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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
dark
informative
slow-paced
This book is a remarkable telling of living amidst the Revolution. It helps the outsider understand what it was like to be a part of the 2011 Revolution in a way that is captivating and shines a light on why Egypt is what it is today. Highly recommend!
An attempt to give a blow-by-blow account of one woman's perspective on the 2011-2012 Arab Spring in Egypt. The book is trying to do a good thing, but it really gets bogged down in details. Unless you already know the overall story pretty well (and frankly, a lot of the twists and turns are already starting to fade from my mind), it is hard to keep track of what is happening.
It's also a very sad book. Not because it was written as a sad book. Most of the chapters are filled with optimism that the revolution will triumph in the end, no matter what obstacles it must face. It's just that reading it now, in the summer of 2014, I know that Ms. Soueif's optimism is misplaced. It's interesting that Soueif falls it a memoir of the city rather than the revolution. Not that I know Cairo as well as she does, but I don't think it is. It is a memoir of a moment, a moment that she hoped would leave a different lasting impression than I think it has.
It's also a very sad book. Not because it was written as a sad book. Most of the chapters are filled with optimism that the revolution will triumph in the end, no matter what obstacles it must face. It's just that reading it now, in the summer of 2014, I know that Ms. Soueif's optimism is misplaced. It's interesting that Soueif falls it a memoir of the city rather than the revolution. Not that I know Cairo as well as she does, but I don't think it is. It is a memoir of a moment, a moment that she hoped would leave a different lasting impression than I think it has.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
This is a wonderful memoir of a city--a snapshot really, taken at one of its most promising moments. Soueif does a beautiful job capturing the mood of Cairo during the revolution of 2011. While the reality of Cairo, and indeed of Egypt more generally, is rather grim today, her sense of what went wrong and what is still possible leaves readers on a hopeful note.
Really powerful account of day by day revolutionary Egypt, with insightful and tragic reflections interspersed throughout.
This is a wonderful memoir of a city--a snapshot really, taken at one of its most promising moments. Soueif does a beautiful job capturing the mood of Cairo during the revolution of 2011. While the reality of Cairo, and indeed of Egypt more generally, is rather grim today, her sense of what went wrong and what is still possible leaves readers on a hopeful note.
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Reading the book years after the revolution and trying to survive through the ugly cruel reality I would find tears pickling my eyes every now and then. The part that really forced me to write the review is the epilogue that started with Mona's recollection of an event.
Thanks Soueif for confirming to me that the revolution actually happened and it wasn't one beautiful summer dream on a breezeful summer night and what I saw and witnessed in Tahrir Square during those days actually happened and took place
Thanks Soueif for confirming to me that the revolution actually happened and it wasn't one beautiful summer dream on a breezeful summer night and what I saw and witnessed in Tahrir Square during those days actually happened and took place
Reading the book years after the revolution and trying to survive through the ugly cruel reality I would find tears pickling my eyes every now and then. The part that really forced me to write the review is the epilogue that started with Mona's recollection of an event.
Thanks Soueif for confirming to me that the revolution actually happened and it wasn't one beautiful summer dream on a breezeful summer night and what I saw and witnessed in Tahrir Square during those days actually happened and took place
Thanks Soueif for confirming to me that the revolution actually happened and it wasn't one beautiful summer dream on a breezeful summer night and what I saw and witnessed in Tahrir Square during those days actually happened and took place