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balletbookworm's review
4.0
"Muslim" is a book that I ran across by accident while curating a selection of Muslim writers for a display at the bookstore. Which, in the most ironic way, plays into the central tenet of Rahmani's novel: that "Muslim" is used as a monolith, a label that erases all nuance. The narrator weaves back and forth between exploring her childhood as an immigrant from Algeria in France, losing and then finding her childhood Berber language, ruminating on the development of Islam, and contemplating the bleakness of an unnamed camp, in an unnamed location of the world, where the narrator has been taken captive because she is a "Muslim" and is therefore suspect of all manner of unnamable things.
The original French edition was published in 2005, so several later references in the book are very directly pointing to the US military in Afghanistan and Iraq at that time. I wonder how the book would be similar or different had Rahmani written the book in 2015.
The original French edition was published in 2005, so several later references in the book are very directly pointing to the US military in Afghanistan and Iraq at that time. I wonder how the book would be similar or different had Rahmani written the book in 2015.
marinazala's review against another edition
4.0
** Books 69 - 2019 **
3,7 of 5 stars!
Why this books is really saaaad?? why we cannot live without borderies of religion, country and accusations? I feel really depressed when reading this books especially most of it about an heart voice from an women who just wanna be a wanderer without being noticed as one of kinds terorrism part.. The open ending is left me an speechless moment.Should i assume she will be dead? T_T
Thankyou Bookmate!
3,7 of 5 stars!
Why this books is really saaaad?? why we cannot live without borderies of religion, country and accusations? I feel really depressed when reading this books especially most of it about an heart voice from an women who just wanna be a wanderer without being noticed as one of kinds terorrism part.. The open ending is left me an speechless moment.
Thankyou Bookmate!
greeniezona's review
4.0
Impulse purchase on vacation. I'd never heard of this book or this author, but I am a sucker for books by women in translation, especially when they are novellas.
This is a haunting reflection on language, identity, immigration, and xenophobia. The narrator's father was banished from Algeria when she was a child and her family was forced to flee to France. In France, she struggles with her identity -- refuses to speak her native languages, pores over and dreams of Islamic and Berber origin stories and tries to make sense of it all -- of war, of prejudice, of fear. After years of insisting on speaking only French, she feels called back to her native tongue -- searching out Berber works and translating them into French. Rising anti-Muslim, anti-Arabic prejudice eventually drives her to leave France, and somehow she ends up detained in a camp.
This isn't really a plot-driven novel. It weaves through her life in an abstract way -- drawing in dreams, folk tales, Islamic and Arabic history, etc. It's about nationality, identity defined from without and within. The way people and peoples misunderstand each other, sometimes deliberately. There is so much packed into this slim volume -- constantly unfolding.
This is a haunting reflection on language, identity, immigration, and xenophobia. The narrator's father was banished from Algeria when she was a child and her family was forced to flee to France. In France, she struggles with her identity -- refuses to speak her native languages, pores over and dreams of Islamic and Berber origin stories and tries to make sense of it all -- of war, of prejudice, of fear. After years of insisting on speaking only French, she feels called back to her native tongue -- searching out Berber works and translating them into French. Rising anti-Muslim, anti-Arabic prejudice eventually drives her to leave France, and somehow she ends up detained in a camp.
This isn't really a plot-driven novel. It weaves through her life in an abstract way -- drawing in dreams, folk tales, Islamic and Arabic history, etc. It's about nationality, identity defined from without and within. The way people and peoples misunderstand each other, sometimes deliberately. There is so much packed into this slim volume -- constantly unfolding.
hannahhaw89's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
msrichardsreads89's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
There was a bit of a disconnect for me with the characters and the writing style. For most of the book it felt chaotic and I was unsure of what was happening. The last part of the book was an important story about the deconstruction of languages and losing your mother language and had beautiful language. I wanted to like this more than I did.
painauchocolat's review against another edition
Devastating. My mother tongue refuses to die also.
'Then they found me again. They stopped me. They questioned me. And my identity was again at stake. "What are you doing here?" they asked. "Where're you from?"
"A country where I couldn't remain."'
'Then they found me again. They stopped me. They questioned me. And my identity was again at stake. "What are you doing here?" they asked. "Where're you from?"
"A country where I couldn't remain."'
bukukurasi's review
2.0
I actually did not finish it. I could not. I just could not relate with the book. It is translated from French, there is a possibilty that the translation does not “fully covered” the original version a.k.a it is a bad translation. Or my English is worse than I thought.