We Crossed a Bridge and It Trembled

Listener Reviews

1. 5.0(1)

   Beautifully written!

   This book aims to shed light on the Syrian conflict and give a platform to many Syrian citizens who have lived through the experience first hand, and I think it does an excellent job of it. One note I would say (and this has nothing to do with the book itself) is that the audiobook readers tended to have a very monotone voice which kind of loses some of the emotion and life the book emits. It might not be a problem for others, it just caused me to lose focus at times or feel distant from the stories that the citizens share.

   Letitia Adams · March 30, 2023

2. 2.0(1)

   Misses the mark

   The author, a political science professor in Middle East studies, neglected to mention that Assad enabled the terrorist ratlines through Syria and into Iraq to cause mayhem on behalf of Sunnis and its benefactor, Iran. The impetus for the "Arab Spring" in Syria was the logistics train that had already been set up by Assad, a ready-made terrorist force. In essence, the Syrian civil war was Assad's self-inflicted blowback.

   The stories of individual hardship are enlightening and confirming, but only provide a few small pieces of the puzzle.

   Kelsey Fischer · February 13, 2022

3. 5.0(1)

   Powerful Firsthand Accounts of Syrian Revolution

   Just a powerful collection of firsthand accounts of the Syrian Revolution from 2010 to 2016. The simple approach of presenting different stories from people of all walks of life gives a good feel for what the Syria people have experienced and endured. It doesn't try to analyze and comment on the situation. It just presents things in a very human way. You start to relate to the Syrians as we should. Not labelled by a certain stereotype, but as real people. It is a sad, tragic story, but with moments of hope and inspiration.

   Brook Crouch · April 21, 2019

4. 5.0(1)

   Outstanding

   This amazing book allows you to bear witness directly to Syrian dissidents’ and dispacees’ very personal accounts of the current crisis. After an introductory historical chapter by Pearlman, the narrative is conveyed through direct, first-person vignette after vignette, offered with no author commentary. Pearlman’s effort is in assembling the vignettes in a sequence that conveys the zeitgeists for dissident or otherwise disempowered segments of Syrian society under the oppression of the prewar Syrian regimes, during the excitement of the Arab Spring, the sense of freedom followed by the horrors of the Syrian revolution and civil war, and then very difficult but at times hopeful life in exile. As a reader you are left to soak in the intimate narratives, story-tellers’ interpretations, and all the attendant emotions. Then you draw your own conclusions. I found the book riveting and highly effective for building understanding what it means to be a dissident or outside the circle of power of Syria’s incumbent Assad regime.

   peter brumlik · June 1, 2018

5. 5.0(1)

   An important account of the Syrian dilemma

   Through the voices of the Syrians who have lived it, left it and want to return to their homeland, this account is a powerful vista of the varied positions of the people who are ‘visitors’ in sheltering countries. The presentation is powerful because it utilizes many readers to transmit the idea of identity. A must read for the international perspective it imparts.

   Shayla Pennington · April 21, 2018