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A review by fawzul
If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English by Noor Naga
challenging
reflective
tense
medium-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
I was right when I told a friend this book seemed like one that would change my life. Naga offers us a mirror where one is allowed to see their reflection without any distortion. We are unsure if Cairo is the Cairo Naga speaks of or if Egypt is what she says it is. But we cannot trust our own judgement either. If there is a voyeur inside of us, it is only because it is there.
An act of translation happens in three acts, between the American, the boy of Shubrakheit and the reader. There is always something that is lost but we are still tied to one another. There is love and passion that quickly sours into pity and vengeance and still they cannot pull away from one another.
What is power? How does one even weild it when they know better? How does one begin the act of translation when it goes beyond sentences? Each point of view switches with a question that asks the reader to ask of themselves, questioning what it means to speak, to be and exist.
Naga offers her genius through a meta landscape that is only heightened in the third act when everything comes together — in a creative workshop class based in the US. We find out the writer is Noor, herself, who does not say a word as her words are pried from her fingers and we understand this is a story just like every other.
There is much we can say about being othered, even if we are a part of them. But how much can we say? How much of it will be understood before they are taken away from us?
Easily, a five out of five. This book offers something that is rarely ever seen.
An act of translation happens in three acts, between the American, the boy of Shubrakheit and the reader. There is always something that is lost but we are still tied to one another. There is love and passion that quickly sours into pity and vengeance and still they cannot pull away from one another.
What is power? How does one even weild it when they know better? How does one begin the act of translation when it goes beyond sentences? Each point of view switches with a question that asks the reader to ask of themselves, questioning what it means to speak, to be and exist.
Naga offers her genius through a meta landscape that is only heightened in the third act when everything comes together — in a creative workshop class based in the US. We find out the writer is Noor, herself, who does not say a word as her words are pried from her fingers and we understand this is a story just like every other.
There is much we can say about being othered, even if we are a part of them. But how much can we say? How much of it will be understood before they are taken away from us?
Easily, a five out of five. This book offers something that is rarely ever seen.