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    The Book of Jonas
    The Book of Jonas
    The Book of Jonas
    Audiobook5 hours

    The Book of Jonas

    Written by Stephen Dau

    Narrated by Simon Vance

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    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's 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 sentence. 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.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateMar 15, 2012
    ISBN9781452675978
    The Book of Jonas

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    Reviews for The Book of Jonas

    4.5/5

    13 ratings13 reviews

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    • 5/5
      The Book of Jonas is about a teenager who survives an attack by U.S. forces which wipes out his village and his family. It begins the day he arrives in the U.S. to live with a suburban family and start a new life and works its way forward until he is in college but, simultaneously, backward as the story of what happened at home unfolds. The voices of the boy, an American soldier who was involved in the raid and the mother of the soldier are all heard. Wow, what a book!!
    • 2/5
      I really want to have liked this more than I did. Dau's prose is lovely and the subject matter is important and of great interest. My two fundamental issues here are:1)In an effort not to be sentimental (an effort I applaud) the book feels completely devoid of emotional resonance. Given the subject matter that seems as if it would be impossible, but it left me cold and utterly detached.2) All of the secondary characters (everyone but Jonas and Christopher) are silly broadly drawn tropes. The Christianity discussion at the foster mother's table is so ludicrous and ham-fisted it made me laugh. As someone who grew up and fled the midwest I see the unmistakable prejudices of a person who lived there and hated it. (I assume he did, I should look that up.) Mr. Dau needs to take a little of the dispassion he brought to Jonas and bring it to his consideration of middle America. It is not perfect, and it certainly celebrates conformity, but it is not filled with the one-dimensionality or the stupidity he brings to it. I look forward to Dau's next book. He has talent and an impressive knowledge of refugees in America so there is a very good book in there.
    • 5/5
      The Book of Jonas is about the cost of war, and the fact that it is shared by the soldiers who must fight as well as the children who must die. Jonas (his American name) is a Muslim teenager caught in an American raid against his village. His father has prepared him for trouble by showing him how to find a cave in the mountains, instructing him that if anything were to happen, he must go there immediately and wait for family members to find him. Only his family is dead. Jonas is rescued from the cave by a young American soldier, Chris, suffering his own wounds from the attack. Jonas is put in the hands of an American relief organization, and is sent to America to be adopted by a Christian family. He struggles to adapt, but falls victim to uncontrollable anger that finally forces him into therapy. He also finds Rose, Chris's mother, who is desperate to find out how her son died. As Jonas spirals downward emotionally, his memories of Chris and the days they shared in the cave return with surprising effect.This is a very moving anti-war story with a powerful ending, simply written, but also unexpected.
    • 4/5
      Wow - love that Dau makes no judgements and what an ending!
    • 5/5
      Fifteen year old Jonas is sent to America after his village is attacked and his family killed in the Middle East. Adjusting to his new life is challenging to say the least and he is required to see a therapist when it is apparent that things aren’t going well. In an attempt to heal he meets the mother of the U.S. Soldier that saved his life and he starts to open up about what really happened when his village was attacked. Secrets that Jonas has struggled with and protected for years suffocate the details that he will share.This is one of those stories that will stay with me forever. As a military wife I read this with open eyes about war and what it does to people, so I was surprised by the accuracy because usually people overdo it and get it wrong. Jonas’ character was so rich and clear that I felt like I knew him and I could easily sympathize with him. The emotion of the story was so realistic that I felt this story just as much as I read it, which doesn’t happen as much as I would like. Needless to say, this was a hard one to put down even when I read the last page. I will not be able to recommend this one enough.
    • 5/5
      I'm not quite sure how to describe this book. It is about a young boy who survived a military raid on his hometown. The boy was helped by a soldier named Christopher, and then sent to America, where he lived with a foster family. The book shows his point of view through sessions with his therapist and scenes showing his life in America. The book also has diary entries of Christopher, as he participates in the military raid on Jonas' hometown. Towards the end of the book it also shows Rose, Christopher's mother, who has dedicated her life to helping military families and finding out why her son never returned home.I couldn't put this book down. I found it fascinating and extremely enjoyable to read about. The ending shocked me, yet looking back it shouldn't have. Overall, I highly recommend this book.
    • 5/5
      This is a debut novel about a Muslim boy (in a never named foreign country), orphaned by an American military operation gone terribly wrong, and his new life in America thanks to an international relief organization. It is the story of Younis (who Americanized himself to Jonas during the air flight over), and how he is trying to adjust to life in Pittsburgh and his very Christian foster family. This is easier said than done, of course, and Dau takes us through Jonas' turmoils, the real time hostility around him as well as the inner nightmare of how and why he survived when his family did not. Told in the short vignettes, we follow Jonas into young adulthood, steadily being fed faint details of his inner demons, many centering around the American soldier who saved him but then went missing in action. Piece by piece, the picture becomes heartbreakingly clear. The costs of war are not just in dollars, and they aren't always paid completely on the battlefield. This is a stunningly nuanced novel, and a gem of a debut.
    • 5/5
      Absolutely stunning and heartwrenching story of an Afghani boy who is sent to live in America when his entire family is killed by the U.S. military. Jonas' life in America, his life in Afghanistan, and the life of the American G.I. who saved him are so exquisitely intertwined by Dau that you can't help but hurt for the both of them in the deepest part of your heart. Gut wrenchingly beautiful. The audiobook is done perfectly, one of the very best productions I've listened to.
    • 5/5
      The Book of Jonas is an elegantly written book that stimulates thought and emotion while challenging conventional viewpoints on war and religion. While I didn't necessarily agree with the actions or beliefs of the main characters, I was fascinated and empathetic. The sparse prose and short chapters meant no word was wasted and the story moved quickly between past and present and various points of view. I was profoundly moved by this engrossing book that packed a powerful punch in nearly poetic fashion.
    • 5/5
      Wonderfully complex, and emotionally disturbing, The Book of Jonas tells the story of a young Middle Eastern boy, the exact country in never explicitly named, badly injured and orphaned by a military action in his village who is rescued by an American soldier. The story is not kind as it focuses on Jonas coming to grips with a terrible secret he is harboring, from both himself and others, after he is relocated to the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area. While a work of fiction, the plot is entirely believable as are the characters’ actions, the dialog and the characters themselves.Most war novels focus on heroism or the action of combat. Those damaged by combat are largely ignored. I would deliberately choose “damaged” to describe Jonas as he is both physically injured and emotionally scarred, far more emotionally, which is not as readily apparent, than physically. The Book of Jonas goes further, demonstrating the toll war takes on everyone involved; we are graphically shown there are no heroes, only damaged survivors. Stephen Dau reminds us that this damage has a ripple effect that reaches out to the families of those involved and they too are damaged emotionally by what happened.In time, I think this work will stand alongside Catch-22 and Slaughterhouse 5 as antihero / anti-glorified war testaments. I highly suggest this book to any book discussion groups as there is ample material here for questions and debate. This is not for the person looking for war stories with lots of action sequences. It is for the reader of emotionally charged stories, of parables for our time that must be told. The more I think about this book and talk it over with others, the more I feel The Book of Jonas deserves an unqualified five stars. The emotional impact is hard, the writing style very fluid and the characters very true to life.
    • 5/5
      The Book of Jonas, by Stephen Dau is an amazing debut novel, powerful and poignant. In it we follow Jonas, a 15-year-old Middle Eastern boy. During an American military operation, his entire family was killed and now he has been relocated to America with the help of an International Relief Organization. During his court-mandated counseling session, we begin to hear about Christopher, the soldier who saved his life during that tragic night. We also meet Rose, Christopher's mother, a woman consumed by grief and filled with unanswered questions, for her son disappeared the night Jonas' village was destroyed. Through memories and journal entries, the stories of all three come together in a truly haunting conclusion. This story is about the terrible choices of war and our deepest humanity. Highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      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.
    • 5/5
      An etxraordinary debut novel, superbly crafted, leanly written and profoundly moving. Published for adults but a story older teens can appreciate, too.