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kxiong5's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- 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
this book resists definition in such an incredible way. took notes in my journal so won't rehash this here, but the conversation with Heart of Darkness is palpable (and this book knows just as well as HoD how to use language as a violent colonial tool & adds the layers of recognition on how the use of colonial logics / living under the colonizer's rules explodes the possibility of identity / continued existence (think Franz Fanon and Invisible Man in that kind of violent misrecognition and motion) & yet ALSO does not let the men of the novel off the hook for how their 'emasculation' under coloniality directly links to the violent pursuit of / conquest of women & also has the most convincing Kurtz-figure & expands the Marlowe figure in the interplay between Mustafa Saeed and the unnamed narrator...and also isn't didactic or one-dimensional with any of its characters "representing" any concepts & all having such clearly social existences (even the stranger Mustafa -- who is so characterized by mobility and antisociality, is also an intensely social being?) and it's just such a startling and intricate novel and makes palpable the way in which violence (linguistic, colonial, self-directed, etc.) can reduce all life to a plane of incomprehensibility and yet *still* we find ways to plod on and try to live with this inability to act...or are we able to make that choice at all??? (and the ending encapsulates that so well). so many more thoughts (actually once I get my own copy and am no longer sticking shit in my library copy I might just reread it in a week, which is the first time in ages I've been so drawn to a book that I actively do not want to move on from it) + so much to study with how Tayeb Salih uses motion throughout the novel and often has such poetic passages shore up a fundamental and growing sense of emptiness // contrast the narrator's emptiness with the richness of the lives of the people around him...jdkafhkjdhf this was just off the charts. I think I need to sit with this forever.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Racism, Sexual assault, Murder, Colonisation, and Violence
Moderate: Body horror, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Suicide, Physical abuse, and Sexual harassment
mganier's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Murder, and Racism
Moderate: Sexual assault, Misogyny, and Sexism
leselina's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Murder, Sexism, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Toxic relationship and Rape
niallgoulding1's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I was disappointed by this book. I'd heard so many great things & expected a deep examination of post-colonialism. A counterpoint to Heart of Darkness (full disclosure a book I also didn't enjoy). But instead I got a tale of one man's time as a fetishised, exotic sexual play thing for a group of self destructive upper class British women. Wrapped by a depressing tale of a traditional, patriarchal village exploding into a tragic event that was so cartooonishly over the top that I couldn't find it in myself to care.
Like Heart of Darkness, the writing is beautiful in places and I'm sure that this could form part of an interesting lit course comparing and contrasting the literature of coloniser and colonised. But I struggle to find any value reading it alone.
Another reviewer mentioned the question posed on the back cover, "But what is the meaning of Mustafa's confession?"and how having finished the book they were still left pondering the same question. I think that sums up my experience with the book. Maybe it was above my ability but I struggled to see the point of this
Like Heart of Darkness, the writing is beautiful in places and I'm sure that this could form part of an interesting lit course comparing and contrasting the literature of coloniser and colonised. But I struggle to find any value reading it alone.
Another reviewer mentioned the question posed on the back cover, "But what is the meaning of Mustafa's confession?"and how having finished the book they were still left pondering the same question. I think that sums up my experience with the book. Maybe it was above my ability but I struggled to see the point of this
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Suicide, Sexism, and Violence
giovannigf's review against another edition
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Sexism, and Murder
confuusedcreaturex4's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- 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
3.0
I still feel like I don't what to feel about this fever dream of a book
I liked the writing,he's certainly a good writer,I loved the descriptions and the places and so many things about the writing but I just couldn't look over the sexism and misogyny there even tho I know that it's understandable considering the time and place but I still didn't like how many times it wasn't addressed as an issue and sometimes even the characters that re aware of the wrongness of some things sometimes it feels like they act as if they don't think its that much of abig deal, the explicit sexual scenes were just toooo much,the way Mustafa and some of the elderlies talks about women was just so disgusting and racist at so many times,I read a lot of reviews to see what other people thought about this cause know it has to signify something bigger about colonization and all but I stillfeel like that wasn't the best way to talk about it ,in just 200 pages there was a lot of stuff and I was often left confused and perplexed,I'm sure with time ill probably change my mind about so many things and think about some others but for now that's all of it and unf again still cant really wrap my head around it for some reason
I liked the writing,he's certainly a good writer,I loved the descriptions and the places and so many things about the writing but I just couldn't look over the sexism and misogyny there even tho I know that it's understandable considering the time and place but I still didn't like how many times it wasn't addressed as an issue and sometimes even the characters that re aware of the wrongness of some things sometimes it feels like they act as if they don't think its that much of abig deal, the explicit sexual scenes were just toooo much,the way Mustafa and some of the elderlies talks about women was just so disgusting and racist at so many times,I read a lot of reviews to see what other people thought about this cause know it has to signify something bigger about colonization and all but I stillfeel like that wasn't the best way to talk about it ,in just 200 pages there was a lot of stuff and I was often left confused and perplexed,I'm sure with time ill probably change my mind about so many things and think about some others but for now that's all of it and unf again still cant really wrap my head around it for some reason
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Rape, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Murder, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Death, Cursing, Colonisation, Blood, Alcohol, Grief, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Self harm, Racism, and Classism
addyruth17's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Sexism, Death, Murder, and Sexual content
Moderate: Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Infidelity, Racism, Alcohol, Classism, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Mental illness
Minor: Drug use, Cancer, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Islamophobia, and Xenophobia
gabriellesimpson's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism and Racism
Minor: Violence and Sexual harassment
amavi's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I don't really know how to rate this book.
I fully agree that it is written beautifully. Unfortunately it didn't leave much of an impact on me. This short novel is packed with important topics.
I'm sort of dumfounded on what to think about it. But since finishing it I find myself thinking about it a lot-maybe that is the impact. Right now it feels like an itch I can't scratch.
In the introduction (which I didn't read), the book: The Heart of Darkness was mentioned- I want to read that as well, then read the introduction, do research and give a final review
I fully agree that it is written beautifully. Unfortunately it didn't leave much of an impact on me. This short novel is packed with important topics.
I'm sort of dumfounded on what to think about it. But since finishing it I find myself thinking about it a lot-maybe that is the impact. Right now it feels like an itch I can't scratch.
In the introduction (which I didn't read), the book: The Heart of Darkness was mentioned- I want to read that as well, then read the introduction, do research and give a final review
I no longer saw or was conscious of anything but this catastrophe, in the shape of a woman, that fate had decreed for me. She was my destiny and in her lay my destruction, yet for me the whole world was not worth a mustard seed in comparison. I was the invader who had come from the South, and this was the icy battlefield from which I would not make a safe return.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Murder, Violence, Misogyny, Suicide, and Sexism
Moderate: Colonisation
la_bue's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, and Sexism