A review by loloreid
Slipping by Mohamed Kheir

challenging mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I was not surprised to learn that Mohamed Kheir is a writer of poetry, lyrics, and short stories, as this novel verges on a combination of genres, with some chapters feelings like stand-alone stories, some feelings like poetic expressions of mood or landscape, and some depicting a vivid tale.  A story that builds some columns of plot points and character consistencies: Seif, a magazine writer, Bahr, an expat returning to Egypt to tell the stories of his memories of Egyptian life as well as journeys to Europe, Leila and Ayla, important women in Seif's life.  The book unfolds not in a sequence of events but in dreamy scenes that come in and out of focus through pointed pacing or lulling descriptive spirals, creating a tone that depending on the mood of the reader, could be transporting or confusing, but evocative nonetheless.