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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
this is a beautiful novel with a vibrant beating heart at its centre. it read to me as more of a short story collection into which real life started to gradually intrude.
the writing is beautiful and vivid, it conjured the streets of damascus in my mind. at times, it felt cliche and certainly was a little bit repetitive in places. but it was also raw in that way, and balanced the time between polished poetic writing and the raw emotion of the protagonist.
i loved to read the stories of queer people across the middle east—albeit fictional—and despite the novels tragedy, i never found myself walking away feeling depressed or crushed by the stories. i also really enjoyed the blurring of past and present/fiction and nonfiction, especially with hakawati’s belief that he gives his soul to his partner through the stories. definitely difficult stories handled with beauty and care, with an eye toward the future informed by the past
the writing is beautiful and vivid, it conjured the streets of damascus in my mind. at times, it felt cliche and certainly was a little bit repetitive in places. but it was also raw in that way, and balanced the time between polished poetic writing and the raw emotion of the protagonist.
i loved to read the stories of queer people across the middle east—albeit fictional—and despite the novels tragedy, i never found myself walking away feeling depressed or crushed by the stories. i also really enjoyed the blurring of past and present/fiction and nonfiction, especially with hakawati’s belief that he gives his soul to his partner through the stories. definitely difficult stories handled with beauty and care, with an eye toward the future informed by the past
Oh my god, this book utterly destroyed me. But the writing was so damn beautiful, I couldn’t really care.
The story is about a couple, who are Syrian refugees, and they’ve now been living in Canada for forty years, and one of them is dying. Each night he asks his partner to tell him a story, which he does. It’s a take on 1001 Nights, but instead of Scheherazade telling a story each night to keep herself alive, our Hakawati is telling stories to keep his partner alive one more night.
It is so sad, but the writing is so beautiful, which actually makes it even more sad. If I hadn’t somewhat hardened my heart while reading, I likely would have just cried through the entire book.
Through the storytelling we get to learn more about these men’s lives, mostly prior to coming to Canada; their childhoods in Syria, some glimpses of their time spent in Beirut, and more.
What I found really interesting thought the book is that our narrator and his partner don’t have names. The narrator is often referred to as Hakawati, which means storyteller in Arabic. And the narrator never calls his partner by name, it’s usually ‘my love’ or something similar.
Throughout the book and the stories, death is almost always there, waiting, as a third character that is regularly interacted with. I think that really added to the feeling of urgency of the book, that the partner really is close to the end.
This book is absolutely remarkable as a debut novel. It just absolutely blew me away, and I’m honestly feeling a bit bereft, now that I’ve read all of Danny Ramadan’s books. Even though The Clothesline Swing was emotionally exhausting to read, I would reread it in a heartbeat.
The story is about a couple, who are Syrian refugees, and they’ve now been living in Canada for forty years, and one of them is dying. Each night he asks his partner to tell him a story, which he does. It’s a take on 1001 Nights, but instead of Scheherazade telling a story each night to keep herself alive, our Hakawati is telling stories to keep his partner alive one more night.
It is so sad, but the writing is so beautiful, which actually makes it even more sad. If I hadn’t somewhat hardened my heart while reading, I likely would have just cried through the entire book.
Through the storytelling we get to learn more about these men’s lives, mostly prior to coming to Canada; their childhoods in Syria, some glimpses of their time spent in Beirut, and more.
What I found really interesting thought the book is that our narrator and his partner don’t have names. The narrator is often referred to as Hakawati, which means storyteller in Arabic. And the narrator never calls his partner by name, it’s usually ‘my love’ or something similar.
Throughout the book and the stories, death is almost always there, waiting, as a third character that is regularly interacted with. I think that really added to the feeling of urgency of the book, that the partner really is close to the end.
This book is absolutely remarkable as a debut novel. It just absolutely blew me away, and I’m honestly feeling a bit bereft, now that I’ve read all of Danny Ramadan’s books. Even though The Clothesline Swing was emotionally exhausting to read, I would reread it in a heartbeat.
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Sometimes I felt like this was a really interesting and unique way to tell a story, and other times I felt like someone with ADHD was telling me 3 stories without breathing.
Ultimately, I really liked the premise and the idea of trading stories with Death. Some aspects were done really beautifully and heartbreakingly. I can definitely think of people I would recommend this book too.
Ultimately, I really liked the premise and the idea of trading stories with Death. Some aspects were done really beautifully and heartbreakingly. I can definitely think of people I would recommend this book too.
the story/stories that weave through this book are poignant and interesting however I found the flow of the narrative felt disjointed
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Magnifique.
Je suis complètement renversée, ébahie, par ce livre. Oui, la force de raconter et de montrer comme il est important de pouvoir le faire. Oui, la très grande poésie. Oui, la force d'évoquer des images puissantes qui révèlent toute une réalité qui était jusqu'alors inaccessible.
On retrouve tout ça dans cette œuvre d'Ahmad Danny Ramadan. On retrouve tout ce pour quoi je ne m'acharnerai pas à ne pas réussir à trouver les mots justes pour dire ce qu'il y a aussi...
Il fera partie de ces livres qui trouvent les mots pour ce que je pensais indicible, un langage pour aimer, pleurer, combattre et vivre un peu plus fort. C'est un livre pour découvrir tant de choses et se sentir moins seul.e.
J'ai ressenti aussi une grande douleur suivie d'une immense sensation de chaleur à ma lecture, comme lorsque j'avais lu The End d'Anders Nilsen, qui se passe après la mort de l'être aimé. Il y a toute une expérience à faire de la vie qui s'entremêle avec la perte sous plusieurs formes, et qui donne l'impression de pouvoir mieux se retrouver au terme de la lecture, c'est très fort, je suis abasourdie de savoir que des auteurices sont capables de nous faire vivre tout ça. La littérature est magique. La balançoire de jasmin est une grande œuvre.
Je suis complètement renversée, ébahie, par ce livre. Oui, la force de raconter et de montrer comme il est important de pouvoir le faire. Oui, la très grande poésie. Oui, la force d'évoquer des images puissantes qui révèlent toute une réalité qui était jusqu'alors inaccessible.
On retrouve tout ça dans cette œuvre d'Ahmad Danny Ramadan. On retrouve tout ce pour quoi je ne m'acharnerai pas à ne pas réussir à trouver les mots justes pour dire ce qu'il y a aussi...
Il fera partie de ces livres qui trouvent les mots pour ce que je pensais indicible, un langage pour aimer, pleurer, combattre et vivre un peu plus fort. C'est un livre pour découvrir tant de choses et se sentir moins seul.e.
J'ai ressenti aussi une grande douleur suivie d'une immense sensation de chaleur à ma lecture, comme lorsque j'avais lu The End d'Anders Nilsen, qui se passe après la mort de l'être aimé. Il y a toute une expérience à faire de la vie qui s'entremêle avec la perte sous plusieurs formes, et qui donne l'impression de pouvoir mieux se retrouver au terme de la lecture, c'est très fort, je suis abasourdie de savoir que des auteurices sont capables de nous faire vivre tout ça. La littérature est magique. La balançoire de jasmin est une grande œuvre.
A beautifully written story of saying goodbye while desperately wanting to hold on. The first part almost seems like intertwined short stories, but as the book unfolds, the meaning behind the stories become painfully clear.
dark
emotional
hopeful
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated