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A review by schnorriwiebli
The Clothesline Swing by Danny Ramadan
2.5
I'm having a hard time reviewing this one, mostly because many people seem to utterly adore it, and also because I know it's largely a (clearly very personal) memoir pretending to be a work of fiction - so it hurts my heart a bit that I didn't appreciate it more. It's a book residing at a somewhat lonely intersection of experiences - it's not easy finding literature about queer refugees - and it has many wonderful ideas: I enjoyed Death being present as a roommate immensely, the non-linear arrangement of the self-contained stories , the slight twist on the Scheherazade thing: here, the stories are told to keep someone else alive, not this particular story's hakawati, as he calls himself .
My problem with it boils down to the writing itself: it has loads of good ideas wrapped up in prose that could've used a more ruthless editor. I can only assume it would've flowed better in Arabic, which is the author's first language, but in English, it feels cheesy to the point that I frequently found myself rolling my eyes at the writing choices. If you're wholly uncynical, have a tolerance for really flowery writing, or just don't care about metaphors and whatnot: good for you, you might enjoy this. I really want to say it's a worthwhile read, but I struggled to finish it.
My problem with it boils down to the writing itself: it has loads of good ideas wrapped up in prose that could've used a more ruthless editor. I can only assume it would've flowed better in Arabic, which is the author's first language, but in English, it feels cheesy to the point that I frequently found myself rolling my eyes at the writing choices. If you're wholly uncynical, have a tolerance for really flowery writing, or just don't care about metaphors and whatnot: good for you, you might enjoy this. I really want to say it's a worthwhile read, but I struggled to finish it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime