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kat_withthebooks09's review
challenging
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
While the writing in this books is superb, the story itself was weird, especially the relationship between the main character and the new wife.
Not to mention, I was expecting a bit more of a thriller/mystery but it just turned out to be a story about a boy who seems to just Haye everything in life.
Not to mention, I was expecting a bit more of a thriller/mystery but it just turned out to be a story about a boy who seems to just Haye everything in life.
befriendtheshadow's review against another edition
4.0
Beautifully written book. The prose is elegant and crisp, and Matar's voice has an understated and quiet power. I started reading it and couldn't put it down. The story is about the disapperance of Kamal, Nuri's father. Matar is able to express the feeling of something being snatched, with no explanation and no resolution. The characters are then left to search for their own resolutions and come to terms with the disappearance. The plot isn't the most thrilling, and most of the action seems to happen in recollections or just outside of the shot, but the emotion is powerful, and best felt in the simple moments of things that should have been done but weren't: a phone call that should be made that wasn't, a feeling that should have been expressed and that instead was suppressed, that's where the power of the story lies. The image of Naima, the servant, telling the young man Nuri that she would wait by the phone every Sunday, just on the off chance that he would call, was a brilliant image. It was further brought home by the following line from Nuri.
I never did call again.
I never did call again.
kamckim's review against another edition
4.0
Matar is just such a gifted writer. When I read him, I look forward to what he's going to say next and how he will say it. This is a coming-of-age story that struck me as very Freudian. As a father is abducted by political rivals, his son becomes a man. The major conflict for the father and son is a woman. The father is 14 years her elder, and the son is 14 years younger. While it is a coming of age novel, I believe it is one that is mostly appreciated by an adult audience. It isn't graphic, but there is some weird sexual tension going on that might not be appropriate for an immature audience.
yazeeds's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
3.5
jacqui_des's review
4.0
Memorable Quotes
"There are times when my father’s absence is as heavy as a child sitting on my chest."
"...sarcasm, more often than not, hides a secret fascination."
"...there and then, sitting beside her and within the strength of my adoration, I felt invincible."
"Nothing is more acceptable than that which we are born into."
"Is the heart always failing itself or by nature unfaithful?"
"The world had to be sliced into hours to fill; otherwise you could go mad with loneliness."
"He passed through my fingers. I feel responsible. As if I had dropped him."
sve100's review against another edition
2.0
Не знам защо изобщо четох тази книга.
Нито историята, нито героите, нито стила на писане ми хареса.
Всичко беше принудено, протяжно и скучно.
Нито историята, нито героите, нито стила на писане ми хареса.
Всичко беше принудено, протяжно и скучно.
bhsmith's review against another edition
4.0
"Anatomy of a Disappearance" is the story of a very complicated love triangle between a man, his son, and a woman they meet while vacationing. Thrown in the mix, of course, is a bit of a mysterious disappearance (hence the title) in which readers never quite know who to believe or just how things will turn out. But, this is far from a detective thriller. This is the story of a 14-year-old-boy who can't quite connect with this father, is confused by the behaviors of his recently-deceased mother, and is infatuated with the woman who will become his mother-in-law.
Hisham Matar masterfully unfolds this story over the course of several hundred pages. The most simple of sentence at the beginning of the book may conjure up questions or doubt that will only be explained in a similarly cloaked revelation at the end of the story. This effect, though, is not frustrating or cumbersome, but instead created a much stronger connection to the narrator, his point of view, and the way in which he saw the world.
The writing is very straightforward, the chapters short, and the story wonderfully simple in a captivating way.
Hisham Matar masterfully unfolds this story over the course of several hundred pages. The most simple of sentence at the beginning of the book may conjure up questions or doubt that will only be explained in a similarly cloaked revelation at the end of the story. This effect, though, is not frustrating or cumbersome, but instead created a much stronger connection to the narrator, his point of view, and the way in which he saw the world.
The writing is very straightforward, the chapters short, and the story wonderfully simple in a captivating way.
mbonvino's review
4.0
The book went by a bit quickly, however, Matar successfully took the main character Nuri back and forth between his years of his mother dying, his father disappearing and growing up in Cairo and London.