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bumsonseats's review against another edition
3.0
Very good read but doesn't have as much calligraphy-related info as I had hoped in the actual novel. The extra story at the end of the book is good though and has info about calligraphy and alphabets, with beautiful illustrations
lu10007's review against another edition
2.0
Hatten das Buch zufällig im Schrank stehen. Aufgrund einer guten Bewertung auf Amazon bekam ich Interesse es zu lesen.
Hab vor 1 1/2 Jahren mal Rafik Schamis "Eine Hand voller Sterne" gelesen und war fasziniert von der Geschichte.
Nach dem Buch war ich von diesem etwas enttäuscht. Es ziehte sich ziemlich bis es wirklich zur Hauptgeschichte kam.
Ehrlich gesagt hat mich nur der Charakter Salman und Nura zum Lesen animiert. Die für mich interessantesten Charaktere des gesamten Buches..
Hab vor 1 1/2 Jahren mal Rafik Schamis "Eine Hand voller Sterne" gelesen und war fasziniert von der Geschichte.
Nach dem Buch war ich von diesem etwas enttäuscht. Es ziehte sich ziemlich bis es wirklich zur Hauptgeschichte kam.
Ehrlich gesagt hat mich nur der Charakter Salman und Nura zum Lesen animiert. Die für mich interessantesten Charaktere des gesamten Buches..
amandazzz's review against another edition
3.0
I'm torn on this one. There were aspects I really loved, but something else that kept niggling me, preventing me from truly escaping into the story.
First, what I loved:
- Damascus! I don't know much about this city, but I've definitely gotten an intriguing taste of this complex, cruel, and beautiful place.
- The intricacies of calligraphy are fascinating, and learning about the craft of calligraphy makes me incredibly curious to find out more.
- Embarrassingly enough, I don't know as much about Islam and the life of Muslims as I should. This gave me definite insight into a complicated religion and lifestyle and inspired me to learn much more.
What I didn't really love:
- It takes a looooong time for things to happen. While I loved meeting all the characters, eventually I started wondering when they were going to meet and the real plot of the book would get started.
- Dropped plotlines. What about Pilot the dog? What about Noura's neighbor Maurice? I felt like I kept getting invested in characters only to have them inexplicably disappear or fade away without ceremony.
- This is a little one, but *SPOILER* ....I felt like Noura and Salman fell in love in such a strange, quick way. All of a sudden, after never even talking much, Noura decides she loves Salman and he quickly agrees. What? Of course, there's always the possibility that there was some underlying theme that I failed to pick up on and this makes sense in a fabulous, literary way and I'm just completely obtuse, but it bugged me and didn't really allow me to engage with them as a couple.
First, what I loved:
- Damascus! I don't know much about this city, but I've definitely gotten an intriguing taste of this complex, cruel, and beautiful place.
- The intricacies of calligraphy are fascinating, and learning about the craft of calligraphy makes me incredibly curious to find out more.
- Embarrassingly enough, I don't know as much about Islam and the life of Muslims as I should. This gave me definite insight into a complicated religion and lifestyle and inspired me to learn much more.
What I didn't really love:
- It takes a looooong time for things to happen. While I loved meeting all the characters, eventually I started wondering when they were going to meet and the real plot of the book would get started.
- Dropped plotlines. What about Pilot the dog? What about Noura's neighbor Maurice? I felt like I kept getting invested in characters only to have them inexplicably disappear or fade away without ceremony.
- This is a little one, but *SPOILER* ....I felt like Noura and Salman fell in love in such a strange, quick way. All of a sudden, after never even talking much, Noura decides she loves Salman and he quickly agrees. What? Of course, there's always the possibility that there was some underlying theme that I failed to pick up on and this makes sense in a fabulous, literary way and I'm just completely obtuse, but it bugged me and didn't really allow me to engage with them as a couple.
pagesintranslation's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Toxic relationship
readbyraisin's review against another edition
4.0
A gifted apprentice is sent to the best calligraphy studio in Damascus and encounters the Master Calligrapher's enchanting wife. A love affair begins, unfolding tragic events and secret societies. Much preferred the action-packed second half to the slower paced first half.
knjiskirovac's review against another edition
5.0
great, at some point fascinating book, about love for caligraphy, but primarly emotional love between characters, intrigues that destroyed so many families, about personal relationships in families, but mostly great and adventorous history and sacrifice for magical art sauch caligraphy is
dc7's review
5.0
It is rare to find a novel that skillfully combines the three essential elements of a good book - interesting characters, an exciting plot and a dense atmosphere. This book hits them all.
Here, you get to immerse yourself in the world of the Damascus of the 1950s, get lost in the beautiful images that the author draws with rich words without ever getting bored. It is this descriptive narrative that, along with many other elements, gives the story such a realistic touch that even a reader who knows nothing about historic Syria can clearly picture this world.
The novel has one weakness, and that is it's slow pace. After the exciting prologue, there is a big leap into the past. The protagonists' childhoods are portrayed and the first 150 pages of the novel drag a bit. However, it gives the reader time to learn about Middle Eastern culture and get to know to vast cast of characters. There are a ton of POV changes and almost every single chapter of the first half (!) of the book is written from the perspective of a new character (!). Nevertheless the author gives each of his characters - and there are several dozens - a unique personality. All characters are hyper realistic and likeable. They are not categorised into good and bad, they all have reasons for why they do the things they do, even if these are (very) questionable. All this makes it easy for the reader to get attached to the many characters.
You learn a lot about the society and the customs of the Middle East and get an insight into the art of calligraphy, which becomes more and more important as the story progresses. What begins as a broad range of countless storylines becomes a religious-political conflict over the radical reform of the Arabic script.
A wonderful story, deep and compelling.
Here, you get to immerse yourself in the world of the Damascus of the 1950s, get lost in the beautiful images that the author draws with rich words without ever getting bored. It is this descriptive narrative that, along with many other elements, gives the story such a realistic touch that even a reader who knows nothing about historic Syria can clearly picture this world.
The novel has one weakness, and that is it's slow pace. After the exciting prologue, there is a big leap into the past. The protagonists' childhoods are portrayed and the first 150 pages of the novel drag a bit. However, it gives the reader time to learn about Middle Eastern culture and get to know to vast cast of characters. There are a ton of POV changes and almost every single chapter of the first half (!) of the book is written from the perspective of a new character (!). Nevertheless the author gives each of his characters - and there are several dozens - a unique personality. All characters are hyper realistic and likeable. They are not categorised into good and bad, they all have reasons for why they do the things they do, even if these are (very) questionable. All this makes it easy for the reader to get attached to the many characters.
You learn a lot about the society and the customs of the Middle East and get an insight into the art of calligraphy, which becomes more and more important as the story progresses. What begins as a broad range of countless storylines becomes a religious-political conflict over the radical reform of the Arabic script.
A wonderful story, deep and compelling.
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