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lauralauralaura's review against another edition
4.0
Show, don't tell, how much pain and loneliness can be beneath just getting on with it and general judgment. Also, what difference just a bit of connection and kindness can make. Set in Beirut, which adds several layers of traumatic experience; also wonderfully human.
filiparferreira's review against another edition
5.0
Que maravilha de livro. Uma mulher desnecessária, velha, solitária, isolada do resto da sociedade, dedicada a uma paixão também desnecessária pela literatura, que lhe traz sentido.
aruarian_melody's review against another edition
The concept sounded really cool but I just didn't connect with this and decided to move on to something else. The literature references often felt like pretentious name-dropping rather than meaningful additions to the story. The jumping around made everything feel very disconnected.
phoebe912's review
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
kathieboucher's review
4.0
A self-educated 70-something Beirut woman thinks about her life, cherishes her independence, and moves through the city she has loved through civil war and all kinds of other strife.
abilge's review
4.0
Bana kitaplardan ve sanattan anekdotlar veren kitapları çok seviyorum hele de baş kahramanı bir kadınsa… Aaliya bir çevirmen ve Beyrut’ta eşi kendisini terkedip bir kitapçıda çalışmaya başladığından beri kitaplar çeviriyor, yalnızlığını genellikle seviyor ve 72 yaşında bir feminist. Aaliya’nın 72 yıllık hayatını anlattığı bir günlük ve biyografi karışımı bu kitap politika, edebiyat, yaşlanma, yalnızlık, direnme ve daha bir çok şeyi anlatıyor. Zaman zaman kahramanın depresifliğinden bunalsam da çok etkileyici ve derinliği olan bir kitap Lüzumsuz Kadın.
annepw's review against another edition
4.0
Lovely. A book for the habitual reader, Aaliya a kindred spirit. One of those books whose charm comes from mood rather than plot.
As an aside, I'm impressed with Alameddine's female voice here. It's depressing how rarely male writers employ female protagonists, let alone an older woman in the first person. Alameddine's unqualified success in this area should serve as encouragement to other male writers.
As an aside, I'm impressed with Alameddine's female voice here. It's depressing how rarely male writers employ female protagonists, let alone an older woman in the first person. Alameddine's unqualified success in this area should serve as encouragement to other male writers.
asurges's review
5.0
A beautifully written (and sometimes funny) book told from the point of a view of a Lebanese woman who has lived alone for the past sixty-some years, translating a piece of literature annually. The book takes us through four days in her life, with her often switching in between the present and past and back to an in-between past, much like our own ruminations.
littletaiko's review
4.0
This was an unusual, somewhat challenging, and ultimately meaningful book to read, at least for me. Aaliya has survived through Beirut's civil war in part due to her love of literature. Books seem to be the way she has clung to her sanity as much as the rituals surrounding her work with books. This is very much about an older woman trying to come to grips with aging, loss of people, and learning to interact with others when it so much easier to just shut yourself off from the rest of the world. The literary references were great even if some went over my head.
ja3m3's review
I could not get into this book, so after trying for two weeks I am putting it aside.