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shonaningyo's review against another edition
1.0
I simply cannot recommend this book.
Perhaps it's the fact that it's translated or it's due to some stylistic storytelling, but it is simply all over the place and barely coherent in terms of plot and pacing.
Writing in the view point of an unreliable narrator is something that requires skill and precision, two things that this book severely lacks. As one of my classmates put it "This book starts with nothing and ends with nothing". You are correct in that observation, Max.
It was stilted and the attempts to seem poetic often jumbled together into some lengthy monologue that only barely connected to what was happening, but still somehow did. The ending is in my opinion, utter shite and leaves me deeply unsatisfied considering the slog I had to go through in order to stomach this.
I think any other book, ANY book, would be better than this one. Trust me.
Perhaps it's the fact that it's translated or it's due to some stylistic storytelling, but it is simply all over the place and barely coherent in terms of plot and pacing.
Writing in the view point of an unreliable narrator is something that requires skill and precision, two things that this book severely lacks. As one of my classmates put it "This book starts with nothing and ends with nothing". You are correct in that observation, Max.
It was stilted and the attempts to seem poetic often jumbled together into some lengthy monologue that only barely connected to what was happening, but still somehow did. The ending is in my opinion, utter shite and leaves me deeply unsatisfied considering the slog I had to go through in order to stomach this.
I think any other book, ANY book, would be better than this one. Trust me.
bougainvillea's review against another edition
3.0
I really enjoyed how this story was written. The writing was beautiful, but I feel like parts of the actual story itself didn't hold together. The one page "explanation" at the end seemed really contrived.
athenameilahn's review against another edition
5.0
Wow.
It took me a year to read this but the past few days I could hardly put it down. Now that I reached the end I see how the pieces fit together and it’s more of a mystery novel than it appears. A really fascinating one.
There are hints in the beginning that the narrator may not be reliable. She’s telling her story later to someone and explaining she’s trying to piece it together. The italics signal that current self relating the past events.
She left home to escape the small life an arranged marriage would have created for her. I loved this gender element. Then the earthquake made her life chaotic but she had the resilience and resourcefulness to thrive and find a new adoptive family composed of people, mostly women, who lead lives completely differently than hers. I’m a sucker for families of choice and I really liked this aspect.
I was impatient with the inner musings and the italicized discussion with “vous.” When Dounya arrived and says she’s her mother and described a family life that is totally different from the one we hear in the beginning I snapped to attention.
In a way this was like the movie “Memento.” You find out at the end how the whole thing started. Had the narration gone in chronological order I don’t think it would be as interesting.
The author uses a lot of repetition, images of doubling in the last sections, images of instability like earthquakes and waves, abruptly switches narrators. In short, she takes full advantage of language and literary techniques.
I find myself wondering about the psychology. Did she have PTSD? A psychotic break? Simple amnesia? Could the narrator legitimately be so traumatized that she doesn’t remember clearly what happened? If not, is it all a ruse? Did she make up the threat of an arranged marriage? Should I cheer for her fight for independence regardless of how she achieved it?
I hope this is available in English and that my psychology colleagues and students might be interested in discussing it.
The whole thing is SO good and SO satisfying.
It took me a year to read this but the past few days I could hardly put it down. Now that I reached the end I see how the pieces fit together and it’s more of a mystery novel than it appears. A really fascinating one.
There are hints in the beginning that the narrator may not be reliable. She’s telling her story later to someone and explaining she’s trying to piece it together. The italics signal that current self relating the past events.
She left home to escape the small life an arranged marriage would have created for her. I loved this gender element. Then the earthquake made her life chaotic but she had the resilience and resourcefulness to thrive and find a new adoptive family composed of people, mostly women, who lead lives completely differently than hers. I’m a sucker for families of choice and I really liked this aspect.
I was impatient with the inner musings and the italicized discussion with “vous.” When Dounya arrived and says she’s her mother and described a family life that is totally different from the one we hear in the beginning I snapped to attention.
In a way this was like the movie “Memento.” You find out at the end how the whole thing started. Had the narration gone in chronological order I don’t think it would be as interesting.
The author uses a lot of repetition, images of doubling in the last sections, images of instability like earthquakes and waves, abruptly switches narrators. In short, she takes full advantage of language and literary techniques.
I find myself wondering about the psychology. Did she have PTSD? A psychotic break? Simple amnesia? Could the narrator legitimately be so traumatized that she doesn’t remember clearly what happened? If not, is it all a ruse? Did she make up the threat of an arranged marriage? Should I cheer for her fight for independence regardless of how she achieved it?
I hope this is available in English and that my psychology colleagues and students might be interested in discussing it.
The whole thing is SO good and SO satisfying.
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