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A review by fatamo
The Hidden Light of Objects by Mai Al-Nakib
3.0
I'm so happy to see a Gulf Arab writer producing a serious work, the fact that this writer happens to be a woman makes it all the more important.
There are flashes of brilliance and many profound moments in these short stories. I liked the ideas of the vignettes, linking the stories together loosely. It's the same technique that drew me to David Mitchell in Ghostwritten.
Something odd I thought about the stories was that they sometimes wavered between not trusting the reader enough to let us pick up on the narrative (ie being too descriptive), and then being a bit too brief with staccato-phrased paragraphs sob that I couldn't quite understand what was going on.
I got the sense that the stories came from deeply personal places. I don't know if I'm right about that, but it was just a hint from the nostalgic/melancholic tones. I'd definitely recommend this book for people outside the Arab world, because despite this being a work of fiction, is probably the most accurate depiction of life for Gulf Arabs out there, including all news media. This is no Jean bloody Sasson (my pet peeve).
Looking forward to seeing future works by Mai Al Nakib.
There are flashes of brilliance and many profound moments in these short stories. I liked the ideas of the vignettes, linking the stories together loosely. It's the same technique that drew me to David Mitchell in Ghostwritten.
Something odd I thought about the stories was that they sometimes wavered between not trusting the reader enough to let us pick up on the narrative (ie being too descriptive), and then being a bit too brief with staccato-phrased paragraphs sob that I couldn't quite understand what was going on.
I got the sense that the stories came from deeply personal places. I don't know if I'm right about that, but it was just a hint from the nostalgic/melancholic tones. I'd definitely recommend this book for people outside the Arab world, because despite this being a work of fiction, is probably the most accurate depiction of life for Gulf Arabs out there, including all news media. This is no Jean bloody Sasson (my pet peeve).
Looking forward to seeing future works by Mai Al Nakib.