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Palestine + 100

editor: Basma Ghalayini (2019)
date read: 28 January 2022
rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

A dozen short stories from Palestinian writers imagining life a century after the Nakba, an event in 1948 that saw the destruction of Palestine and displacement of most Palestian Arabs. It’s an intriguing premise, and used to explore a variety of science fiction tropes – virtual reality, dystopian surveillance, transhumanism and the nature of memory.

I know very little about Palestinian history or politics, but that didn’t stop me enjoying the book.

Inevitably, I liked some of the stories more than others – my particular favourites were Vengeance and Application 39 – but I didn’t dislike any of them. It’s a good mix of ideas and themes, and I can see myself returning to some of the stories again.

I originally heard of this book in a tweet from Rae.

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