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atuin's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.0
This edition opens with some historical context on the time period and the Author, which was helpful in understanding the text. My favorite was the first story, "The Doum Tree of Wad Hamid", a beautifully written tale of a rural village clashing with industrialization, and the importance of remembering your roots. "A Handful of Dates", is about a child learning his beloved grandfather is not as good a man as he thought. In today's era where many famous people are revealed as being horrible behind closed doors, this story struck home for me. "The Wedding of Zein", is also good, but it bounces around too much for my taste, going through different POV's frequently and going back and forth in time. It has a lot of interesting themes, like true religious devotion, how being a good man doesn't mean being taken seriously, simple joys of life, and several others. Each character is also well detailed and interesting. Overall and excellent book and I am certainly interested in his other work now.
Content Warnings
Minor: Incest and Adult/minor relationship
just_me_gi's review against another edition
4.5
Really liked both novellas.
Loved style especially ending of the doum tree of wad hamid. And the structure of the title story, wedding of Zein was told so well thru so many characters
Loved style especially ending of the doum tree of wad hamid. And the structure of the title story, wedding of Zein was told so well thru so many characters
raulbime's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars
This is a collection of two short stories and a novella by Sudanese writer Tayeb Salih, known for his novel A Season Of Migration To The North–a personal favourite of mine, which is widely regarded as an African classic. In these stories, as is done in A Season Of Migration To The North, Salih explores the lives of people in rural Sudan. His settings are along the Nile, centering Muslim and agricultural communities. In the eponymous novella the story revolves around a village's reaction to the wedding of Zein. Because of social class (impoverished) and his perceived ugliness Zein is relegated to that position (whose words I loathe to use) of village idiot. So when it is announced that he is to wed one of the prettiest girls in the village also from one of its most prominent families, of course, the village erupts into chaos.
The true gem in this collection is the short story, nestled in between the novella and the first short story, called A Handful of Dates. An exquisite tale of disenchantment as a young boy discovers the cruelty and greed of his grandfather.
This is a collection of two short stories and a novella by Sudanese writer Tayeb Salih, known for his novel A Season Of Migration To The North–a personal favourite of mine, which is widely regarded as an African classic. In these stories, as is done in A Season Of Migration To The North, Salih explores the lives of people in rural Sudan. His settings are along the Nile, centering Muslim and agricultural communities. In the eponymous novella the story revolves around a village's reaction to the wedding of Zein. Because of social class (impoverished) and his perceived ugliness Zein is relegated to that position (whose words I loathe to use) of village idiot. So when it is announced that he is to wed one of the prettiest girls in the village also from one of its most prominent families, of course, the village erupts into chaos.
The true gem in this collection is the short story, nestled in between the novella and the first short story, called A Handful of Dates. An exquisite tale of disenchantment as a young boy discovers the cruelty and greed of his grandfather.
radsloth2's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
vdege's review against another edition
4.0
Enjoyable novella. A better exploration of the village politics that were introduced in Season of Migration to the North. This book is worth reading if you enjoyed Season of Migration, but I believe I enjoyed Season of Migration more. I really liked the short story “The Doum Tree of Wad Hamid” that was published at the beginning of this edition.
erinsbookshelves's review against another edition
funny
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
salam_'s review against another edition
4.0
I thought that I was gonna like it, and yes I liked it!
The amazing thing about it is that you can actually live the events and feel it as you read, I personally felt like I attended عرس الزين
Plus, It gives me that feeling of nostalgia :')
The amazing thing about it is that you can actually live the events and feel it as you read, I personally felt like I attended عرس الزين
Plus, It gives me that feeling of nostalgia :')
hanntastic's review against another edition
4.0
Global Read 163 Sudan
This novella plus two short stories was really engaging and kind-hearted. It was hard to place Zein as a character which was fun. He could have easily been pigeon holed as a "village idiot" type. I was worried that it was going to be mean spirited but it seems like the author had a lot of respect for Zein. The other two stories are pretty short but worth the read.
This novella plus two short stories was really engaging and kind-hearted. It was hard to place Zein as a character which was fun. He could have easily been pigeon holed as a "village idiot" type. I was worried that it was going to be mean spirited but it seems like the author had a lot of respect for Zein. The other two stories are pretty short but worth the read.