Reviews

In Praise of Hatred by Leri Price, Khaled Khalifa

yassar's review against another edition

medium-paced

1.0

persos's review against another edition

3.0

واخيرأ لامست قدمى ارض الغرفة بعد رحلة حزينة مؤلمة عبر سطور فاضت بعذابات و حرمان وكراهية وعشق
واهات النساء فى صفحات كان مسرحها الاساسى حلب فى سوريا ... وما اشبه الليلة بالبارحة هذا الصراع بين الاصوليين و حزب البعث فى الثمانينات ... مزقتنى هذه الرواية الى اشلاء كما مزقت سوريا الى طائفتين
ابدع الكاتب فى صياغتها بطريقة السرد (بمعنى انه لا يوجد حوار ) مما اكسبها مذاق مميز
ثم وشمها بعبارات وتشبيهات ومواقف جنسية فجة افقدت الرواية الكثير من رونقها وبهائها
ولكن ذلك لم يمنع هيئة التحكيم للجائزة العالمية للرواية العربية ( البوكر) في دورتها الأولى لعام 2008 من ترشيح الرواية للقائمة النهائية
حمدت الله على عودتى من كل هذا الدمار والبؤس والشقاء ... ودعوت الله لاهل سوريا ان يلهمهم الصبر ويرد وطنهم اليهم ويردهم له سالمين

mel1n's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

laurafd's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

hollyhobbit101's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

misspalah's review against another edition

4.0

This book took me more than a month to finish. It is comprised of beautiful and graceful writing (while I couldn't read this book in its original language, I am more than sure that Leri Price tries her best to translate this boik so that some of the originality could be retained). Upon finishing this book, I was in awe by the content of this book. It was indirect ; There's a war happened but rather than focusing it unfolded, the tale focused on the complexity of the main character. I hated her for being so strict, judgmental and a bit hardcore towards extremism but in the same time, I pitied her for turning that way. This book is surely an emotional rollercoaster ride because your feelings altered according to each story presented in it. For this book, I gave 4 stars.

sinerak's review

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.25

This book is good, the English translation is awful, as it cuts out a full 1/4 of the book.

This changes the entire end meaning, turning the novel into an Oriental Gazing excercise, rather than the call for compassion for everyone the author intended. 

kealyjules's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

andrew61's review against another edition

4.0

This book would be a great place to start to learn about the origins of the Syrian crisis and how a young Muslim would become radicalised. The narrator is a young girl who is moved into her aunts household at a time when the minority government massacres sunni civilians and prisoners. Her confusion over sexuality and family leads her to fundamentalism , arrest and torture. It's an interesting read but the style, a constant stream of narrative which branches of at times is hard going, but on reflection I'm going to up it to 4 stars as I think it has a lot to say about Syrian society . Worth a read.

districtreads's review against another edition

1.0

Decided not to come back to this book. Either something is very much lost in translation, or the writing style was just not up to par. I was really interested in possibly learning more about my country of heritage - I'm half Syrian - but there was too much unnecessary sexuality (what woman thinks about her chest that way, no matter how repressed? is it necessary to talk about a preteen's breasts that much?) and the narrative voice was simply lacking. The kiss of death? I was BORED.

I would be interested to read this in the original Arabic, because the premise seems incredibly unique and needed, and I see that it did win a prize for Arabic fiction - but I'm done with the English version.