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A review by manureads
Chronicle of a Last Summer: A Novel of Egypt by Yasmine El Rashidi
4.0
“Is the silence of objectivity and being an observer, witness, the same as complicity?”
Chronicle of a last summer by Yasmin El Rashidi is a political coming of age story, told through the eyes of a young woman in Cairo during three crucial summers in her life. In less than 200 pages, we follow the narrator as she grows up during a volatile part of Egypt’s history and as she tries to figure out her own place and role in all of it. I bought this one on a whim and I was not disappointed. It is a quiet, almost dreamy story that reads almost like a memoir: the author skillfully changes the tone and style with each part so every step of the narrator’s life feels authentic.
In part one (summer 1984), the narrator is a 6 year old child, waiting for her father to come home. Out of the three, this is my least favourite part because it is confusing and the jump from one anecdote to another was at times jarring. However, it does a good job in putting you in the ´frame of mind´ of a child and illustrates how they can pick up on what’s happening around them, even if they don’t understand.
In part two (summer 1998), the narrator is a college student and aspiring filmmaker. This is my favourite part because the narrator is actively questioning how she feels about the world around her whilst still being unsure. It was fascinating to see what she noticed and what she chose to ignore. Lastly, in part three (summer 2014) the narrator is an adult and a writer, but by now she has found her footing. I liked the optimistic tone, but we get to see how her choices impacted her relationships with the people around her, how it strained some of them but also how it improved others which is a dose of realism that I really appreciated.
Overall, the book traces the whole process of having a political awakening, namely first becoming aware, but more importantly choosing to act – or not – afterwards. I have seen this described as the story of a generation raised in silence and I very much agree that one of the overarching theme is knowledge: what we know, what we choose not to know, what is said what is left unsaid and whether or not we choose to believe what we are told. For me, it was a good reminder that activism, politics, fighting for what you believe in is a constant process of questioning and acting.
Chronicle of a last summer by Yasmin El Rashidi is a political coming of age story, told through the eyes of a young woman in Cairo during three crucial summers in her life. In less than 200 pages, we follow the narrator as she grows up during a volatile part of Egypt’s history and as she tries to figure out her own place and role in all of it. I bought this one on a whim and I was not disappointed. It is a quiet, almost dreamy story that reads almost like a memoir: the author skillfully changes the tone and style with each part so every step of the narrator’s life feels authentic.
In part one (summer 1984), the narrator is a 6 year old child, waiting for her father to come home. Out of the three, this is my least favourite part because it is confusing and the jump from one anecdote to another was at times jarring. However, it does a good job in putting you in the ´frame of mind´ of a child and illustrates how they can pick up on what’s happening around them, even if they don’t understand.
In part two (summer 1998), the narrator is a college student and aspiring filmmaker. This is my favourite part because the narrator is actively questioning how she feels about the world around her whilst still being unsure. It was fascinating to see what she noticed and what she chose to ignore. Lastly, in part three (summer 2014) the narrator is an adult and a writer, but by now she has found her footing. I liked the optimistic tone, but we get to see how her choices impacted her relationships with the people around her, how it strained some of them but also how it improved others which is a dose of realism that I really appreciated.
Overall, the book traces the whole process of having a political awakening, namely first becoming aware, but more importantly choosing to act – or not – afterwards. I have seen this described as the story of a generation raised in silence and I very much agree that one of the overarching theme is knowledge: what we know, what we choose not to know, what is said what is left unsaid and whether or not we choose to believe what we are told. For me, it was a good reminder that activism, politics, fighting for what you believe in is a constant process of questioning and acting.