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skele_queen's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.5
Starts strong, and partially ends in a way I would like if it wasn’t for the slog the final stretch of the book became. The format is enjoyable (especially with the prose, though the scene shifts feel like they would be better in visual media than literary) and it suits the beautiful prose. Some twists were questionable and though I’m fine with things being unresolved plot-wise, being unresolved thematically makes the ending feel weak and the twists themselves unneeded.
timna_wyckoff's review against another edition
4.0
found on a friend's "to-read" shelf - looks good, Booker Prize finalist
I just finished this. It was really good! It's the story of one large family in two time periods in Egypt. It's a moving love story. My only "complaint" was that some of the Egyptian politics of both time periods got a bit long for my taste. It was quite important to the story, and well done, just a bit much in a few places for me.
I just finished this. It was really good! It's the story of one large family in two time periods in Egypt. It's a moving love story. My only "complaint" was that some of the Egyptian politics of both time periods got a bit long for my taste. It was quite important to the story, and well done, just a bit much in a few places for me.
shhchar's review against another edition
3.0
I hesitate on giving this a four star review as opposed to a three though I'm sure it's being affected by my recent finishing of the novel. It is beautifully written: an important crash course on colonialism, a walk through the talk that turns politics into action, and a love letter to Egypt and fellow countries that have been subjugated by Britain, France, Italy, and the Zionists (- language I am using to reference the book's as I know discourse on this subject has radicalized much more since its original publishing in 1999.)
The bad taste in my mouth does not come from the historical meat of this book but from the modern romantic plot. For those who do not wish spoilers let me hint that my opinion has more grounding than the typical "I don't like these two characters together." When this came into being it jarred me out of what was otherwise a total adoration for this book.
As Map of Love was written in 1999, I kept having flashes of how it captures such a raw moment in time and contains the gloom that comes with the author/characters reading the signs and knowing what onslaught is on the rise in these nations invaded by colonizers. I absolutely recommend a read if you are interested in this too.
12/22 - bonked down to three stars. Incest doesn't age well
The bad taste in my mouth does not come from the historical meat of this book but from the modern romantic plot.
Spoiler
I simply am not interested and am disturbed by a brief introduction of incest between 'Omar possibly being Isabel's father as he had an affair with her mother and she popped out 9 months later . . . and then her continuing on to be deludedly and raptly in love with him as she learns that he knew this potential all along and continued to have sex with her leading to another baby that could be both his child and grandchild . . . Writing this all out is like WTF?!!!!!!!!!!!!!As Map of Love was written in 1999, I kept having flashes of how it captures such a raw moment in time and contains the gloom that comes with the author/characters reading the signs and knowing what onslaught is on the rise in these nations invaded by colonizers. I absolutely recommend a read if you are interested in this too.
12/22 - bonked down to three stars. Incest doesn't age well
souljaleonn's review against another edition
emotional
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.75
nizzlebee's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
kivt's review against another edition
5.0
This is one of the best books I've read in a long time. It's very well written. All the narratives and narrators flow together well and the structure seems natural by the end of the book.
The novel explains and contextualizes colonialism, both British and American, through deeply human and intimate relationships. While the book does extensively humanize British characters, the narrative & characterization don't tie themselves into incoherent knots to appear ideologically "even-handed." At one point Anna says, speaking of her husband, "It is very hard, listening to him, not to feel caught up in a terrible time of brutality and even he is helpless--save for letters to The Times--to do anything but wait for history to run its course." The Map of Love as a whole is very much about how people deal with this feeling, without being overwhelmingly depressing. I absolutely loved it for that.
I didn't feel Anna's character was particularly anachronistic. Rather, I think she was fairly realistic in the scope of her ambitions and her acceptance of her place as an educated & rich woman in both British and Egyptain social orders. I also liked how Amal's emotional reaction to the characters in Anna's story mirrored both her involvement in her brother and Isabel's romance, and the reader's involvement in both stories.
I didn't understand the point of the weird possible incest connection between Isabel and Omar, though. That felt tacked-on and unnecessary. I'm not sure what it added to the plot that wasn't already accomplished by Omar's concerns about his age and the previous reveal that Omar and Isabel are cousins. It might have made more sense if more of the book were devoted to untangling the web of relationships between Amal and Isabel's families in the generations between them and Anna.
The novel explains and contextualizes colonialism, both British and American, through deeply human and intimate relationships. While the book does extensively humanize British characters, the narrative & characterization don't tie themselves into incoherent knots to appear ideologically "even-handed." At one point Anna says, speaking of her husband, "It is very hard, listening to him, not to feel caught up in a terrible time of brutality and even he is helpless--save for letters to The Times--to do anything but wait for history to run its course." The Map of Love as a whole is very much about how people deal with this feeling, without being overwhelmingly depressing. I absolutely loved it for that.
Spoiler
I noticed some reviewers were less interested in the political/historical parts of the novel, and also less than enthusiastic about the contemporary romance, but obviously these were the parts that really sold me on the book. The political and historical exposition was well delivered through both explicitly expository passages and through Anna and Amal's experiences. Colonial politics not only shaped the characters' relationships, but politics were also deeply important to all of them. They were certainly all in love with Egypt as much as they were with each other.I didn't feel Anna's character was particularly anachronistic. Rather, I think she was fairly realistic in the scope of her ambitions and her acceptance of her place as an educated & rich woman in both British and Egyptain social orders. I also liked how Amal's emotional reaction to the characters in Anna's story mirrored both her involvement in her brother and Isabel's romance, and the reader's involvement in both stories.
I didn't understand the point of the weird possible incest connection between Isabel and Omar, though. That felt tacked-on and unnecessary. I'm not sure what it added to the plot that wasn't already accomplished by Omar's concerns about his age and the previous reveal that Omar and Isabel are cousins. It might have made more sense if more of the book were devoted to untangling the web of relationships between Amal and Isabel's families in the generations between them and Anna.
jgintrovertedreader's review against another edition
3.0
The Map of Love tells two stories. Primarily, it is about Anna Winterbourne, living in the early 1900s, and her fascination with Egypt. In the present, Isabel Parkman and Amal al-Ghamrawi have found a trunk of Anna’s journals and letters and set out to piece together her story, while living their own.
The writing in this book was beautiful. There were some parts where the author seemed to be trying to show what a colorful, vibrant place her Egypt is and those just glowed. But my problem with beautiful writing is that I very often get bogged down and get bored and wish I could just get on with the story. I wish it didn’t happen, but it does. That happened for me here.
I really enjoyed reading Anna’s story. She’s an interesting, brave woman who isn’t afraid to break out of the mold that’s been made for her. Unfortunately, I couldn’t stand Isabel and I was indifferent to Amal.
I’m not exactly sure what the point of the book was. There definitely was a message, I just can’t decide how to take it. As an American reading a book by an Egyptian author, I’m afraid of misreading something. But, right or wrong, what I took away was the author trying to tell me that there’s more to her country than what I see in the news, and the problems that exist began in colonial times under British rule, but now under their own rule they aren’t doing any better. The poor are still oppressed and nothing seems to be changing. I hope I didn’t read all that wrong.
That being said, I got bogged down in the politics, both present and past. I don’t know anything about Egyptian history and it felt like that was almost necessary to be able to read between the lines and accurately see what the author was trying to show me. This was written in 1999 and there’s one section about American foreign policy and Islamic radicals. That was a little eerie to read post-9/11.
There were tons of names in this book. Enough to make me think of Anna Karenina. With at least half of them being Egyptian names, I just gave up and hoped that I would figure out the main players as I went. I think I did, but I hate when authors do that. Even the British names were hard to keep up with. Just too much.
This is such a little thing, but it drove me crazy for a while. Every chapter started on the left-hand page. Doesn’t sound like a big deal, right? Well, I must have some sort of OCD about that because I could not get over it for the longest time. I just felt “off.” Fortunately every chapter also starts with a quote by itself on the right-hand page before the chapter starts and I was able to start thinking of that as the first page of the chapter, but it really was killing me at first.
So, beautiful writing, Egyptian politics both past and present. If you’re interested, go ahead and pick this up. Anna’s story really was good, the rest of it just confused me.
The writing in this book was beautiful. There were some parts where the author seemed to be trying to show what a colorful, vibrant place her Egypt is and those just glowed. But my problem with beautiful writing is that I very often get bogged down and get bored and wish I could just get on with the story. I wish it didn’t happen, but it does. That happened for me here.
I really enjoyed reading Anna’s story. She’s an interesting, brave woman who isn’t afraid to break out of the mold that’s been made for her. Unfortunately, I couldn’t stand Isabel and I was indifferent to Amal.
I’m not exactly sure what the point of the book was. There definitely was a message, I just can’t decide how to take it. As an American reading a book by an Egyptian author, I’m afraid of misreading something. But, right or wrong, what I took away was the author trying to tell me that there’s more to her country than what I see in the news, and the problems that exist began in colonial times under British rule, but now under their own rule they aren’t doing any better. The poor are still oppressed and nothing seems to be changing. I hope I didn’t read all that wrong.
That being said, I got bogged down in the politics, both present and past. I don’t know anything about Egyptian history and it felt like that was almost necessary to be able to read between the lines and accurately see what the author was trying to show me. This was written in 1999 and there’s one section about American foreign policy and Islamic radicals. That was a little eerie to read post-9/11.
There were tons of names in this book. Enough to make me think of Anna Karenina. With at least half of them being Egyptian names, I just gave up and hoped that I would figure out the main players as I went. I think I did, but I hate when authors do that. Even the British names were hard to keep up with. Just too much.
This is such a little thing, but it drove me crazy for a while. Every chapter started on the left-hand page. Doesn’t sound like a big deal, right? Well, I must have some sort of OCD about that because I could not get over it for the longest time. I just felt “off.” Fortunately every chapter also starts with a quote by itself on the right-hand page before the chapter starts and I was able to start thinking of that as the first page of the chapter, but it really was killing me at first.
So, beautiful writing, Egyptian politics both past and present. If you’re interested, go ahead and pick this up. Anna’s story really was good, the rest of it just confused me.
stitchingirl908's review against another edition
4.0
I did like this book. There were times I was a bit confused because it goes back and forth between two time periods (perhaps I was less focused than I should have been) It got easier as the book went on and I think I would like to read it again at some point. Also, there is a little dictionary in the back of words and phrases. I didn't realize this until several chapters into the book.
ashtrimmmer's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
sincerely_pilar's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
sad
tense
slow-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? No
5.0