Scan barcode
mhmrose's review against another edition
emotional
informative
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
4.5
This is such a beautiful short story about love, loneliness and misunderstandings. The misunderstanding is not around feelings of love, but feelings of understanding cultures; the stereotypical and sometimes misleading information museums present of African cultures. Aboulela's final lines, "If she had been strong she would have explained, and not tired of explaining. [...] If she had not been small in the museum, if she had been really strong, she would have made his trip to Mecca real, not only in a book." reflect Shadia's loneliness and want to have Bryan understand that museums aren't always right; that they distort facts and imbue it with fiction till there is a blur between real and stereotypes.
Overall, The Museum was a lovely story and a must-read for everyone.
Overall, The Museum was a lovely story and a must-read for everyone.
anetq's review against another edition
4.0
That was a very nice little story - sad, but well told. It does a great job of describing the feeling of foreign-ness (been there!) and the cultural gaps that can feel like a giant abyss.