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pattydsf 's review for:
The Map of Salt and Stars
by Zeyn Joukhadar
“My whole life, Mama and Baba celebrated two religions' worth of holidays—Christmas, Eid al-Fitr, Easter. It used to make me wonder whether the most important things we see in God are really in each other.”
I have read a number of books on immigration. For awhile, I felt like much of my reading about immigration was historical. Now it seems like I am reading about current events. Unfortunately, the immigrant experience seems to be getting harder and harder. Wars don’t end. Violence, hunger and basic life needs don’t end either.
Last year I read Mohsin Hamid’s novel, Exit West. I did not expect to find another book about immigration that I would like as much as that one. Not that the book was a fun book. Hamid as well as Joukhadar knows that being displaced is not an easy life. It was just that Hamid wrote so well that I thought I was living with his characters. I learned from that story.
Joukhadar has written a very different novel. He has combined a folk tale from the past with what is going on in Syria now. All the main characters in both stories are travelers. Nour, the young woman in contemporary story has had a tough life. The folk story is one she has heard from family and it helps Nour make sense of her own life. I liked the construction of this novel – it helped me make sense of the fragility of life, families and countries. I am grateful to Joukhadar for telling this double-sided tale.
If you are at all interested in the turmoil in Syria, in stories about families who love one another or you like tales of ancient peoples – you will find something in this novel to entertain and educate you. This is an excellent first novel.
I have read a number of books on immigration. For awhile, I felt like much of my reading about immigration was historical. Now it seems like I am reading about current events. Unfortunately, the immigrant experience seems to be getting harder and harder. Wars don’t end. Violence, hunger and basic life needs don’t end either.
Last year I read Mohsin Hamid’s novel, Exit West. I did not expect to find another book about immigration that I would like as much as that one. Not that the book was a fun book. Hamid as well as Joukhadar knows that being displaced is not an easy life. It was just that Hamid wrote so well that I thought I was living with his characters. I learned from that story.
Joukhadar has written a very different novel. He has combined a folk tale from the past with what is going on in Syria now. All the main characters in both stories are travelers. Nour, the young woman in contemporary story has had a tough life. The folk story is one she has heard from family and it helps Nour make sense of her own life. I liked the construction of this novel – it helped me make sense of the fragility of life, families and countries. I am grateful to Joukhadar for telling this double-sided tale.
If you are at all interested in the turmoil in Syria, in stories about families who love one another or you like tales of ancient peoples – you will find something in this novel to entertain and educate you. This is an excellent first novel.