drama and suspense. The journal has a lot of significance both for Jonas and Christopher.
After reading a couple of other novels about immigrants, I think Dau is a different writer because The Book of Jonas is a sad book which does not have a pretty ending. “But he fails to realize that, by declining the opportunity to define himself, he allows others, less interested, more callous, meaner others, to create definitions for him.”(Dau, 18) The typical expectation is to have ups and downs but to always come out winning. This book is different because of all the challenges and influences Jonas faces in his journey in America.
In my opinion The Book of Jonas is divided in four different stages. The first was what he experienced in his country that night. The second is his lonely and depressing new life, which was full of opportunities, but because of his dark experience Jonas was completely distracted. The third starts when he meets Shakiri and a completely new Jonas is born. He revels himself; letting bad influences like Hakama affect his life. Instead of Dau choosing Jonas to reveal himself as an excellent student in the University of Pennsylvania, or a hard worker, he becomes an alcoholic. The fourth and final stage is the end of his life as Jonas and going back to being Younis. Since the beginning of the book, Dau enfaces a lot on his change of name and I think it is not only the physical name but also his whole identity.
After reading a couple of other novels about immigrants, I think Dau is a different writer because The Book of Jonas is a sad book which does not have a pretty ending. “But he fails to realize that, by declining the opportunity to define himself, he allows others, less interested, more callous, meaner others, to create definitions for him.”(Dau, 18) The typical expectation is to have ups and downs but to always come out winning. This book is different because of all the challenges and influences Jonas faces in his journey in America.
In my opinion The Book of Jonas is divided in four different stages. The first was what he experienced in his country that night. The second is his lonely and depressing new life, which was full of opportunities, but because of his dark experience Jonas was completely distracted. The third starts when he meets Shakiri and a completely new Jonas is born. He revels himself; letting bad influences like Hakama affect his life. Instead of Dau choosing Jonas to reveal himself as an excellent student in the University of Pennsylvania, or a hard worker, he becomes an alcoholic. The fourth and final stage is the end of his life as Jonas and going back to being Younis. Since the beginning of the book, Dau enfaces a lot on his change of name and I think it is not only the physical name but also his whole identity.
March 29, 2013
The lives behind collateral damage
Fifteen-year-old Younis is injured and orphaned when a U.S. military raid gone awry hits his village in an unnamed Muslim country that resembles Afghanistan. With the aid of an international relief organization, he is sent to the U.S., where he is assigned to a well-meaning but rather clueless foster family in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He changes his name to Jonas on the plane: “He suspects this will cause trouble; he does it anyway.”
“The Book of Jonas” (Blue Rider Press, 2012), Stephen Dau’s debut novel, is a powerful story examining the human costs of war. Younis—now Jonas—attends high school in Pittsburgh. He is a brilliant outcast, finding refuge in the school library, “an oasis of wooden bookshelves and learning.” The target of merciless bullying, Jonas at last snaps and hands one of his tormenters a savage beating. Jonas is sent to a counselor named Paul, who helps him work explore the trauma that destroyed his family and home.
Jonas is awarded a full scholarship to the University of Pittsburgh, where he makes friends and falls in love with a beautiful pre-med student from India. “Where do you go in your mind,” Paul asks Jonas repeatedly. In dreamlike fragments that punctuate the present-day narrative, the story of what happened in the days following the attack unfolds. Jonas’s story is interspersed with that of Christopher Henderson, an idealistic American soldier who found him in a remote mountain cave and nursed him back to health. Christopher’s story is told in excerpts from his diary; one of the entries tells the story of a baby gazelle that was adopted by a lioness—a parable that encapsulates the heart of this novel.
Jonas meets Christopher’s mother Rose, who has dedicated her life to finding her son, now missing in action. As she presses him for answers about the disappearance of her son, Jonas is forced to confront his emotional trauma and the knowledge of what really happened to Christopher. Things begin to disintegrate as he begins to drink, often to the point of blackout. The ending is both heartbreaking and emotionally honest.
The book’s structure recalls a church service or mass, with short chapters within sections titled “Processional, Invocation, Remembrance, Communion, Confession, Atonement, Benediction, Recessional.” And in fact “The Book of Jonas” is a kind of prayer for the survivors of “collateral damage,” soldiers and civilians alike. Recommended for older teens as well as adults, this brilliant and timely novel is a must-read for anyone who wishes to understand the consequences of war.
Sara Latta is a science writer and author of 17 books for children and young adults. You can learn more about her work and link to past reviews at http://www.saralatta.com.
This review originally appeared in the March 17, 2013 issue of The News-Gazette (Champaign-Urbana, Illinois).
Fifteen-year-old Younis is injured and orphaned when a U.S. military raid gone awry hits his village in an unnamed Muslim country that resembles Afghanistan. With the aid of an international relief organization, he is sent to the U.S., where he is assigned to a well-meaning but rather clueless foster family in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He changes his name to Jonas on the plane: “He suspects this will cause trouble; he does it anyway.”
“The Book of Jonas” (Blue Rider Press, 2012), Stephen Dau’s debut novel, is a powerful story examining the human costs of war. Younis—now Jonas—attends high school in Pittsburgh. He is a brilliant outcast, finding refuge in the school library, “an oasis of wooden bookshelves and learning.” The target of merciless bullying, Jonas at last snaps and hands one of his tormenters a savage beating. Jonas is sent to a counselor named Paul, who helps him work explore the trauma that destroyed his family and home.
Jonas is awarded a full scholarship to the University of Pittsburgh, where he makes friends and falls in love with a beautiful pre-med student from India. “Where do you go in your mind,” Paul asks Jonas repeatedly. In dreamlike fragments that punctuate the present-day narrative, the story of what happened in the days following the attack unfolds. Jonas’s story is interspersed with that of Christopher Henderson, an idealistic American soldier who found him in a remote mountain cave and nursed him back to health. Christopher’s story is told in excerpts from his diary; one of the entries tells the story of a baby gazelle that was adopted by a lioness—a parable that encapsulates the heart of this novel.
Jonas meets Christopher’s mother Rose, who has dedicated her life to finding her son, now missing in action. As she presses him for answers about the disappearance of her son, Jonas is forced to confront his emotional trauma and the knowledge of what really happened to Christopher. Things begin to disintegrate as he begins to drink, often to the point of blackout. The ending is both heartbreaking and emotionally honest.
The book’s structure recalls a church service or mass, with short chapters within sections titled “Processional, Invocation, Remembrance, Communion, Confession, Atonement, Benediction, Recessional.” And in fact “The Book of Jonas” is a kind of prayer for the survivors of “collateral damage,” soldiers and civilians alike. Recommended for older teens as well as adults, this brilliant and timely novel is a must-read for anyone who wishes to understand the consequences of war.
Sara Latta is a science writer and author of 17 books for children and young adults. You can learn more about her work and link to past reviews at http://www.saralatta.com.
This review originally appeared in the March 17, 2013 issue of The News-Gazette (Champaign-Urbana, Illinois).
May 9, 2016
For the past three weeks, the 9th Grade here at Cardigan was given the choice to read one of three books and I chose The Book of Jonas. It was written by an American-Belgian writer named Stephen Dau, who was born in the year of 1971. It is a historical fiction book that has made its mark on the world by telling a story about a young boy soldier that moves to America and struggles to adapt. This book covers his whole life and all the struggles that happen and what he he does that makes it hard for him and how he overcomes those struggles. This book really caught my eye when as a 9th grade at Cardigan was choosing books, because it was the telling of a story that involves a topic that is going on today world wide. The author utilizes the different scenarios of different timing and situations in the book to jump around in between, keeping the readers very engaged in every moment. For example in the book, when the author is talking about one situation, it would suddenly jump to writings in italics, symbolizing journal entries. This is a very interesting way of writing a book. I think that it was hard to follow at first but you just had to be patient and reread a few times to understand what it said.
In the book there were many parts that seemed to relate to our overall theme of American Beauty. For example "Welcome to America" was often mentioned as a sign of stereotypical American welcome for the foreigners. (Pg. 28 Stephen Dau) this was often used by students in Jonas' class to make fun of him because he was new to America. This can show how America always thinks that it is better than everyone else and can just put them down. Another part of the book that has to do with American Beauty is "Jonas, will you accept Jesus Christ as your personal lord and savior?"" (Pg 46 Stephen Dau) In this scene it is Mrs. Martin who is the mother of his host family that is asking him to change his ways to be more like them. This can represent that America always feels as if it needs to be the country with the most authority. It always needs to have the most influence. In the short story Money as a Weapons System there is a part of the book that talks about how in Afghanistan when the author was serving his time there, there were a lot of smaller American stores put in towns/ safe houses for the people in a certain town. There are plenty of things that the author could work on, one is that due to the excessive amount of jumping and skipping, the plot can be very hard to comprehend in full pieces, since they are not fully narrated in many situations. Another aspect that I think the author would be able to work on, is the ending to this story. The author leaves a very big cliff hangar which wants me to read more but I do not think that there will be a sequel. Overall, I really recommend this book since it is one with heavy emotions and an interesting setting and plot that draws people in when they are reading.
In the book there were many parts that seemed to relate to our overall theme of American Beauty. For example "Welcome to America" was often mentioned as a sign of stereotypical American welcome for the foreigners. (Pg. 28 Stephen Dau) this was often used by students in Jonas' class to make fun of him because he was new to America. This can show how America always thinks that it is better than everyone else and can just put them down. Another part of the book that has to do with American Beauty is "Jonas, will you accept Jesus Christ as your personal lord and savior?"" (Pg 46 Stephen Dau) In this scene it is Mrs. Martin who is the mother of his host family that is asking him to change his ways to be more like them. This can represent that America always feels as if it needs to be the country with the most authority. It always needs to have the most influence. In the short story Money as a Weapons System there is a part of the book that talks about how in Afghanistan when the author was serving his time there, there were a lot of smaller American stores put in towns/ safe houses for the people in a certain town. There are plenty of things that the author could work on, one is that due to the excessive amount of jumping and skipping, the plot can be very hard to comprehend in full pieces, since they are not fully narrated in many situations. Another aspect that I think the author would be able to work on, is the ending to this story. The author leaves a very big cliff hangar which wants me to read more but I do not think that there will be a sequel. Overall, I really recommend this book since it is one with heavy emotions and an interesting setting and plot that draws people in when they are reading.
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May 25, 2016Stephen Dau, an American-Belgian writer, wrote a very intriguing and emotional fiction of a boy who moved to America after his village was flattened by an American army operation gone sideways. The Book of Jonas is a book that is like no other book I have ever read. Dau uses colorful adjectives and writes in short chapters that kept me intrigued and wanting to read more. The plot immediately drew me in, and these abbreviated chapters forced me to continue asking questions throughout reading the book. One of my favorite aspects of the book is how Dau switched between multiple times of Jonas’, the main character, lifetime between the short chapters. The book centered around Jonas’ memories and relationship with a soldier named Christopher, Jonas’ counseling with Paul, Jonas’ life in the present day, and Jonas’ interactions with the mother of Christopher, Rose.
The detail, which Dau implements in his writing, is one of the highlights of this book. His ability to be concise yet provide such great detail is amazing and is shown in this quote, “The river is quiet, its flowing volumes of water pouring silent and deep. The yellowed street lamps light his way. To get to the park, he must descend a steep embankment, past a fenced-in cemetery, its standing tombstones pointing toward God” (Dau, 231). The amount of detail explaining the setting Dau provides is something that is present all through the book. Additionally, the chapters can be as short as half of a page to only five or six pages, and this is interesting because each chapter seamlessly switches between a different time of Jonas’ life without explicitly telling the reader. I found this to be engaging because I had to focus on the book and ask questions. Lastly, the way in which America is portrayed from the perspective of an immigrant is interesting. Jonas sees the better half of America in the beginning when he is adopted by a middle to upper class family, pointing out, “…the largeness of the cars, the tallness of the buildings, the neatness of the manicured lawns, the cleanliness of the parks, the skimpiness of he girls’ clothing, and the enormity of the meals served at restaurants” (Dau, 29). Later in the book, Jonas sees the side of America from a working class person. It is interesting to see the contrast of the two, and Dau works it in perfectly with the progression of the book.
Overall, this is a book that is unlike any other that I have read. Each chapter seems like it is a short story made for a creative writing class. This captivated me, and I think it would do the same to any other reader. I would recommend this book to anyone, it is a book that requires thought and focus, but it is well worth the time it takes to read it. For the beauty and thought that this book invokes, it ranks to be one of the better books that I have ever read.
The detail, which Dau implements in his writing, is one of the highlights of this book. His ability to be concise yet provide such great detail is amazing and is shown in this quote, “The river is quiet, its flowing volumes of water pouring silent and deep. The yellowed street lamps light his way. To get to the park, he must descend a steep embankment, past a fenced-in cemetery, its standing tombstones pointing toward God” (Dau, 231). The amount of detail explaining the setting Dau provides is something that is present all through the book. Additionally, the chapters can be as short as half of a page to only five or six pages, and this is interesting because each chapter seamlessly switches between a different time of Jonas’ life without explicitly telling the reader. I found this to be engaging because I had to focus on the book and ask questions. Lastly, the way in which America is portrayed from the perspective of an immigrant is interesting. Jonas sees the better half of America in the beginning when he is adopted by a middle to upper class family, pointing out, “…the largeness of the cars, the tallness of the buildings, the neatness of the manicured lawns, the cleanliness of the parks, the skimpiness of he girls’ clothing, and the enormity of the meals served at restaurants” (Dau, 29). Later in the book, Jonas sees the side of America from a working class person. It is interesting to see the contrast of the two, and Dau works it in perfectly with the progression of the book.
Overall, this is a book that is unlike any other that I have read. Each chapter seems like it is a short story made for a creative writing class. This captivated me, and I think it would do the same to any other reader. I would recommend this book to anyone, it is a book that requires thought and focus, but it is well worth the time it takes to read it. For the beauty and thought that this book invokes, it ranks to be one of the better books that I have ever read.
May 7, 2016
The Book Of Jonas is a relatively modern novel that was written in 2012 by Stephen Dau. Dau was born in western Pennsylvania and lives in Brussels. He has worked in postwar reconstruction and international development prior. “Mostly I tend to write about America as seen through the eyes of people who don't live there,” Dau says on his website. The Book of Jonas is his first novel and primarily tells the reader about Jonas, a boy from unnamed Middle Eastern country who came to the United States after his village and family were killed during an errant US military operation. However, the book does not tell the reader about Jonas, it talks about the United States, exhausting and stressful life of a soldier, love and how it feels to be a mother of a disappeared soldier through the Jonas’s story.
For any reader the book would seem like disorganized pieces of papers at first, but as he reads along he would understand more and more details, and at the end of the book the story will be completed. For instance, there is a lot of chapters that does not really make sense until of the beginning of the book. The first chapter that did not make any sense to me at the beginning started like that.
You deserve an explanation.I have had this book with me ever since you gave it to me on my eighteenth birthday. During all that time I have not scratched a hundred words into it. Countless times I have thought of packing it away, or misplacing it, or leaving it behind somewhere. But I kept it. Maybe this is why. (The Book of Jonas p. 27-28)
Dau wrote the book in the very uncommon way. His chapters are not longer than 2 pages and some of them are written in a diary style (in the italic font as the quote above), talk about different time periods from faces of multiple people. This style of the book made me dive in the reading, I just could not stop. The book is fiction, as it says in the book but I would say that it includes parts of similar to real stories which Stephen Dau gathered when he lived in the United States and worked in postwar reconstruction and international prior. I believe that stories and experience that he gathered during that time prompted him to write the novel. The author made a great job of connecting me to the book, I easily was able to imagine anything from the book, also, the characters’ behaviors were credible because Dau did a great job of thinking about emotions and reactions of the characters in every situation of the book.
I have read not many books but by the level of emotional connection to the book I can compare it to Before We Were Free because both main characters experience global changes in their lives. I would recommend that book to teenagers, people who like to get an emotional connection with a book, and people who want to read a book in an uncommon way.
April 27, 2012
Stephen Dau’s The Book of Jonas is a disturbing gospel for our time. It has simultaneously nothing and everything to do with religion; it can be read quite literally or allegorically, and it asks us to consider what it means to be saved. It’s also very much a novel about war, and guilt, and remembrance. It’s big.
Jonas, of the title, is a teenaged refugee from a war in an unnamed country that sure sounds like Afghanistan. He finds himself, “I’ll go,” in America, where he is mocked for his accent, and where he eventually creates his own community of outsiders who are trying to (re-)invent themselves: the “slanty-eyed and dark-skinned."
The Book, of the title, is the diary kept by Christopher Henderson, an apparently well-intentioned officer in this war. Christopher finds himself in an increasingly bad situation, with all the moral ambiguity one might expect from a long counterinsurgent effort. His haunting words come to us in italics, as if from a great distance, and it soon becomes clear that Christopher himself was among those listed as “Missing in Action” in this war.
Early in the story, we learn that Christopher saved Jonas after a bombing that destroyed the younger man’s village. What happened after that is much more ambiguous, as may be true about all efforts to remember. As Rose, Christopher’s mother, tries to learn more about her missing son, she and we are confronted with the difficulties of knowing: the government has one version of the events, or perhaps three; Jonas cannot, or will not, be a trusted narrator; and Christopher can only speak to us through a text.
Dau’s descriptive language conveys a deep sense of the tragedy of war, but he is also aiming higher than that. The book, which loosely follows the flow of a Christian worship service, offers us a different take on Christ(opher), who is literally Jonas’ savior. In this light, resurrection, repentance, and goodness are fluid, and piety for both Christians and Muslims is a questionable commodity.
In the Old Testament, it is prophesied that the Lord shall usher in a time of peace where “nation will not take up sword against nation”, “the wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion … shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain.” In the diary, there is also a moving anecdote involving a lion and a gazelle at peace with each other. Unfortunately, as with the counterinsurgency, the best of intentions are sometimes not enough.
Jonas, of the title, is a teenaged refugee from a war in an unnamed country that sure sounds like Afghanistan. He finds himself, “I’ll go,” in America, where he is mocked for his accent, and where he eventually creates his own community of outsiders who are trying to (re-)invent themselves: the “slanty-eyed and dark-skinned."
The Book, of the title, is the diary kept by Christopher Henderson, an apparently well-intentioned officer in this war. Christopher finds himself in an increasingly bad situation, with all the moral ambiguity one might expect from a long counterinsurgent effort. His haunting words come to us in italics, as if from a great distance, and it soon becomes clear that Christopher himself was among those listed as “Missing in Action” in this war.
Early in the story, we learn that Christopher saved Jonas after a bombing that destroyed the younger man’s village. What happened after that is much more ambiguous, as may be true about all efforts to remember. As Rose, Christopher’s mother, tries to learn more about her missing son, she and we are confronted with the difficulties of knowing: the government has one version of the events, or perhaps three; Jonas cannot, or will not, be a trusted narrator; and Christopher can only speak to us through a text.
Dau’s descriptive language conveys a deep sense of the tragedy of war, but he is also aiming higher than that. The book, which loosely follows the flow of a Christian worship service, offers us a different take on Christ(opher), who is literally Jonas’ savior. In this light, resurrection, repentance, and goodness are fluid, and piety for both Christians and Muslims is a questionable commodity.
In the Old Testament, it is prophesied that the Lord shall usher in a time of peace where “nation will not take up sword against nation”, “the wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion … shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain.” In the diary, there is also a moving anecdote involving a lion and a gazelle at peace with each other. Unfortunately, as with the counterinsurgency, the best of intentions are sometimes not enough.
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