The first half about the General was rather slow moving; the second part about the son moved better. Of course it makes sense that there is more detail to one's own experience than what is available when telling someone else's, even one's father. The General's Son overlaps another book I read; I realized that the description of Rami's action after his daughter was killed in a suicide bomb attack sounded familiar. I had read elsewhere of an organization for bereaved families both Israeli and Palestinian, and of two men, an Israeli and a Palestinian, who traveled to speak together. Could this be the same Israeli man? I pulled up a record of the novel (based in fact) Apeirogon to see. Sure enough, Rami, whose daughter Smadar had been killed, was the Israeli of the pair. I recommend reading both books!

The journey to seeing the "other" as friend was encouraging. It is not enough alone, but it certainly is an important ingredient in the search for peace. It was interesting to read Miko Peled's argument for a one-state solution in this time where the two-state is being revived.