Scan barcode
youpie's review against another edition
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
noble_xoxo's review against another edition
reflective
slow-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
3.5
snoakes7001's review against another edition
3.0
The Occasional Virgin is a book about two friends, Huda & Yvonne. They are both are the product of very different strict religious upbringings in Lebanon - Huda is muslim and Yvonne christian. During the war they both escaped their respective controlling families and are now successful independent women - Huda is in the theatre in Canada and Yvonne has an advertising business in London.
We first meet them on holiday on the Italian Riviera. The next time we see the friends is in London and from here the novel takes a strange turn. An odd and somewhat unrealistic encounter at Speakers' Corner leads Huda into a bizarre sexual revenge scenario, which Yvonne then also gets embroiled in.
Maybe something is lost in translation (literal or cultural) but I found Huda's motivation and actions extraordinarily unlikely. I could not imagine any woman going to such lengths to exact revenge on someone she barely knows, let alone one as insecure as Huda. As well as an unbelievable plot, some of the dialogue is clunky - it just doesn't sound like real people talking. The characters start off promisingly, but become rather two-dimensional. Despite all her success Yvonne simply wants to snare a man to father a child (yawn). And Hisham, the hapless fool who is Huda's scapegoat for the patriarchy proves himself to be totally weak and feeble in the face of feminine wiles.
All in all it starts well with two independent modern young women making their way in the world despite growing up in conservative religious households but then it loses its way. I can't believe that Hanan Al-Shaykh's intention was to reinforce the idea that pious virtuous men need protecting from women's evil predatory natures by repressing them so I've obviously missed the point, but whatever it was, I didn't get it.
We first meet them on holiday on the Italian Riviera. The next time we see the friends is in London and from here the novel takes a strange turn. An odd and somewhat unrealistic encounter at Speakers' Corner leads Huda into a bizarre sexual revenge scenario, which Yvonne then also gets embroiled in.
Maybe something is lost in translation (literal or cultural) but I found Huda's motivation and actions extraordinarily unlikely. I could not imagine any woman going to such lengths to exact revenge on someone she barely knows, let alone one as insecure as Huda. As well as an unbelievable plot, some of the dialogue is clunky - it just doesn't sound like real people talking. The characters start off promisingly, but become rather two-dimensional. Despite all her success Yvonne simply wants to snare a man to father a child (yawn). And Hisham, the hapless fool who is Huda's scapegoat for the patriarchy proves himself to be totally weak and feeble in the face of feminine wiles.
All in all it starts well with two independent modern young women making their way in the world despite growing up in conservative religious households but then it loses its way. I can't believe that Hanan Al-Shaykh's intention was to reinforce the idea that pious virtuous men need protecting from women's evil predatory natures by repressing them so I've obviously missed the point, but whatever it was, I didn't get it.
karibaumann's review against another edition
2.0
The premise of this book is interesting but I did not like the writing or the story or the characters.
sara_s's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
medium-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
4.0
I feel like this book is let down by its cover(s). I know you're not supposed to judge a book by them but people do, and this book looks like it's a Marian Keyes or Judith Krantz or Sophie Kinsella with a Middle Eastern twist. It's also let down by the decision (presumably the publisher's?) to staple together two very different novellas as though they were one novel.
The first half is probably closest to what the cover and the blurb suggests: difficult childhoods overcome and two women supporting each other as they live glamorous metropolitan lives and have holiday flings with handsome young men in Italy. It's poignant and enjoyable and at times (deliberately) awkward and uncomfortable.
The second half is a whole different thing. It isn't Middle Eastern Marian Keyes, it's A Thousand And One Nights in London. I strongly urge anyone who read the second half of this thinking 'wtf...?' to read A Thousand And One Nights. It will make a lot more sense in that context. The absurdity of the situations these women find themselves in (and create for themselves), the somewhat caricatured characters, the bizarreness of their decisions, the way that certain plot threads and events just sort of end without ever being resolved, they're all deliberately evoking centuries old folktales. You still may not enjoy it, of course, but it will make more sense.
The first half is probably closest to what the cover and the blurb suggests: difficult childhoods overcome and two women supporting each other as they live glamorous metropolitan lives and have holiday flings with handsome young men in Italy. It's poignant and enjoyable and at times (deliberately) awkward and uncomfortable.
The second half is a whole different thing. It isn't Middle Eastern Marian Keyes, it's A Thousand And One Nights in London. I strongly urge anyone who read the second half of this thinking 'wtf...?' to read A Thousand And One Nights. It will make a lot more sense in that context. The absurdity of the situations these women find themselves in (and create for themselves), the somewhat caricatured characters, the bizarreness of their decisions, the way that certain plot threads and events just sort of end without ever being resolved, they're all deliberately evoking centuries old folktales. You still may not enjoy it, of course, but it will make more sense.
carlyque's review against another edition
2.0
Is the translation off? Hard to follow the story line and characterizations. The description of their youth is heartbreakingly beautiful, the diverse ways girls are pushed into their lot. But the disjunctures as the women vacation together make the characters off-putting and unrealistic. And are women really that vacuous about sleeping with men? that impossibly shallow in their lives more generally, able only to focus on men? Entirely abject?
Hoping it comes together....but not! Interesting little stories within the novel that are magical and alive. And the women themselves have spirits that are intriguing, when they're not utterly cockeyed.
Hoping it comes together....but not! Interesting little stories within the novel that are magical and alive. And the women themselves have spirits that are intriguing, when they're not utterly cockeyed.
amaniesami's review against another edition
2.0
Ugh this book. Started out beautifully and then spiraled in a direction I really didn't like. I enjoyed the descriptive language and how the first part of the book seemed like an Arab love letter to the sea. But then I was pretty disturbed at how pathetic and unlikable the women were. What is the purpose of configuring characters that are vulnerable and desperate, without the needed redemptive qualities? The discussion of religion and Arab women in the West was valuable, especially with regard to their sexualities.. but this just didn't feel like the way to do it. Seeking vengeance on a religious man was a twisted and gross thing to do, and the fact that most of the book centers on this was disappointing.