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A review by shellyhartner
Chicago by Alaa Al Aswany
1.0
After reading so many positive views of what an important book this was for understanding the experience of Arabs in post 9/11 America, I found this book a terrible disappointment.
First, the lack of research into American culture was simply stunning. Aswany takes his poor knowledge of contemporary America and the worst sterotypes of Americans and American culture and presents them as if they were real. As a result, you end up with a Texan professor with long blond hair who is called "The Yank" by his colleagues (Mr. Aswany, I suggest you look up what "Yankee" means; hint - to any American, it would not mean a Texan), and a young, professional, educated black woman who cannot find a job (even in retail) other than as an underwear model because of her color. At one point, he describes a typical El platform scene in post-9/11 Chicago with African American men carrying boom boxes on their shoulders, as if the iPod had never been invented.
The dialog in the novel is, I'm sorry to say, painful to read when coming out of the American characters. It sounds like Arabic that has been translated into English, and I was frequently left shaking my head at characters that said things I could not imagine any American saying. This ranged from simple word choices, to subject matter (including a poor prostitute who knows who Anwar Al Sadat is and admires him because he is handsome), to truly shocking racist pronouncements that would probably get someone fired from their job in the US, but go unpunished/uncommented in Aswany's Chicago.
The author's need to insert himself into the story to interpret events for the reader is also distracting and, to be honest, annoying for this Western reader who is used to working out her own interpretations of a story.
Add to this what I have to assume is a poor translation, and the book is a difficult slog. The high point has to be the developing relationship between Tariq and Shaymaa. Perhaps it would have been better had he left out the American characters and focused on the Egyptians?
First, the lack of research into American culture was simply stunning. Aswany takes his poor knowledge of contemporary America and the worst sterotypes of Americans and American culture and presents them as if they were real. As a result, you end up with a Texan professor with long blond hair who is called "The Yank" by his colleagues (Mr. Aswany, I suggest you look up what "Yankee" means; hint - to any American, it would not mean a Texan), and a young, professional, educated black woman who cannot find a job (even in retail) other than as an underwear model because of her color. At one point, he describes a typical El platform scene in post-9/11 Chicago with African American men carrying boom boxes on their shoulders, as if the iPod had never been invented.
The dialog in the novel is, I'm sorry to say, painful to read when coming out of the American characters. It sounds like Arabic that has been translated into English, and I was frequently left shaking my head at characters that said things I could not imagine any American saying. This ranged from simple word choices, to subject matter (including a poor prostitute who knows who Anwar Al Sadat is and admires him because he is handsome), to truly shocking racist pronouncements that would probably get someone fired from their job in the US, but go unpunished/uncommented in Aswany's Chicago.
The author's need to insert himself into the story to interpret events for the reader is also distracting and, to be honest, annoying for this Western reader who is used to working out her own interpretations of a story.
Add to this what I have to assume is a poor translation, and the book is a difficult slog. The high point has to be the developing relationship between Tariq and Shaymaa. Perhaps it would have been better had he left out the American characters and focused on the Egyptians?