Reviews

The Baghdad Clock by Shahad Al Rawi, Luke Leafgren

sometimes_iread's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

Two translated reads in a row and the difference in craft shows. Unlike The Yellow Eyes of Crocodiles, The Baghdad Clock by Shahad Al Rawi definitely pinged my translation radar because of the way it read. There’s just something about the way the sentences flow that made me wonder if this was a translation. Still, it was a decent effort and one of the better ones I’ve read.

It is a testament to Al Rawi’s skill that despite the translation, I was still wowed by her writing. The Baghdad Clock was so rich and full of heart that I certainly needed a while to digest it. Simplistically taken, the book is a coming-of-age story with a touch of magical realism. However, it tackles so many big themes, such as displacement, war, and place and space that the book becomes so much more. 

In a a neighbourhood in Baghdad, two girls meet in an air raid shelter during the Gulf War and become fast friends. They navigate growing up together, from childhood games to first loves, all while sanctions and other political forces loom. 

I’ve a huge weakness for stories with a strong community spirit (looking at you Reply 1988) and Al Rawi gives us that spirit in spades here. During the more idyllic years after the Gulf War, we see a strong community where everyone knows everyone and the neighbourhood children can roam the streets safely. However, that is threatened, as more and more families move away in a bid to escape the harsh life sanctions bring. This threw up the idea of space versus place, as the sense of the neighbourhood slowly eroded with each departure. Even when new households shifted in, the sense of place was irrevocably changed to the original occupants left behind. What really hammered home that idea for me, was the distilling of the place into a single book, where the meaning of the neighbourhood was captured with a clever pen and divorced completely from the space it used to inhabit. It certainly puts our local context in a new light for me, as we continue our march toward modernity and convenience no matter the cost. 

Another point that struck me about The Baghdad Clock is the use of magical realism. I’m quite a concrete person so magical realism tends to fly over my head. However, I didn’t mind the use of it here because it helped anchor me (most of the time) in the idea of the neighbourhood, as the girls know it, as transient. I guess it goes back to place and space, but at least I understood part of the point of the device so I’m not complaining. 

Al Rawi writes beautifully and she captures the essence of things well. It makes this a lovely read indeed, and I highly recommend it!

Diversity meter:

Strong female characters 

Iraqi characters 

lindseyzank's review against another edition

3.0

A mystical, philosophical story about a neighborhood in Baghdad that is affected by both the Gulf War and the Iraq War. Magical realist elements mixed with poetic ruminations about life and love (at times I felt like I was reading a Rumi poem) made this story ethereal and tender but all the parts didn't quite add up to form a cohesive, compelling narrative. As an American, it was meaningful for me to read about those wars from an Iraqi perspective, and there's value in the book for that alone. I wanted more character development and more of a beginning, middle, and end.

bethanymplanton's review against another edition

3.0

The Baghdad Clock follows the bittersweet tale of two girls as they grow up in war-torn Baghdad. Rawi takes the readers beyond the headlines to show the every day struggles of those who lived in Baghdad through the Gulf War and beyond. The Baghdad Clock made me think and learn about new perspective about a city that is slowly disappearing.

misspalah's review

challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

‘As for what's attached to history, you are the children of a long, disconnected history. Your countries live through the ages as islands separate from each other. The history of pain alone is the sole river flowing through your time. You and sadness form an eternal friendship, and whenever its river dries up, you fill it up again with your tears. To tell the truth, I don't know if it is you who are chasing sadness, or whether sadness is following you. You are masters at producing sorrow but ignorant of the alphabet of joy. Look at your songs and your music. Look at your tears when you laugh. Look at your poems and your proverbs. With you, even love is an allusion to sadness, absence, anguish and separation.'

'What's the solution?' 'Geography is a fate that cannot be escaped, but history is made. Adapt to your geography and change your history?' 'How do we change history? Do you mean falsify it?' ‘Not at all.

• The Baghdad Clock by Shahad Al-Rawi

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What an evocative and poignant writing! A stellar debut, i must say. The fact that this was translated from Arabic to English but the translator managed to retain the poetic element in it really blew my mind. Both the expression and description flowed smoothly. When author describing her neighborhood, her childhood memories, her pain and longingness caused by the Gulf War - the sanctions, people abandoned their hometown, the sudden disappearance ; it was so vivid. The story drawn from the author’s experience of growing up in the year 1991. We followed the POV of a young girl with her close friend , Nadia - navigating their daily life, observing the community where they lived, falling in love with Ahmad and Farouq while they were in teenagehood, passing the exams and enrolling into the university. BUT the book also was sprinkled with philosophical discussion and rhetoric questions that i was honestly taken aback by it (in a good way). Then, we also explored some aspect of magical realism whereby our MC actually can explored other people’s dream. She used to see Nadia’s dream all the time although she never told her that. Another magical realism aspect that existed in the story is the existence of soothsayers in the community. Not many trusted them given the constraint by the religion and societal stigma but the fact that it was integrated in the story is fascinating. Not all prediction of the soothsayers came true but it might hold some value for those who came wanting to know what will happen in the future.  Its not all rainbows in their lives unfortunately as the war is getting worse and the relationship were strained because they were separated by distance and inability to keep in touch at their convenience. Since its the 90s, there is a mention of Honor Killing as someone in their neighborhood got killed by her brother for being in a car with a man. Overall, an emotional read! One can see how an innocent little girls grew up too fast, get hardened by the impact of war which eventually left their home country only to feeling longing to those precious old memories.

soph2962's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring medium-paced

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

4.0

rimd's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

jaimiable's review against another edition

to-read

thebooktrail88's review against another edition

5.0

Visit the locations in the novel


Why this book works so well is that it’s such a simple and innocent story. Seen through the eyes of two girls as they grow up and start to explore the world, well at least as far as they can in war torn Baghdad, they manage to reveal their dreams, their hopes and their fears as well as acute observations of war. What we read about war sometimes can be gathered in such torrid graphic headlines that it’s there to shock. The lyrical, innocent childhood observations of these children make it all the more horrific and that’s why the book should be read slowly to take in the repercussions of what you are reading. When the girls are in the shelter, how they see the burned out city, why they dream about the Baghdad clock…I had tears in my eyes.

The story follows them as they go their own ways but it’s their Baghdad and childhood bond that keeps them close. You should discover this book for yourself without having any ideas of what you might find as this is an experience you won’t have had before and I’m very grateful to One World for having translated this. It did read like a stream of consciousness at times and especially as the girls grow up, but stand back and see the novel for how it shines a light on this part of the world and its people.

vaishsviews's review against another edition

3.0

3.5⭐️

I’m not entirely sure how I feel about this book. It’s a good book but I’m just not a fan of magic realism.

The Baghdad Clock is a compelling story about two girls who grow up in the midst of the Gulf War. They rely on one another as well as their close-knit neighbourhood through such turbulent times. As they grow older, their lives are changed and will never be the same again.

I really enjoyed the narration of the story - it was easy to read without minimising the devastation and chaos caused by the war. I especially valued the narration being told from a child’s perspective because it is written in such a way that the war doesn’t take centre stage but rather, is just another event that they have to ensure. Instead the focus is that of lasting friendships and budding relationships.

However, the aspects of magic realism really confused me because I wasn’t entirely sure of its purpose. For me, it wasn’t clear at which points the magic realism was used and I felt that it muddled the narrative at times.

mandraluhana's review against another edition

hopeful lighthearted

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.25