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nataalia_sanchez's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
binstonbirchill's review against another edition
4.0
It’s hard to put my finger on why I enjoyed this novel. It’s very slow moving and there’s not too much action, but I think that might be where the this succeeds. Thorough descriptions and flashbacks are plentiful in this novel set in the failed state of Somalia. Progress in Mogadishu is tenuous, when things are moving forward towards some goal or other one always suspects that incredible violence is right around the corner. I think the author plays on that feeling and gives us a novel of hope, partially subverting out expectations but always reminding us that at any moment it could all come crashing down.
lyoncoll's review
1.0
I used to think that if I started a book I had to finish it. This was one of those books I just couldn't get into. I think I was about 80 pages in when I quit. I didn't really care about the characters, and found I was forcing myself to read on. I've heard good things about this author, so it could just be that I have too much on my mind right now....
nick_lehotsky's review
2.0
In a word, mediocre.
When we see our own quirks in another creative work, it usually evokes a stronger reaction. Something we like about our work? Great to see it in others. Something we loathe? It evokes a seething rage. Thoughts which I’ve compiled are below.
Farah’s plot takes about forty pages to kick into first gear.
Early chapters have few page breaks. This is me, a grumpy old man, complaining about page and chapter breaks.
As Cambara meets and gets to know people, it becomes clear they will all unite for a single purpose---but Farah reveals that purpose much too late, and interest has since vanished.
And then, to make up for lost time, we are rushed through a denouement after almost 400 pages.
Characters are utilitarian. They each seem to serve some ultimate function(s), which is perfectly acceptable. What’s not is the brazen nonchalance Farah has through his protagonist, Cambara, in writing them off as useful. Each character in this work seems to exist to serve a purpose only to the protagonist.
Initially, Farah has us spend most of the book inside Cambara’s mind. The disassociation from the painful present (Cambara has suffered two abusive husbands and the death of her son) to try and reckon with the past would have been better merged with more action/sequences of events in the present.
The focality is mostly Cambara’s, but occasional shifts to other characters---which would be great, except in this liminal third-person limited perspective that means an observation or two which read no differently than those of Cambara.
When we see our own quirks in another creative work, it usually evokes a stronger reaction. Something we like about our work? Great to see it in others. Something we loathe? It evokes a seething rage. Thoughts which I’ve compiled are below.
Farah’s plot takes about forty pages to kick into first gear.
Early chapters have few page breaks. This is me, a grumpy old man, complaining about page and chapter breaks.
As Cambara meets and gets to know people, it becomes clear they will all unite for a single purpose---but Farah reveals that purpose much too late, and interest has since vanished.
And then, to make up for lost time, we are rushed through a denouement after almost 400 pages.
Characters are utilitarian. They each seem to serve some ultimate function(s), which is perfectly acceptable. What’s not is the brazen nonchalance Farah has through his protagonist, Cambara, in writing them off as useful. Each character in this work seems to exist to serve a purpose only to the protagonist.
Initially, Farah has us spend most of the book inside Cambara’s mind. The disassociation from the painful present (Cambara has suffered two abusive husbands and the death of her son) to try and reckon with the past would have been better merged with more action/sequences of events in the present.
The focality is mostly Cambara’s, but occasional shifts to other characters---which would be great, except in this liminal third-person limited perspective that means an observation or two which read no differently than those of Cambara.
trwexler's review
2.0
Couldn't get into this one either. Seemed interesting but it just didn't grab me. Maybe I shouldn't count it as "read" since I didn't finish it.
jnepal's review
2.0
The writing was choppy. If you've ever been in a boat on stormy waters...
So I decided, 30 pages in, that I was going to speed read. That helped. There is an adequate story underneath the writing and the author depicts some deep relational and emotional situations.
The narration was odd. The main character, Cambara, seemed to be unstable, just a tad. And it was difficult to enjoy her voice at times because of this emotional or mental instability. An odd character.
But I enjoyed getting a picture, however fictionalized it may have been, of the state of Somalia, and more specifically, Mogadishu.
But the writing was odd. Too many adjectives? Metaphors? Similes? I don't know. He used weird words to communicate the story in places. I need to read some of his other stuff.
So I decided, 30 pages in, that I was going to speed read. That helped. There is an adequate story underneath the writing and the author depicts some deep relational and emotional situations.
The narration was odd. The main character, Cambara, seemed to be unstable, just a tad. And it was difficult to enjoy her voice at times because of this emotional or mental instability. An odd character.
But I enjoyed getting a picture, however fictionalized it may have been, of the state of Somalia, and more specifically, Mogadishu.
But the writing was odd. Too many adjectives? Metaphors? Similes? I don't know. He used weird words to communicate the story in places. I need to read some of his other stuff.
kathleenitpdx's review
3.0
A Somali woman whose only child has died and whose marriage has disintegrated returns to Somalia to try to wrest a family property from a war lord and to try to find some direction to her life. An interesting story but not necessarily well told. At first I thought the fact that Cambara was jet-lagged explained the disjointed narrative but the book continued that way. Sometimes I attributed it to the poor editing--extra words, sentences out of order but I think it was also the author's style.
The editing is so poor that both the front and back covers say that a readers' guide is in the book and there isn't one in my copy of the book.
The editing is so poor that both the front and back covers say that a readers' guide is in the book and there isn't one in my copy of the book.
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