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What is Past is Dead
Three young men, infused with idealism and fuelled by hashish, drive a minibus through the night, entrenching themselves in a dangerous gamble that will change their lives forever. Today, only one man stands. He tells the tale of joining his childhood friends in the passionate appeal for Palestinians against Israel's forceful occupation. After all these years, his diaspora eyes continue to be haunted by the realities his compatriots face. What is past is dead is a fictional journey into the contentious issue of Palestine and Israel, written with depth of feeling and character. Mohammed Massoud Morsi is an award winning photojournalist his fictional pieces have won recognition worldwide.
- GenresFiction
70 pages, Paperback
First published April 11, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
June 30, 2016
Living here means straddling both worlds the West and the East and although we push for the West our roots lie in the East and I cannot forget that. This little story shows me a picture of my backyard which is hard to look at. I want to turn my eyes away and say, fiction, perspective but what Morsi wrote about, echoes news items that make it out into the world of Western news and this does not allow me to shelve this away as mere fiction. The story itself might be fiction but the background, the pain, the people, they’re true.
May 28, 2016
Although the experiences in this story are nothing like mine, it did bring back memories of traveling late at night through Sinai many years ago. The precarity of Palestinian life of course I could only observe, but it was enough to see some of the daily risks and humiliations which this short and powerful book describes.
June 19, 2017
The title What Is Past Is Dead ("El Faat, Maat" or “illei faat maat”) seems to mean that one should bury one's dead, or one's past, and get on with living. This is an apparently common Egyptian saying, which was chosen for its irony, I believe. For the main character in this first-person narrative, the past is the only thing still alive, and it is palpable. This book is about hard choices and hopeless lives -- lives ground down by poverty, violence, war, and desperate measures taken which end badly. Mostly, though, it is a reflection on trauma and the eviscerating grief incurred when one remains alive in the midst of death but is rendered dead, thereafter, in the midst of life.
Morsi's finesse with beginnings drew me straight into the story and connected me immediately to the characters, who are three young men waiting to make a precarious, illegal, and highly dangerous meet-up with a group of enemy soldiers with whom they plan to make an exchange of drugs for cash and guns. This is happening in the desert just past midnight, in the midst of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The tension is breathtaking. The addition of small character portraits to flesh out our narrator and his mates, and a mythic dream-like scene involving a man with a goat, add warmth and tenderness to what could be, otherwise, an overly-macho introduction. (Macho is fine, in its place, but not the best approach to elicit empathy from readers, so the love and kindness depicted in such moments were just the right touch.)
This is a hard read, I have to say. Although it is fiction, the narrator's voice reads authentic and the situations described, as we all know, are real enough. The war, the poverty, the desperation, the violence, the genital mutilation of young girls: all of these things are real and are currently happening in our world. So, it doesn't matter much that this particular story is not "real" because we are affected by it nonetheless. It is potent and it is personal. That is the best thing about this novella: it is an intimate portrait of one man's life. Had Morsi painted this work on a bigger canvas, it would not have worked nearly so well as what he has done instead, which is to present us with a very fine cameo. He invites the reader to lean in and listen closely to the quiet and tender voice of one man telling his tale.
Morsi's finesse with beginnings drew me straight into the story and connected me immediately to the characters, who are three young men waiting to make a precarious, illegal, and highly dangerous meet-up with a group of enemy soldiers with whom they plan to make an exchange of drugs for cash and guns. This is happening in the desert just past midnight, in the midst of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The tension is breathtaking. The addition of small character portraits to flesh out our narrator and his mates, and a mythic dream-like scene involving a man with a goat, add warmth and tenderness to what could be, otherwise, an overly-macho introduction. (Macho is fine, in its place, but not the best approach to elicit empathy from readers, so the love and kindness depicted in such moments were just the right touch.)
This is a hard read, I have to say. Although it is fiction, the narrator's voice reads authentic and the situations described, as we all know, are real enough. The war, the poverty, the desperation, the violence, the genital mutilation of young girls: all of these things are real and are currently happening in our world. So, it doesn't matter much that this particular story is not "real" because we are affected by it nonetheless. It is potent and it is personal. That is the best thing about this novella: it is an intimate portrait of one man's life. Had Morsi painted this work on a bigger canvas, it would not have worked nearly so well as what he has done instead, which is to present us with a very fine cameo. He invites the reader to lean in and listen closely to the quiet and tender voice of one man telling his tale.
November 8, 2018
Find yourself thrown into a situation. You don't know the whole story but you're there and you know something is not right. But you're there and there's no way out. Who you are is important to why you are there. Your thoughts are racing and eventually the reality of it comes charging at you. What matters to you is justice but you haven't given much thought to whom you are truly seeking justice for.
What Is Past Is Dead is the prequel to Twenty Two Years To Life and The Palace of Angels. It's about the desperate actions we take to counter desperate events. The plight of the Palestinian people, like all of us, to achieve freedom, is a difficult one. Behind the political rhetoric of the media are real people with real lives and stories like everyone else. It's about not believing everything we hear. There are no sides in a war and even if one joins one or the hother, one is just as confused as all the rest of us. The price paid for this turmoil is often much more personal than we are told and the story more diverse than we are led to believe. The actions might be identical or similar but the words to the describe the opposing parts shrouded to make us choose a side. There are no sides though.
What Is Past Is Dead is going to leave you full of questions.
What Is Past Is Dead is the prequel to Twenty Two Years To Life and The Palace of Angels. It's about the desperate actions we take to counter desperate events. The plight of the Palestinian people, like all of us, to achieve freedom, is a difficult one. Behind the political rhetoric of the media are real people with real lives and stories like everyone else. It's about not believing everything we hear. There are no sides in a war and even if one joins one or the hother, one is just as confused as all the rest of us. The price paid for this turmoil is often much more personal than we are told and the story more diverse than we are led to believe. The actions might be identical or similar but the words to the describe the opposing parts shrouded to make us choose a side. There are no sides though.
What Is Past Is Dead is going to leave you full of questions.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 27, 2016
A great read, highly recommend it. This book brings you on a nail biting journey with three misguided friends who have a desire to do something for their war troubled homeland. From Palestine into Egypt and on to Denmark, gripping right to the end, you won't put it down, a one sitting read. Enjoy ☺
February 10, 2017
Hash, Guns, strange characters that disappear into the night, a goat and a well written short story into poverty, desperation, identity conflict. Like thrown into a larger story and left there, I ended this story in a morning sitting with a million questions. Loved it!
February 9, 2017
The best thing about this book is the dedication. It's not the usual thing, to some person or a cause or even a group of people. For a work of fiction, the dedication is at those top whatever lists of dedications. The author doesn't hide that he supports a free Palestine.
When I first read it, I thought it was going to be a political thriller or even an opinionated piece of crap but I was very wrong. I couldn't let it down from the minute I grabbed it. I got a paperback version from the local book store while browsing for something interesting. I'll admit, the cover got me :)
The story revolves around a single event taking place late at night in the Sinai desert but written in the first person it draws you around a picture of the people involved and the following events in raging speed without loosing a sense of immediacy, a sense of reality. I'm sure other's have thought the same but I was left wondering how fictional this story was. And then again, that is one of the beauties of it.
As with any book - and I read A LOT of books - so bear with me if I am too busy to be online - the emotional impression is the most important. This book was simply amazing and I was left in tears at the end. In tears because it was sad and in tears because I had so many questions swirling around in my head.
I have gone through 75 books or more sofar this year and this one beats even the best sellers. For me anyway. Because of its simple immediate tone and the few shifts of that, in between. It might not appeal to all readers, the tone shift, but definitely worked for me.
There is more to the title than meets the eye. It's a story of many facets and if I gave away the twists and turns in it, I'd give it away. It's simply worthwhile a read and really quite amazing for its length. Thus my 5 stars.
Highly recommended.
When I first read it, I thought it was going to be a political thriller or even an opinionated piece of crap but I was very wrong. I couldn't let it down from the minute I grabbed it. I got a paperback version from the local book store while browsing for something interesting. I'll admit, the cover got me :)
The story revolves around a single event taking place late at night in the Sinai desert but written in the first person it draws you around a picture of the people involved and the following events in raging speed without loosing a sense of immediacy, a sense of reality. I'm sure other's have thought the same but I was left wondering how fictional this story was. And then again, that is one of the beauties of it.
As with any book - and I read A LOT of books - so bear with me if I am too busy to be online - the emotional impression is the most important. This book was simply amazing and I was left in tears at the end. In tears because it was sad and in tears because I had so many questions swirling around in my head.
I have gone through 75 books or more sofar this year and this one beats even the best sellers. For me anyway. Because of its simple immediate tone and the few shifts of that, in between. It might not appeal to all readers, the tone shift, but definitely worked for me.
There is more to the title than meets the eye. It's a story of many facets and if I gave away the twists and turns in it, I'd give it away. It's simply worthwhile a read and really quite amazing for its length. Thus my 5 stars.
Highly recommended.
September 20, 2016
this book is highly recommended for everyone. even though this story on this book is fiction, but the conflict between the Israeli-Palestinians are real and was began since the mid-20th century. so, the war, the fear, and the violence are real. this book seems like pictured or described the situations there very well like this book written based on true story.
I also like the quotes, What Is Past Is Dead, the quotes like telling us to move on and continue live your life even though you were just dealing with the awful or sad situation :(
I received this book from Goodreads First-Reads and I thank God I won this book.
Peace, Prayers, and blessings to all the innocent victims of Israeli-Palestinian conflict
I also like the quotes, What Is Past Is Dead, the quotes like telling us to move on and continue live your life even though you were just dealing with the awful or sad situation :(
I received this book from Goodreads First-Reads and I thank God I won this book.
Peace, Prayers, and blessings to all the innocent victims of Israeli-Palestinian conflict
August 28, 2016
I won this book on goodreads giveaways. Starting the book I had difficulty following what was going on. Each chapter shifted through time quicker than I images to happen. This book is overall depressing. I am not sure it is the book for me. Even though it is fiction I did get an understanding of what life is like through the eyes of the people in Palestine.
September 27, 2016
Goodreads Signed Win Copy
This short story tells the story of three young Muslim men and their idealism under the influence of hashish. A one night journey that will end up changing their life.
A quick read that leaves you pondering the state of the world.
This short story tells the story of three young Muslim men and their idealism under the influence of hashish. A one night journey that will end up changing their life.
A quick read that leaves you pondering the state of the world.
July 28, 2017
Right off the bat, I like the novel. It’s well written. I could easily get the picture the author paints --- the darkness, uncertainty, nervousness, and fear. After reading the whole novel, I am left with a sense of despair, and sympathize for the people in Palestine. There were also a sense of wonder and question for the odd things mentioned in the novel -- the giant with the goat, the girl soldier, etc. What is the author trying to tell me? It has piqued my interest in an area that I inadvertently stumbled upon. It teaches me how fragile human beings are, and difficulties people face in politically unstable regions. It paints a picture for the generalizations of conditions we hear about in the news. We had known it’s a dangerous, unequal, and scarce place, but this gives us something concrete to relate to. Now I need to learn more.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 11, 2019
An other great book from Mohammed Massoud Morsi. Once again he gets that ability to make you feel what the characters feel, his strongest weapon to open our eyes on a world we forget too easily, unfortunately... But my question is: what is past is it really dead? Because some how there are things we can't forget, bad things life can bring on its way. Make your own opinion, find out what I mean by reading the story.
March 22, 2017
Another compelling peep hole experience into a troubled landscape and beyond. I felt like I was on the physical journey through the Sinai. The atmosphere thick and palpable. The writing although unpredictable is rewarding and effective in conveying it's message. An excellent read.
August 11, 2018
Haunting
Chilling, riveting, heartbreaking suspense etched from the reality of the horrors of Gaza. I highly recommend you indulge in the story while at the same time gaining empathy for the Palestinians through this intimate account of life on the edge of the blade of sacrifice.
Chilling, riveting, heartbreaking suspense etched from the reality of the horrors of Gaza. I highly recommend you indulge in the story while at the same time gaining empathy for the Palestinians through this intimate account of life on the edge of the blade of sacrifice.
November 26, 2016
Won this Through Goodreads First Read.
Three young men fuelled by idealism and hashish make a decision that will forever change their lives.
This book itself may be fiction, but the conflict it represents is very real. What is past is dead is a snap shot of what life is like for the people that are living through the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
As it was a small book, just over 50 pages. I found it to be a very quick read. I actually felt like it was a chapter from a longer novel. For me there just wasn't enough to hook me. I would've liked more backgrounds on the main players, more information on why they were doing what they did and I felt like the ending was just plonked on for good measure.
While this book may not of been for me, it did remind me to be great full for what I have. As there are many many people out there who have far greater struggles in life than I do.
Written by Geramie Kate Barker
https://gemsbooknook.wordpress.com
Three young men fuelled by idealism and hashish make a decision that will forever change their lives.
This book itself may be fiction, but the conflict it represents is very real. What is past is dead is a snap shot of what life is like for the people that are living through the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
As it was a small book, just over 50 pages. I found it to be a very quick read. I actually felt like it was a chapter from a longer novel. For me there just wasn't enough to hook me. I would've liked more backgrounds on the main players, more information on why they were doing what they did and I felt like the ending was just plonked on for good measure.
While this book may not of been for me, it did remind me to be great full for what I have. As there are many many people out there who have far greater struggles in life than I do.
Written by Geramie Kate Barker
https://gemsbooknook.wordpress.com
February 25, 2017
I enjoyed reading What is Past is Dead and felt the location of the tunnel depicted the raw desperation of the characters. I think the main character was conpelling and the msculine world the friends was well depicted. I believe the story has the potential to be developed into a full novel and for me it was over too soon.
December 12, 2017
The only thimg preventing me from giving 4 stars is because there were definitely a couple of moments where I had no idea what was going on, and those moments jolted me out of the story.
So it's 3.5 stars for that reason. That said, this book is so engaging and hard hitting in its depiction of grief and tension for such a short book. Recommended.
So it's 3.5 stars for that reason. That said, this book is so engaging and hard hitting in its depiction of grief and tension for such a short book. Recommended.
December 16, 2018
Mohammed has just arrived in Egypt from Denmark. He’s Egyptian like his friends Mido and Ahmed, but he speaks and looks like a foreigner. The three of them travel through the desert at night to sell hashish to some Israeli soldiers and they smoke some of it before unloading the van.
Mohammed and Ahmed are cousins. The first, after his early years in Egypt, moved to Denmark with his family while Ahmed stayed in his country and started to work as a microbus driver in Suez.
The routine is picking up the hashish from Mido’s family in the Delta and getting paid with US dollars and weapons like assault rifles, bullets, hand grenades and explosives.
Once the deal is done, the three friends go to Rafah to give the weapons to the Palestinians who use them against Israel. Their plan is to help them in the Second Intifada (2000-2005).
This is what they usually do, but this time is different. The new Israeli soldiers don’t seem interested in making money with hashish, but accept the load and pay for it.
The three Egyptians are ready to leave when a bullet kills Mido. After abandoning the body, the other two friends try to resume their everyday lives as soon as possible. Ahmed goes to work and Mohammed to the airport. He’s eager to leave for Europe and he shows his Danish passport to the immigration officers.
Ahmed has a severe car accident shortly after Mohammed flies back to Denmark. He spends the following nine years in bed, paralyzed from the waist down. His wife abandons both him and their daughter. Ahmed eventually dies.
Times goes by and now Mohammed lives as far away from Egypt as he can possibly be. Mido is dead, Ahmed is dead and Mohammed is still haunted by the past.
What Is Past Is Dead (2016) is a beautifully told tragic story with a gripping plot and characters you discover little by little, detail after detail. A short novel full of suspense, a text about friendship, idealism, dangerous illicit activities and violence with a touch of mystery. Who is the very tall man with long hair who gives the narrator a goat and a knife in the desert? Who kills Mido? Who is the screaming girl obliged to undergo an abortion with a razor blade? Why all these questions remain without an answer? I need answers, my mind is already filled up with too many questions. Dear author, please don’t leave your threads hanging. Close the circle. Please give me clear explanations, don’t leave it to my interpretation.
What Is Past Is Dead is presented as a work of fiction, but it looks so real and the author and the narrator seem to be the same person, since they both are Egyptians who grew up in Denmark and even their name, Mohammed, is the same.
The author clearly stands for the Palestinians and their right to have their own country, but choosing to show us the illegal activities of three Egyptian supporters is risky, because it isn’t the better way to gain empathy. It would have been wiser depicting innocent victims.
Unfortunately the world is ruled by injustice. And I don’t even have to look so far away. Ireland is split in two, with the north still belonging to the UK thanks to the descendants of its settlers. Catalans have been denied independence from Spain and the independentist leaders have been sent to jail. And all this happened with the complicit approval of the EU which nevertheless in the 1990s officially recognized the new small republics born from the ashes of Yugoslavia. Do you want to hear also something about my own country? 1918-2018: one hundred years since the annexation of German-speaking South Tyrol to Italy after World War I. Why can’t that territory be reunited with its Austrian counterpart, North Tyrol? I still remember the wonderful school year 2006-2007 spent teaching Italian in Austrian Tyrol and how in 2008 I was hired by a market research company in Rome to interview people from South Tyrol in German, since they generally didn’t like talking over the phone in Italian. The world isn’t fair. It’s simply ruled by the interests of those who have more power.
P.S. I have received a free paperback copy for winning a giveaway organized by the author who was so kind to send it to me from Australia with a beautiful dedication.
Mohammed and Ahmed are cousins. The first, after his early years in Egypt, moved to Denmark with his family while Ahmed stayed in his country and started to work as a microbus driver in Suez.
The routine is picking up the hashish from Mido’s family in the Delta and getting paid with US dollars and weapons like assault rifles, bullets, hand grenades and explosives.
Once the deal is done, the three friends go to Rafah to give the weapons to the Palestinians who use them against Israel. Their plan is to help them in the Second Intifada (2000-2005).
This is what they usually do, but this time is different. The new Israeli soldiers don’t seem interested in making money with hashish, but accept the load and pay for it.
The three Egyptians are ready to leave when a bullet kills Mido. After abandoning the body, the other two friends try to resume their everyday lives as soon as possible. Ahmed goes to work and Mohammed to the airport. He’s eager to leave for Europe and he shows his Danish passport to the immigration officers.
Ahmed has a severe car accident shortly after Mohammed flies back to Denmark. He spends the following nine years in bed, paralyzed from the waist down. His wife abandons both him and their daughter. Ahmed eventually dies.
Times goes by and now Mohammed lives as far away from Egypt as he can possibly be. Mido is dead, Ahmed is dead and Mohammed is still haunted by the past.
What Is Past Is Dead (2016) is a beautifully told tragic story with a gripping plot and characters you discover little by little, detail after detail. A short novel full of suspense, a text about friendship, idealism, dangerous illicit activities and violence with a touch of mystery. Who is the very tall man with long hair who gives the narrator a goat and a knife in the desert? Who kills Mido? Who is the screaming girl obliged to undergo an abortion with a razor blade? Why all these questions remain without an answer? I need answers, my mind is already filled up with too many questions. Dear author, please don’t leave your threads hanging. Close the circle. Please give me clear explanations, don’t leave it to my interpretation.
What Is Past Is Dead is presented as a work of fiction, but it looks so real and the author and the narrator seem to be the same person, since they both are Egyptians who grew up in Denmark and even their name, Mohammed, is the same.
The author clearly stands for the Palestinians and their right to have their own country, but choosing to show us the illegal activities of three Egyptian supporters is risky, because it isn’t the better way to gain empathy. It would have been wiser depicting innocent victims.
Unfortunately the world is ruled by injustice. And I don’t even have to look so far away. Ireland is split in two, with the north still belonging to the UK thanks to the descendants of its settlers. Catalans have been denied independence from Spain and the independentist leaders have been sent to jail. And all this happened with the complicit approval of the EU which nevertheless in the 1990s officially recognized the new small republics born from the ashes of Yugoslavia. Do you want to hear also something about my own country? 1918-2018: one hundred years since the annexation of German-speaking South Tyrol to Italy after World War I. Why can’t that territory be reunited with its Austrian counterpart, North Tyrol? I still remember the wonderful school year 2006-2007 spent teaching Italian in Austrian Tyrol and how in 2008 I was hired by a market research company in Rome to interview people from South Tyrol in German, since they generally didn’t like talking over the phone in Italian. The world isn’t fair. It’s simply ruled by the interests of those who have more power.
P.S. I have received a free paperback copy for winning a giveaway organized by the author who was so kind to send it to me from Australia with a beautiful dedication.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews