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kyrap's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
kevinhendricks's review against another edition
4.0
I've read this book before but re-read it for book club. It tells the brutal story of the Ethiopian revolution in the 1970s from the perspective of one family. It's a difficult story, but also illustrates the difficulties of revolution—the clash of family and politics, the brutality of overreach and the dangers of government gone awry (both the cruel communist dictatorship but also the aging monarchy that failed to respond to a famine).
mimima's review against another edition
3.0
I heard about this on a recent podcast and it came in the same day I submitted the request at the library. While it is extremely difficult read (due to the brutality and topics) it was important and I learned a lot about recent Ethiopian history. Much to ponder about acts of corporal mercy, faith, revolutions, society, and family.
kellycavolo's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
tinkerer's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
2.5
Too slow-paced for me, and I didn’t feel like I was in any character’s head or heart. I could think it but not feel it; this might have something to do with the audio book version that I was using, which made the (superfluous, to me) adjectives stand out when describing characters. I might pick this up in paper form to try to finish. I want to persevere as it’s a series, and I have encountered series where the first book is not the best…
green_blue_skies0322's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
lmurray74's review against another edition
3.0
A month or so ago I read The Wife's Tale, the story of Aida Edemariam's grandmother and her 95 years of life in Ethiopia, beginning before the second Italian invasion and almost to the present day. It is a beautifully written story that captured my heart. I learned so much about Ethiopia I was unaware of before reading the book, and through Yetemegnu's eyes I had insight into what life could be for people living in Ethiopia at the time.
I was hoping this book might give me some insight into the years under the Derg regime, a period that Edemariam writes little about, even though she lived in Addis Ababa for much of that time.
I felt close to some of the characters, especially Sara, and I was invested in what happened with them. The relationships between the characters was sensitively done and there was a clear thread that held them all together. It's the brutality I had a hard time dealing with. The descriptions of the violence become more and more present and more and more brutal as the story continues. I have no doubt that what Mengiste writes is true, but it became overwhelming to me.
In a review of this book Edemarian wrote:
"A more complex issue is the level of violence she portrays, and how much there is of it. It's as if she can't help looking, wide-eyed; as if she has spent too much time with the Amnesty reports. Perhaps it's partly a function of distance. Mengiste grew up in Nigeria, Kenya and the US, and although she visited Ethiopia often, there is a difference between the distillation of a news story seen from afar or heard from relatives, and the reality of living near the subject of that news story: it's not that the violence didn't happen, but that everyday life, the banality, all of it still goes on."
I do know more about Ethiopia after reading this, and the people in the story are vibrant in my memory. I didn't find it hard to get through but I did skim descriptions of torture and other forms of brutality the more they came up.
I was hoping this book might give me some insight into the years under the Derg regime, a period that Edemariam writes little about, even though she lived in Addis Ababa for much of that time.
I felt close to some of the characters, especially Sara, and I was invested in what happened with them. The relationships between the characters was sensitively done and there was a clear thread that held them all together. It's the brutality I had a hard time dealing with. The descriptions of the violence become more and more present and more and more brutal as the story continues. I have no doubt that what Mengiste writes is true, but it became overwhelming to me.
In a review of this book Edemarian wrote:
"A more complex issue is the level of violence she portrays, and how much there is of it. It's as if she can't help looking, wide-eyed; as if she has spent too much time with the Amnesty reports. Perhaps it's partly a function of distance. Mengiste grew up in Nigeria, Kenya and the US, and although she visited Ethiopia often, there is a difference between the distillation of a news story seen from afar or heard from relatives, and the reality of living near the subject of that news story: it's not that the violence didn't happen, but that everyday life, the banality, all of it still goes on."
I do know more about Ethiopia after reading this, and the people in the story are vibrant in my memory. I didn't find it hard to get through but I did skim descriptions of torture and other forms of brutality the more they came up.
ookie's review against another edition
4.0
A sad and very confronting account of life in Ethiopia after the fall of Haile Selassie (sic?) & the Marxist regime (the Derg) which was in control then. Very worth reading but not an easy, comfortable read.
kelseymangeni's review against another edition
3.0
A family tale told from multiple points of view during the Ethiopian revolution in the capital Addis Ababa. I’m not gonna lie, this one is brutal, very violent, but I always figure if other people can live through it the least I do is read about it. I also found I had to pay attention very closely to this one because POV changes very suddenly without notice.