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4.08 AVERAGE
4.08 AVERAGE
emotional
informative
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I completely misunderstood this book. I never read the inside flap of the book or anything else about the book until after I finished. I thought it was 100% memoir. I was surprised to find out that it was largely fiction! I think this completely changed the way I viewed the book because I thought the stories he was telling were true and I was coming to make assumptions about the author as a person rather than some character in a story. It makes it feel impossible for me to review the book knowing how I misunderstood it. The fact that I entered this book naive changed the way I engaged with it. I am wondering if I should do that more often. I spent most of my time asking myself about the ethics of sharing stories about other people in a personal memoir, rather than engaging the story. This work of fiction made me dislike memoirs. I am a dummy.
Is it a memoir? It is a novel? It is an ethics or economics lesson? How about all of the above.
I wasn't sure what to expect with this one but since it seemed to show up on all of 2020's best lists, I thought I would give it a try.
I definitely enjoyed his writing style and his ability to create a narrative. Where this book fell short for me is that as stories (there are many told in the book) got interesting, he would abandon them for less interesting stories. I also had a tough time seeing how some of the stories related to the bigger picture of how Muslims live in a post 9-11 America.
Overall, I found myself bored with a few stories, including almost a quarter of the book which was dedicated to his sexual exploits.
I wasn't sure what to expect with this one but since it seemed to show up on all of 2020's best lists, I thought I would give it a try.
I definitely enjoyed his writing style and his ability to create a narrative. Where this book fell short for me is that as stories (there are many told in the book) got interesting, he would abandon them for less interesting stories. I also had a tough time seeing how some of the stories related to the bigger picture of how Muslims live in a post 9-11 America.
Overall, I found myself bored with a few stories, including almost a quarter of the book which was dedicated to his sexual exploits.
Although I really did enjoy this on many levels (3.5 stars if that was a choice!) I found that the “essay” format kind of disappointing. I liked a lot of the “stories” but there was a lot that I didn’t find I connected with because there wasn’t really a plot, so to speak.
He can write a masterful sentence, and I really enjoyed this book in the beginning. Unfortunately, the long digressions and no plot eventually became a slog to read.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I love highbrow and esoteric, but this one was pretty dense. And then weird sex scenes randomly inserted (haha) throughout. I found a few passages I liked, but most of the book wasn’t great.
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
I appreciate the commentary/satiric critique on identity, race, patriotism, religion etx. However, somethings seemed a bit gratuitous.