Mysterious, new, engaging, provocative, confusing... all words I would use to describe this piece. It takes a few minutes of listening to get a grip on what you are hearing.... I have to admit at first I was kind of irritated, but I just let go, kept going and it paid off. You have to really listen to get anything out of this piece (duh, I know - but if you put this on the radio you'll be playing it for a lot of people who are only half listening, tuning in and out, and this piece is tough for that kind of attention).
The piece begins with a male voice recalling the US bombing of a Red Cross hospital in Afghanistan... and it goes on from there in a way I can't well enough explain. The piece is about war and violence and family and American imperialism and inequality and a whole lot of other things. I thought most of the way through that I was hearing the re-telling of an actual series of events/ encounters. But in the end, I was not so sure. This might be fiction. Either way, it's pretty damn interesting.
Review of Ease on Down: a Refugee Story
Emily Hanford
Posted on January 20, 2006 at 05:10 PM
Mysterious, new, engaging, provocative, confusing... all words I would use to describe this piece. It takes a few minutes of listening to get a grip on what you are hearing.... I have to admit at first I was kind of irritated, but I just let go, kept going and it paid off. You have to really listen to get anything out of this piece (duh, I know - but if you put this on the radio you'll be playing it for a lot of people who are only half listening, tuning in and out, and this piece is tough for that kind of attention).
The piece begins with a male voice recalling the US bombing of a Red Cross hospital in Afghanistan... and it goes on from there in a way I can't well enough explain. The piece is about war and violence and family and American imperialism and inequality and a whole lot of other things. I thought most of the way through that I was hearing the re-telling of an actual series of events/ encounters. But in the end, I was not so sure. This might be fiction. Either way, it's pretty damn interesting.