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frank_desanna's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Grief, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Death, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Violence, Alcohol, Death of parent, Hate crime, Murder, Toxic friendship, Rape, Cursing, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
kxiong5's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
this book resists definition in such an incredible way. took notes in my journal so won't rehash this here, but the conversation with Heart of Darkness is palpable (and this book knows just as well as HoD how to use language as a violent colonial tool & adds the layers of recognition on how the use of colonial logics / living under the colonizer's rules explodes the possibility of identity / continued existence (think Franz Fanon and Invisible Man in that kind of violent misrecognition and motion) & yet ALSO does not let the men of the novel off the hook for how their 'emasculation' under coloniality directly links to the violent pursuit of / conquest of women & also has the most convincing Kurtz-figure & expands the Marlowe figure in the interplay between Mustafa Saeed and the unnamed narrator...and also isn't didactic or one-dimensional with any of its characters "representing" any concepts & all having such clearly social existences (even the stranger Mustafa -- who is so characterized by mobility and antisociality, is also an intensely social being?) and it's just such a startling and intricate novel and makes palpable the way in which violence (linguistic, colonial, self-directed, etc.) can reduce all life to a plane of incomprehensibility and yet *still* we find ways to plod on and try to live with this inability to act...or are we able to make that choice at all??? (and the ending encapsulates that so well). so many more thoughts (actually once I get my own copy and am no longer sticking shit in my library copy I might just reread it in a week, which is the first time in ages I've been so drawn to a book that I actively do not want to move on from it) + so much to study with how Tayeb Salih uses motion throughout the novel and often has such poetic passages shore up a fundamental and growing sense of emptiness // contrast the narrator's emptiness with the richness of the lives of the people around him...jdkafhkjdhf this was just off the charts. I think I need to sit with this forever.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Racism, Sexual assault, Murder, Colonisation, and Violence
Moderate: Body horror, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Suicide, Physical abuse, and Sexual harassment
affanshikoh's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
A haunting, visceral tale set in the heart of Arab-Africa, and exploring a character's journey to and exploits in White Europe.
This is a piece of Postcolonial writing which flips the likes of Joseph Conrad on their heads, and provides depth to the previously believed to be witless, voiceless and unlettered colonized people. A masterpiece of not just modern Arabic, but also world literature.
The story is at once a mystery, and an enigmatic exploration of (I assume) typical Sudanese village life. The narrator meets the charming Mustafa Sa'eed and is instantly drawn into his world of a secret and clandestine history. As bits and pieces about Sa'eed's past are revealed to the reader, we grow to develop mixed emotions about this ruthless womanizer and roma tic conquistador. A significant B-plot of the story explores life in the Sudanese village after the sudden demise of Sa'eed, how his family carries on without him, and how the narrator and his friends and relations lead a simple life.
This is a piece of Postcolonial writing which flips the likes of Joseph Conrad on their heads, and provides depth to the previously believed to be witless, voiceless and unlettered colonized people. A masterpiece of not just modern Arabic, but also world literature.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Sexual content, and Violence
Moderate: Colonisation
jollysaintnick12's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Violence, Murder, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Rape
somturtle's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Suicide, Gore, Murder, Self harm, Sexual violence, Rape, Misogyny, Alcohol, Body horror, Physical abuse, Racism, Alcoholism, Blood, Violence, Colonisation, and Domestic abuse
warmrats's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-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? Yes
5.0
Amazing amazing. Explores important themes of colonization and the blurring or borders and boundaries. Very beautiful
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence
doreneemi's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Honestly I feel like I wasn’t smart enough for this book. It was beautifully written, even in translation, and at times it felt like a fever dream. I think it’s an excellent book. It’s complex, engrossing, and certainly deserves its reputation as a classic. However, it was not a book I especially enjoyed on a personal level.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Rape, Violence, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Sexual content, Colonisation, Gore, and Suicide
Minor: Alcoholism
leselina's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Murder, Sexism, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Toxic relationship and Rape
niallgoulding1's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I was disappointed by this book. I'd heard so many great things & expected a deep examination of post-colonialism. A counterpoint to Heart of Darkness (full disclosure a book I also didn't enjoy). But instead I got a tale of one man's time as a fetishised, exotic sexual play thing for a group of self destructive upper class British women. Wrapped by a depressing tale of a traditional, patriarchal village exploding into a tragic event that was so cartooonishly over the top that I couldn't find it in myself to care.
Like Heart of Darkness, the writing is beautiful in places and I'm sure that this could form part of an interesting lit course comparing and contrasting the literature of coloniser and colonised. But I struggle to find any value reading it alone.
Another reviewer mentioned the question posed on the back cover, "But what is the meaning of Mustafa's confession?"and how having finished the book they were still left pondering the same question. I think that sums up my experience with the book. Maybe it was above my ability but I struggled to see the point of this
Like Heart of Darkness, the writing is beautiful in places and I'm sure that this could form part of an interesting lit course comparing and contrasting the literature of coloniser and colonised. But I struggle to find any value reading it alone.
Another reviewer mentioned the question posed on the back cover, "But what is the meaning of Mustafa's confession?"and how having finished the book they were still left pondering the same question. I think that sums up my experience with the book. Maybe it was above my ability but I struggled to see the point of this
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Suicide, Sexism, and Violence
kitness's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Clean yet beautiful prose, very intelligent, psychologically penetrating, and culturally and historically analytical. Great book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual violence and Violence