Scan barcode
A review by kristianawithak
The Centre by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi
4.0
Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi writes a spellbinding dreamlike novel that casted a spell over me. I was enthralled and captivate. The promise of becoming fluent in any language in 10 days is at the heart of the plot. But a lot is being said about people, cultures, and how we consume information.
Anisa Ellahi is a Pakistani translator in London. Her long term relationship with her boyfriend becomes even more strained when he becomes fluent in Urdu seemingly overnight. His language skills are unparalleled and when applied to her own language she is incensed. Adam eventually tells her of the language school he uses.
As Anisa becomes the type of translator she always dreamed of being, she confronts the price of her knowledge, the relationships she’s been involved with, and her complicity in the system that granted her newfound skills.
While the novel gets a little meta at the end, which is not my cup of tea, the overall novel is so well done I can forgive its ending. It works within the novel.
The interview with the author at the end of the audiobook was especially enlightening and a wonderful addition to the novel. In an interview with Powell’s she says,
“On the other hand, it’s a good thing that we are becoming more aware, now, of the problematic elements of the books we were reading at such formative ages, and that we are starting to revisit [the books we read] with a more critical gaze, to untangle the effects on our psyche from the racist, ableist, patriarchal, and classist currents in the books we consumed as children.”
This idea of the classics being questioned and revisited is also at the heart of the novel. The Centre had me gasping in shock toward the end. I really thought I knew where it was going and I was completely surprised and taken aback.
What’s a book you’ve revisited with new eyes?
Anisa Ellahi is a Pakistani translator in London. Her long term relationship with her boyfriend becomes even more strained when he becomes fluent in Urdu seemingly overnight. His language skills are unparalleled and when applied to her own language she is incensed. Adam eventually tells her of the language school he uses.
As Anisa becomes the type of translator she always dreamed of being, she confronts the price of her knowledge, the relationships she’s been involved with, and her complicity in the system that granted her newfound skills.
While the novel gets a little meta at the end, which is not my cup of tea, the overall novel is so well done I can forgive its ending. It works within the novel.
The interview with the author at the end of the audiobook was especially enlightening and a wonderful addition to the novel. In an interview with Powell’s she says,
“On the other hand, it’s a good thing that we are becoming more aware, now, of the problematic elements of the books we were reading at such formative ages, and that we are starting to revisit [the books we read] with a more critical gaze, to untangle the effects on our psyche from the racist, ableist, patriarchal, and classist currents in the books we consumed as children.”
This idea of the classics being questioned and revisited is also at the heart of the novel. The Centre had me gasping in shock toward the end. I really thought I knew where it was going and I was completely surprised and taken aback.
What’s a book you’ve revisited with new eyes?