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talentedmisfit's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
yanulya's review against another edition
4.0
Lovely and melancholy. Gurnah was last year's winner of the Nobel in literature, and his style reminded me a touch of Naguib Mahfouz (fellow Nobel laureate, from Egypt), and a touch of Dinaw Mengestu (young Ethiopian-American writer & MacArthur Fellow). Part is set in Zanzibar (a first for me!) and part describes the protagonist's experience as an immigrant in London. Most of the writing centers on his inner thoughts and emotions & does so in a convincing and honest way. I look forward to reading more by him.
starlite13's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.0
cinaedussinister's review against another edition
4.0
The characterisation is so good. The plot is not terrible, not the best, but it becomes really good by the end - I adore the last few chapters. A very good book!
anushareflects's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
shaifali2314's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
I was very much of a thing
ukpsymum's review against another edition
4.0
This book ebbed like the sea. The first section, in which the author describes his childhood in Zanzibar, was riveting. Gurnah captures both what I imagine is the feel of the place, the political upheaval and his parents' and then family's lives with startling clarity. In this part, I could not get enough, and was propelled from each carefully chosen word to the next. I felt deeply for the little boy Salim as he described the confusing changes in his family and the impact they left on his heart and identity.
And then, as the confusion of his family settles into his being, Salim leaves home for England. This section of the book was harder for me. Although I was irritated and then enraged with Amir and his wife for their treatment of Salim, I felt a bit adrift in the context of Salim's life during this time and his subsequent years in the Southeast of England. I imagine this feeling may have paralleled what the author was trying to convey: Salim himself was adrift during this time. As a reader though, it was at times hard to stick with the story, and I found myself jumping around a bit in the book to keep myself engaged.
But when Salim returns to Zanzibar for a visit, the story again takes hold. Politics and social upheaval in the background, Salim's father fills in the gaps for Salim as to why his life shifted so suddenly when he was young. Gurnah's story telling likewise shifts. There is clarity, detail, a mounting story of pain that climaxes and then crumbles.
And there we are, characters adrift against history.
But, without ruining the ending, it is the last line of the book that stabbed at me. It was not the conclusion I'd expected. Reading Salim's father's story, I found myself furious with Amir and the wreckage of his selfishness. Perhaps the last line is about finding strength as a person, regardless of difficulty, but in reality such individual volition is not within the purveiw of many people. Salim's parents both acted from a place of love, but were torn by that love. Amir? Not so. And so it is with the governmental changes and the people driving them. As Gurnah chronicles, their mandates and motivating factors were often rarely for the people, but rather for themselves and their power. In that context, the last sentence felt to me to lay the blame at the feet of those affected by the greedy and selfish.
At the same time, I wondered, "or is Gurnah trying to point out that people can find some traction, some hope, some life, even in the context of shifting forces - who will be what they will be?"
I wonder how other readers felt about this.
And then, as the confusion of his family settles into his being, Salim leaves home for England. This section of the book was harder for me. Although I was irritated and then enraged with Amir and his wife for their treatment of Salim, I felt a bit adrift in the context of Salim's life during this time and his subsequent years in the Southeast of England. I imagine this feeling may have paralleled what the author was trying to convey: Salim himself was adrift during this time. As a reader though, it was at times hard to stick with the story, and I found myself jumping around a bit in the book to keep myself engaged.
But when Salim returns to Zanzibar for a visit, the story again takes hold. Politics and social upheaval in the background, Salim's father fills in the gaps for Salim as to why his life shifted so suddenly when he was young. Gurnah's story telling likewise shifts. There is clarity, detail, a mounting story of pain that climaxes and then crumbles.
And there we are, characters adrift against history.
But, without ruining the ending, it is the last line of the book that stabbed at me. It was not the conclusion I'd expected. Reading Salim's father's story, I found myself furious with Amir and the wreckage of his selfishness. Perhaps the last line is about finding strength as a person, regardless of difficulty, but in reality such individual volition is not within the purveiw of many people. Salim's parents both acted from a place of love, but were torn by that love. Amir? Not so. And so it is with the governmental changes and the people driving them. As Gurnah chronicles, their mandates and motivating factors were often rarely for the people, but rather for themselves and their power. In that context, the last sentence felt to me to lay the blame at the feet of those affected by the greedy and selfish.
At the same time, I wondered, "or is Gurnah trying to point out that people can find some traction, some hope, some life, even in the context of shifting forces - who will be what they will be?"
I wonder how other readers felt about this.
raulbime's review against another edition
3.0
When Abdulrazak Gurnah was announced as the Nobel winner for literature last year, shamefully, neither I nor most of my friends were familiar with his work. It was unusual because Gurnah wasn't really obscure as a lot of articles during that period stated. He had been shortlisted for and had won other prestigious prizes before the Nobel. An important function of literary prizes being that they bring to our attention books we didn't know existed–as well as Gurnah being a prominent scholar of African literature, therefore it was ridiculous that even though the name was familiar to some of us, only one person I knew had read his work (one book) before the announcement.
The reader follows Salim, the protagonist, from his childhood in Zanzibar to his immigrating to Britain. A coming of age story–that's enmeshed with a family story–that tracks the protagonist's life through his wanderings and wonderings. It required some patience on my part as it meanders at parts. There are many people that come in and out of the story (as it happens mostly in life), and this could be classified as a quiet book, despite the turbulence now and then, in some ways.
Reading this book it became clear why his work hadn't come to our attention as it ought to. The elegiac inward prose here contrasted with the declarative and symbolic which is favoured amongst those who arrange school curricula, where a lot of us learn about African literature (trademarked, obviously). There's little room for decoding and unravelling, little room for picking apart words and actions and characters to find hidden meaning, no preaching or moralizing, and instead wonderful prose that works at those familiar themes of colonization, power and class struggle, immigration, among others. These themes do not take primary place in the story with their existence mainly for the characters to find their ways through, but as the conditions they are that human beings grapple with. I've been informed that this is not the author's best work and so this will be the first, hopefully, of more books I read by him.
The reader follows Salim, the protagonist, from his childhood in Zanzibar to his immigrating to Britain. A coming of age story–that's enmeshed with a family story–that tracks the protagonist's life through his wanderings and wonderings. It required some patience on my part as it meanders at parts. There are many people that come in and out of the story (as it happens mostly in life), and this could be classified as a quiet book, despite the turbulence now and then, in some ways.
Reading this book it became clear why his work hadn't come to our attention as it ought to. The elegiac inward prose here contrasted with the declarative and symbolic which is favoured amongst those who arrange school curricula, where a lot of us learn about African literature (trademarked, obviously). There's little room for decoding and unravelling, little room for picking apart words and actions and characters to find hidden meaning, no preaching or moralizing, and instead wonderful prose that works at those familiar themes of colonization, power and class struggle, immigration, among others. These themes do not take primary place in the story with their existence mainly for the characters to find their ways through, but as the conditions they are that human beings grapple with. I've been informed that this is not the author's best work and so this will be the first, hopefully, of more books I read by him.
merixien's review against another edition
4.0
Geçtiğimiz yıl, Afrika edebiyatından çok fazla kitap okuduğum için Gurnah’a karşı biraz önyargılarım vardı. Zira artık kalıplaşmış üç farklı temadan birisiyle( kabile, sömürge ya da batıya göç eden Afrikalı temaları) karşılaşacağımı düşünüyordum. Batıya göç kısmından biraz yakalıyor olsa da çok daha evrensel bir öyküyle karşılaştım. Elbette bunda Shakespeare uyarlaması olması etkili ancak yine de yazarın bunu muazzam bir şekilde yaptığını atlamamak gerekiyor. Hikayenin nereye gideceğini çok iyi biliyorsunuz, çünkü uyarlamadan haberiniz olmasa dahi o kadar çok Shakespeare vurgusu yapılıyor ki bir yerden sonra akış yönünü tahmin etmemeniz mümkün değil. Ki kitaba beş değil de dört yıldız verme sebebim de bu vurgu ve gözümüze sokulan Kısasa Kısas konusu.
Kurgunun akışını bu kadar net tahmin edebilseniz dahi kitaptan soğumuyorsunuz, çünkü Gurnah o kadar yalın ve etkileyici bir şekilde anlatmaya devam ediyor ki kitabın sonu ikinci plana düşüyor. Bu açıdan da neden Nobel’i aldığını çok iyi anlıyorsunuz. Elimde bir kaç kitabı daha var, onları da okumadan net bir şey söylemem zor olsa da, eğer yalın bir dille sıradan hikayelere gösteriş kazandırabilen yazarları seviyorsanız Gurnah ile mutlaka tanışın.
Kurgunun akışını bu kadar net tahmin edebilseniz dahi kitaptan soğumuyorsunuz, çünkü Gurnah o kadar yalın ve etkileyici bir şekilde anlatmaya devam ediyor ki kitabın sonu ikinci plana düşüyor. Bu açıdan da neden Nobel’i aldığını çok iyi anlıyorsunuz. Elimde bir kaç kitabı daha var, onları da okumadan net bir şey söylemem zor olsa da, eğer yalın bir dille sıradan hikayelere gösteriş kazandırabilen yazarları seviyorsanız Gurnah ile mutlaka tanışın.
barbarabarbara's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25