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A review by jessicaxmaria
Someone Like Us by Dinaw Mengestu
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
I was hooked by its first line: "I learned of Samuel's death two days before Christmas while standing in the doorway of my mother's new home." And from there, I might have expected a plot-driven mystery unfolding. However, Mengestu does something different with his storytelling through the narrator, Mamush. There are many timelines, or memories, happening at once, and each thread seems at a bit of an angle from the truth, or just around the corner from it. How much should we believe? How much should the reader need to know to understand what Mamush is trying to say to us--to himself?
I think there's a key to this in one passage of the book, where Samuel advises Mamush: "You were born here. You think the important thing is to tell the truth, even if you don't know what that is. You should know this; it is important you listen. If you want to lie to someone, you don't answer them directly. Do you understand? You tell them something else. You give them a story that is sometimes true. Sometimes lies. ...If you tell me this many things, then I don't know what's true and what you have made up. I have to try and remember everything, but that will be impossible. You see. You understand what I'm telling you now?"
The ending is really something; I read it twice and teared up twice. I can envision myself reading this again at a later date; and even if I don't know exactly what is true and what is a lie, I feel for these characters and what they've been through and what awaits them.
I think there's a key to this in one passage of the book, where Samuel advises Mamush: "You were born here. You think the important thing is to tell the truth, even if you don't know what that is. You should know this; it is important you listen. If you want to lie to someone, you don't answer them directly. Do you understand? You tell them something else. You give them a story that is sometimes true. Sometimes lies. ...If you tell me this many things, then I don't know what's true and what you have made up. I have to try and remember everything, but that will be impossible. You see. You understand what I'm telling you now?"
The ending is really something; I read it twice and teared up twice. I can envision myself reading this again at a later date; and even if I don't know exactly what is true and what is a lie, I feel for these characters and what they've been through and what awaits them.