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eleniphant's review against another edition
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I wanted to love this. I think the themes of globalization and privilege was interesting, especially in the lens of a Lebanon set book.
I just had issue with some of the plot elements and how jarring it was handled- I feel like some of it could’ve been more developed.
Also didn’t care for or even like any of the characters. They were mostly unlikeable and not even in a fun way.
Glad I read it and at least a quick read but it had a lot of elements working against it.
I just had issue with some of the plot elements and how jarring it was handled- I feel like some of it could’ve been more developed.
Also didn’t care for or even like any of the characters. They were mostly unlikeable and not even in a fun way.
Glad I read it and at least a quick read but it had a lot of elements working against it.
kamckim's review
3.0
Wow. I guess I could give this book higher marks for realistically portraying the superficiality of 20-somethings at LAU, but I'm hoping the author is just off the mark. I have to believe there is more brain-trust in Beirut. Abeer, the narrator of the story is shallow, self-absorbed and stupidly naive. If the book is satire, it works as such. But I'm not sure who the intended audience is. Compared to Fadi Zagmout's THE BRIDE OF AMMAN, there is nothing redeeming at the end of this short novel. The only likable character is not Lebanese. And she goes away. My experience with this book is the same as my experience with the city, high expectations and then disappointment.
_joy_'s review against another edition
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
julija125's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
1.25
Joa. Also interessanter Einblick aber der Stil war so gar nichts für mich und alles so nichts irgendwie. Ein paar kurze Passagen waren ganz okay.
leonoree's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
lattelibrarian's review
3.0
Abeer's bedroom window is the perfect view to a billboard featuring her friend Jana's face. Jana seems to have it all: good looks, a boyfriend, a modeling contract. But when Jana confides in Abeer and Yasmine that she is pregnant, a tidal wave ripples through the group. Jana is lucky that she is the one who is pregnant, and not Abeer nor Yasmin. Abeer and Yasmine must navigate Beirut, knowing that shame would befall them if it were ever found out that they were looking into an OB/GYN as unmarried women--even though it's not for their own personal needs.
But when Abeer is assaulted, societal, personal, and friendly pressures all mount with one single focal point: Jana's face in Abeer's range of sight at all times.
In its translation, I'm afraid some of Chreiteh's criticisms and jokes were lost. While Hartman did her best to both please Chreiteh and make her text accessible, it read sometimes a little disjointed. However, I feel that the heart of Chreiteh's text shined through: that women in Beirut still are subject to scrutiny, and the mixture of capitalism, patriarchy, and shame are enough to tear the bonds of friendship apart.
But when Abeer is assaulted, societal, personal, and friendly pressures all mount with one single focal point: Jana's face in Abeer's range of sight at all times.
In its translation, I'm afraid some of Chreiteh's criticisms and jokes were lost. While Hartman did her best to both please Chreiteh and make her text accessible, it read sometimes a little disjointed. However, I feel that the heart of Chreiteh's text shined through: that women in Beirut still are subject to scrutiny, and the mixture of capitalism, patriarchy, and shame are enough to tear the bonds of friendship apart.
selm's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
kkevinhb's review
3.0
Really more of a 3.5 star book.
A pretty short read, I still haven’t decided if the lack of chapters or divisions contributes to or detracts from Always Coca-Cola’s strengths.
Above all, this novel’s depictions of globalization and branding/consumerism are really well conveyed, ever-present if not always addressed or spoken of directly. Abeer is an appropriately frustrating character, and frankly a bad friend, but the world in which she lives and operates sheds so much light on how all of that came to be, and how it is sustained. Especially being an American reading an English translation, while I do my best to temper my reading according to cultural differences, I couldn’t help but appreciate how it seems that the Western cultural parallels, embodied in the looming Coca-Cola, are the source of much of the difficulty and ultimate moral confusion. It is jarring to see the consistency between these Lebanese characters’ understandings of gender and sexuality and the understandings of many, typically conservative, Americans. It challenges the ways in which I frame those understandings, problematizing simply naming them as regressed or ignorant.
Reading the translator’s afterword was both helpful in navigating some of the particular context of the story (taking place in a very specific region of Beirut), but was most of all fascinating to see the ways that Hartman tried to convey the Arabic meanings and effects in English.
A pretty short read, I still haven’t decided if the lack of chapters or divisions contributes to or detracts from Always Coca-Cola’s strengths.
Above all, this novel’s depictions of globalization and branding/consumerism are really well conveyed, ever-present if not always addressed or spoken of directly. Abeer is an appropriately frustrating character, and frankly a bad friend, but the world in which she lives and operates sheds so much light on how all of that came to be, and how it is sustained. Especially being an American reading an English translation, while I do my best to temper my reading according to cultural differences, I couldn’t help but appreciate how it seems that the Western cultural parallels, embodied in the looming Coca-Cola, are the source of much of the difficulty and ultimate moral confusion. It is jarring to see the consistency between these Lebanese characters’ understandings of gender and sexuality and the understandings of many, typically conservative, Americans. It challenges the ways in which I frame those understandings, problematizing simply naming them as regressed or ignorant.
Reading the translator’s afterword was both helpful in navigating some of the particular context of the story (taking place in a very specific region of Beirut), but was most of all fascinating to see the ways that Hartman tried to convey the Arabic meanings and effects in English.
acinthedc's review
2.0
I think something got lost in translation. Marketed as "edgy" with "cynical humor," I found this to be a rather pedestrian read with some feminist overtones countered by traditional/conservative values parroted be the main character. The characters are flat and I didn't really care what happened to them, as the story didn't really go anywhere and there were no real consequences or outcomes.