e333mily's review against another edition
5.0
Hauntingly beautiful. Part poetry, part memory, part something else that resists definition. The translation is so well done, but I can’t begin to imagine how breathtaking this book must be in the original Arabic.
“And I want nothing more from the passing days than the aroma of coffee. The aroma of coffee so I can hold myself together, stand on my feet, and be transformed from something that crawls, into a human being.”
“I want a language that I can lean on and that can lean on me, that asks me to bear witness and that I can ask to bear witness…”
“Something is missing from me. And I can't. I can't.”
“And I want nothing more from the passing days than the aroma of coffee. The aroma of coffee so I can hold myself together, stand on my feet, and be transformed from something that crawls, into a human being.”
“I want a language that I can lean on and that can lean on me, that asks me to bear witness and that I can ask to bear witness…”
“Something is missing from me. And I can't. I can't.”
chloeliana's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
3.5
Got better towards the end. Warrants a second read where I think I would appreciate it more.
aunnalea's review
3.0
It took me a bit to get into this book. I liked the poems embedded in the prose more than some of the prose itself. Also, I clearly don't know enough about this history to get all of the references. I wasn't thrilled with the portrayal of women in this book, either as solely objects of desire or nagging wives. And yet, there are some really profound and beautiful reflections on being a Palestinian in Beirut during this time.
"Is there anything more cruel than this absence: that you should not be the one to celebrate your victory or the one to lament your defeat? That you should stay offstage and not make an entrance except as the subject for others to take up and interpret."
"A drowning man has no need to make sure the river is flowing. A man on fire has no need to make sure the flames keep burning. And a hanged man doesn't have to guarantee the strength of the rope."
"Is there anything more cruel than this absence: that you should not be the one to celebrate your victory or the one to lament your defeat? That you should stay offstage and not make an entrance except as the subject for others to take up and interpret."
"A drowning man has no need to make sure the river is flowing. A man on fire has no need to make sure the flames keep burning. And a hanged man doesn't have to guarantee the strength of the rope."
sarah_who_reads's review
4.0
I just finished this one and I was actually surprised that I liked it. I love Darwish, but a friend told me that in this case, he should have stuck to poetry. It is rambling, but I imagine that the sense of chaos I often felt while reading it mirrors Beirut in 1982, and it is telling that the book is subtitled "August, Beirut, 1982," because he seamlessly mixes time and space throughout. Not a bad read, if you're used to depressing Palestinian literature.
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