Reviews

This was a very interesting and challenging read. I did struggle at first with how incoherent it seemed to be, and the back and forth timeline, but inexplicably it makes sense once you get about halfway through.

It’s a book that covers a lot of topics close to Barakat’s heart, and also relevant to today’s events in Palestine - I’m not sure how many people are aware of the expulsion of Palestinians in the 40s and 60s, and them taking refuge in Lebanon. It’s obviously also takes a human look at the Lebanese civil war, all wars really, and what it does to a person. That even if people are physically alive, their souls are already dead along with murdered loved ones. It covers these heavy topics in the perfect way, I think, not too clinical but not sensationalist - just the cold reality.

I think this would be a great one to reread to get a better picture of Mister N’s life once you know the right timeline.

I’m not sure I think the final reveal added anything? I understood the events that happened, but the other reveal seemed a bit more shock factor to me and I’m not sure I fully understood it in the context of the rest of the novel. I also don’t really like the ‘police report’ ending trope; the way it has to be clinically written compared to the rest of the prose makes it sound poorly written.

I think it also suffers from the curse of the bad blurb. I just don’t think it captures at all what this book is. It almost sounds whimsical - the tale of a book character come to life - when it is anything but.

A good read though, I would recommend, and tell people to push through the confusion - it’s all part of the experience of this book.

aront's review

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4.0

Beautifully written book by a powerful writer. Be forewarned though that this is yet another book by a writer obsessing about the meaning of writing and it’s connection to reality. The fact that the writer is Lebanese and the story takes place in Beirut adds several additional layers of metaphor, along with almost unbearable sadness and violence, expressing the reality of that city. Sometimes the metaphorical aspects of the story veers close to cliche. I also thought the ending epilogue was unnecessary and diminished the power of the story a bit. Hence four not five stars.

medievaljuliana's review

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4.0

This book is a difficult one to rate. I should say that the fourth cover blur is, in my opinion, slightly misleading, framing this story almost as a dark comedy. I guess someone out there might spot some dark humor across these pages, but that wasn't me. So, I was a little put off by the mismatch between the tone of the blur and the tone of the story I actually read.

It's also hard to write about it without giving away spoilers because so much of its impact lies in the twists and turns that, at first, you don't expect, and then you start trying to anticipate, only to be thrown a curve ball. The last 50 pages or so of the novel are absolutely chilling and the last page really ties everything together without ever trying to provide an answer to all your questions about Mr. N. I tend to really enjoy books that leave you scratching your head a bit, so I'm sold.

liter_ely's review

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Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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