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ciarafrances's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
3.25
burkbooks's review
3.0
This was the most depressing book I have ever read... It was written SO WELL but I did not enjoy my time here. I think there are a few reasons. 1) I think I got the wrong idea about what this book was about when I was reading the synopsis, so I was a bit disappointed when it wasn't what I expected. It follows the lives of 8 different people and their losses loneliness and depression. They are all slightly connected but this is a character-driven novel, there really isn't a plot here. 2) (and slight spoiler) This is NOT a happily ever after type book. PLEASE check triggers and take them seriously before reading this book. Again, this book is written beautifully, it is just absolutely devastating to read.
anushka_adishka_diaries's review
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
magical_booklush's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
faliiza's review
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Confusing, sad, off putting, beautiful. This short piece manages to evoke so many emotions. Beautifully written on loneliness and longing, showing also the ugliness and hatred behind these feelings.
amythyst_'s review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
This book was beautiful written, like poetry.
I am sure it would be better in the original Arabic text.
The translator stated that it is not a perfect translation, and not everything was translated, such as the letters. I’d like to see what they said. Maybe the story would make more sense. The summary also only d escribes the beginning of the book and not the rest.
I found the book confusing at times and was sometimes unsure whose pov I was reading.
Ultimately it is a beautiful story of loneliness.
I am sure it would be better in the original Arabic text.
The translator stated that it is not a perfect translation, and not everything was translated, such as the letters. I’d like to see what they said. Maybe the story would make more sense. The summary also only d escribes the beginning of the book and not the rest.
I found the book confusing at times and was sometimes unsure whose pov I was reading.
Ultimately it is a beautiful story of loneliness.
ex_libris_volantes's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
5.0
Shibli’s prose has a way of truly pulling you into the head of her characters. The attention to detail is superb. Cannot recommend more.
hetauuu's review
3.0
My quest to read a book from every single country in the world is still going, even though my former, highly ambitious deadline - read a book from every single country in the world by the year 2023 - no longer exists because, well, life got crazy. But I still have an interesting mix of literature from different countries on my reading horizons, and I finally picked up my pick for Palestine. Written by Palestinian author Adania Shibli, We Are All Equally Far from Love is not at all what the back cover says. It is not a story about six love letters and a girl working in a post office, but rather a novella of musings on loneliness, relationships, and fitting in in the world.
What I adored the most about We Are All Equally Far from Love was the depth with which it analysed interpersonal relationships and their effect on our psyche and well-being. In one chapter, there is a woman whose ex is threatening to rape her, and she suffers from these threats so much she is described wanting to set her body on fire. She is unable to escape the battlefield - her own body - that her ex has conquered. I had never really considered just how traumatizing it must be when your very being is the thing being threatened, and you have nowhere to run. You can leave a building, but you cannot leave your body, and that becomes painfully clear when your body is the instrument or target of violence and threats. In another chapter, a young woman lives at home with her unkind parents, and is suffering from being ill. The attitudes her family have about her seem almost enough to make her sick, they loathe her and disrespect her so much, and give her little sympathy when she is sick. It is the pain of these kinds of relationships that Shibli writes about so poignantly.
I also really enjoyed the shift between first and third-person narration. The aforementioned chapter about the woman getting rape threats was written in third person PoV, which made the chapter even more powerful: trauma often makes us dissociate and disconnect from ourselves and our experiences, to get some distance from the painful things that are happening to us. That felt very fitting for this chapter in particular. The shifting narrative PoVs also allowed for Shibli to showcase her writing talents from different perspectives, and proved she is not a one-trick pony by any means.
Riveting and emotional, We Are All Equally Far from Love is a candid exploration on the effects of, well, living in a world with other people in it.
What I adored the most about We Are All Equally Far from Love was the depth with which it analysed interpersonal relationships and their effect on our psyche and well-being. In one chapter, there is a woman whose ex is threatening to rape her, and she suffers from these threats so much she is described wanting to set her body on fire. She is unable to escape the battlefield - her own body - that her ex has conquered. I had never really considered just how traumatizing it must be when your very being is the thing being threatened, and you have nowhere to run. You can leave a building, but you cannot leave your body, and that becomes painfully clear when your body is the instrument or target of violence and threats. In another chapter, a young woman lives at home with her unkind parents, and is suffering from being ill. The attitudes her family have about her seem almost enough to make her sick, they loathe her and disrespect her so much, and give her little sympathy when she is sick. It is the pain of these kinds of relationships that Shibli writes about so poignantly.
I also really enjoyed the shift between first and third-person narration. The aforementioned chapter about the woman getting rape threats was written in third person PoV, which made the chapter even more powerful: trauma often makes us dissociate and disconnect from ourselves and our experiences, to get some distance from the painful things that are happening to us. That felt very fitting for this chapter in particular. The shifting narrative PoVs also allowed for Shibli to showcase her writing talents from different perspectives, and proved she is not a one-trick pony by any means.
Riveting and emotional, We Are All Equally Far from Love is a candid exploration on the effects of, well, living in a world with other people in it.
apple_atcha_reading's review
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
slow-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? Yes
2.0
I desperately wanted to like this novella, especially after devouring Shibli's most recent work, Minor Detail.
***Spoilers ahead***
Based on the other reviews I saw for this novella, there was a lot left untranslated from the original Arabic. The letters mentioned in the synopsis are there for the reader in the original publication, but were omitted from the English, and I think this is where a lot of my confusion stems from. Had these letters been left in, I think the story would have remained much more cohesive as it progressed, especially if the letters were scattered throughout instead of only in the beginning when the letters are first mentioned. Even now, having sat with this story for about a week since completion, I could not tell you much about it other than it was very sad, lonely, and confusing.
Although interconnected, the stories jumbled-ness made them feel much more separate stories with interconnected themes rather than people. The "reveal" at the end where the young girl reveals herself as the central character in all the short stories, rather than a series of interconnected stories with different main characters, served only to confuse me more than I already was. A lot of the writing felt repetitive, and not in a meaningful way. I enjoyed certain chapters more than others, but the shortness and brevity which we spent in them left me wanting more. I did not enjoy any mentions of the men in this story, and at times the mentions of sexual activities made me uncomfortable, because they seemed gratuitous with no real purpose.
I do enjoy Shibli's writing, but I'm not sure her other works have been translated well to English as Minor Detail was. I think if I was able to read the original Arabic text, I would better appreciate and understand what Shibli wrote, so in this instance, I’m choosing to fault the translation and not the original writer.
***Spoilers ahead***
Based on the other reviews I saw for this novella, there was a lot left untranslated from the original Arabic. The letters mentioned in the synopsis are there for the reader in the original publication, but were omitted from the English, and I think this is where a lot of my confusion stems from. Had these letters been left in, I think the story would have remained much more cohesive as it progressed, especially if the letters were scattered throughout instead of only in the beginning when the letters are first mentioned. Even now, having sat with this story for about a week since completion, I could not tell you much about it other than it was very sad, lonely, and confusing.
Although interconnected, the stories jumbled-ness made them feel much more separate stories with interconnected themes rather than people. The "reveal" at the end where the young girl reveals herself as the central character in all the short stories, rather than a series of interconnected stories with different main characters, served only to confuse me more than I already was. A lot of the writing felt repetitive, and not in a meaningful way. I enjoyed certain chapters more than others, but the shortness and brevity which we spent in them left me wanting more. I did not enjoy any mentions of the men in this story, and at times the mentions of sexual activities made me uncomfortable, because they seemed gratuitous with no real purpose.
I do enjoy Shibli's writing, but I'm not sure her other works have been translated well to English as Minor Detail was. I think if I was able to read the original Arabic text, I would better appreciate and understand what Shibli wrote, so in this instance, I’m choosing to fault the translation and not the original writer.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Vomit, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, and Rape
Moderate: Violence, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, and Infidelity