When the Grey Beetles Took Over Baghdad

by Mona Yahia

Winner of the Jewish Quarterly-Wingate Prize for Fiction. In this vivid story of growing up in Baghdad, Mona Yahia tells a very personal story set against the backdrop of political upheaval and an increasingly fractured society. Lina clings to childhood and the security of her youth during the last peaceful period for the 2500-year-old Jewish community in Iraq. When that peace begins to crumble, the usual uncertainties of adolescence are augmented by growing fear following the increasingly anti-Semitic rhetoric from the government and outbreaks of violence which ultimately drive out nearly all of the remaining 150,000 Jews in Baghdad. As Lina struggles to understand these dark changes in Iraq, her first love is forced to flee, her father loses his job, her brother is arrested, and her young friend must search among the bodies of hanged Jews for his imprisoned father. As violent coups, arrests, and executions become everyday occurrences, Lina's family must leave the country they have called home for generations. In the dangerous flight to the border, they must evade the security police, traverse perilous mountains, and entrust their lives and safety to strangers. The book will resonate with audiences of all ages.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Jewish, Novels

358 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This a beautifully written novel that encompasses two interweaving journeys. Firstly we get the life journey of Lina, a young Jewish girl growing up in Baghdad. We see her develop from kindergarten to the age of sixteen with all the usual and ordinary things that obsess us during our childhood and adolescence. Teddy bears, parents, pets, learning to swim, school at various ages, teachers, homework, childhood friendships, sibling rivalries, first loves, dances, films, music, clothes, puberty and sexual awakening etc etc. So the ordinary stuff of life is all there, but it is set within the journey of a community within a nation, of an Arab Jewish household struggling to survive amidst the extraordinary backdrop of the violent, sectarian, political upheaval that was 1960's Iraq. Whilst telling us this poignant story, the author also manages to seamlessly weave in informative passages on the history of Iraq, mostly from the Second World War period. So we get to understand the historical context - the post war explosion of Arab Muslim nationalism and anti-Semitism (the latter mostly as a result of the creation of Israel and the repression and expulsion of the Palestinians) that leads to a corresponding mass exodus of Arab Jews from Baghdad - from 150,000 down to 3,000 in the 1960's when Lina is telling her tale. As Lina grows up, there follows a succession of military coups and new governments who each in turn use the Jewish minority as a target to cement their authority and drive previously well integrated communities further apart. Lina and her family are increasingly affected as friends and family are arrested without trial, travel restrictions are imposed, jobs and sources of income are taken away and an all pervading climate of fear descends. In scenes all too reminiscent of Nazi Germany, the family eventually must make the choice of whether to flee from their home and their Arab homeland.

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found myself jumping quickly through a few paragraphs, as the writing didn't enthrall me at every turn of the page, but stick with it. This book has an amazing look at how quickly this girl's life was turned upside down and soon became the norm as Baghdad went from one government state to the next, through out her young life.

[Kyra Boisseree · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just....I just loved this book so much. I didn't expect to like any of the books we're reading for Comp Lit very much, but this one took me by surprise. I'm not sure I can really articulate my emotions about it. I just kind of want to lie down and hold it for a while.

EDIT: I just finished this for the second time! I'm so glad I read it again and didn't have to rush this time. It was just as good the second time around. There's just....so much here. Every page is beautiful and heavy with meaning. I don't know if that makes sense. But I've written 3 papers on this book and I could definitely write more.

[Perlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book took a while to get started, but once it did, I found the story gripping. There are some scenes that will stay with me for a long time.
I wish that the author had written this as a memoir and not a novel. The end of Jewish life in Iraq is tragic, heart-wrenching, and needs no novelistic flourishes. We need more testimonies from the Jews of the Middle East and North Africa about the fate of their communities.

[Nadia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A personal story written by a jewish girl living in Bagdad.

[Karin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ich habe das Buch vor kurzem auf einem Bücherflohmarkt entdeckt und es hat mich sofort angesprochen mit seinem knalligen orangefarbenen Einband und den Bildern und Symbolen auf dem Cover. Es war an der Zeit einmal etwas aus einem völlig anderen Kulturkreis zu lesen und ich habe es nicht bereut.

Der Roman ist geschrieben von einer jüdischen Autorin, die 1954 in Bagdad geboren wurde und dort ihre Kindheit und Jugend verbracht hat, bis ihre Familie 1971 den Irak verlassen hat. Es handelt sich dabei aber nicht um eine Autobiografie, sondern um einen Roman, der jedoch sicher stark an eigene Erlebnisse und Erfahrungen der Autorin angelehnt ist. 

Der Roman schildert die Kindheits- und Jugenderlebnisse eines jüdischen Mädchens im Bagdad der 1960-er Jahre, die zu Beginn noch relativ heiter und unbeschwert sind. Erst  mit dem 6‐Tage‐Krieg im Jahr 1967 beginnt sich die Situation des jüdischen Bevölkerungsanteils im Irak drastisch zu verändern und damit auch die Erzählungen des mittlerweile 13-jährigen Mädchens.

Der Schreibstil ist eingängig und flüssig zu lesen und die einzelnen Kapitel können fast wie in sich abgeschlossene kleine  Kurzgeschichten gelesen werden, wobei der Bogen gespannt wird von der Kindheit bis zur Ausreise 1971.

Es war für mich neu und sehr lehrreich, über die geschichtlichen Ereignisse einmal von einem ganz anderen oder sogar mehreren anderen Blickwinkeln zu lesen. Aus den Blickwinkeln eines behüteten Kindes, aus Sicht von direkt Betroffenen und aus der Sicht eines anderen Kulturkreises.

Ich werde noch lange daran denken. 4 Sterne.

[KYH · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ich fand das Buch nicht nur gut zu lesen, sondern auch äusserst interessant.
Mir ist wieder mal klar geworden, wie wenig man über die Geschichte anderer Ländern lernt, wenn man sich nicht selbst damit beschäftigt.

Die Kapitel sind einzelne Episoden und können (fast) wie Kurzgeschichten gelesen werden.
Das Buch ist in mehrere Teile unterteilt, wobei sich der erste mit der recht unbeschwerten Kindheit befasst. Bei diesem Teil hatte ich am meisten den Eindruck einen autobiographischen Text zu lesen. Bei den anderen Teilen sind vermutlich auch die Erfahrungen der Autorin eingeflossen, aber vermutlich auch Informationen aus anderen Quellen, sozusagen das komprimieren mehrere Leben in eines.
Die nachfolgende Teile spielen während bzw. nach dem 6-Tage Krieg und zeigen, wie die Bedrohung und auch das Gefühl der Bedrohung immer weiter zunimmt.
Zugleich wächst aber auch die Protagonistin heran und wird vom kleinen Mädchen zum Teenager - d.h. der Blickwinkel ist nicht mehr so auf sich selbst fokusiert und die Gedankengänge werden erwachsener.

Ein lesenswertes Buch!

[Linnea Dalvi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel torn between 2 and 3 stars because it is beautifully written, but after the halfway/two-thirds mark I just wanted it to end.
In the beginning I loved this, and was eager to find out what came next. The "what" I was looking for did not come until the very end, and by the time it did I just wanted the book to be over because I felt baited from the start thinking it would come sooner.

[Brook · Rating 2 out of 5]

Poorly written. The story was not laid out well. The ending is incomplete. Took months to read due to the writing.

[Malka Friedman · Rating 3 out of 5]

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