mbonvino's review against another edition
4.0
The book went by a bit quickly, however, Matar successfully took the main character Nuri back and forth between his years of his mother dying, his father disappearing and growing up in Cairo and London.
sde's review against another edition
4.0
Very good writer who really made me FEEL where the book was taking place. I was frustrated by the fact that we never really learn what the father's "job" was, where he was from, who abducted him and why. Yeah, yeah, I get that that was part of the story and the reader not knowing was evocative of the young boy not knowing, but still. Also, why didn't the father take care of Naima better financially? That whole part of the story was also unsatisfying to me. Finally, I liked how the development of the story of the tension/crush between the boy and his stepmother, but after a while it got a little creepy.
ronanmcd's review against another edition
5.0
This is a book of ostensibly threes. A boy watches his mother die in the first third in writing so simple and direct, innocent even, that it made me cry. It reminded me of my own mother’s death in many ways.
In the second part he becomes infatuated with the woman who will become his stepmother.
In the third his father disappears and he realises what he meant to him.
The boy loses touch with all others when his attentions are focused. The parts are in order compelling, riveting and haunting. A wonderful book of great complexity belied by great simplicity.
In the second part he becomes infatuated with the woman who will become his stepmother.
In the third his father disappears and he realises what he meant to him.
The boy loses touch with all others when his attentions are focused. The parts are in order compelling, riveting and haunting. A wonderful book of great complexity belied by great simplicity.
siria's review against another edition
2.0
Nuri is 12 when his mother dies, 14 when his father is kidnapped by political opponents and probably murdered; he spends the next few years shuffling between his English boarding school and the apartment of his beautiful young step-mother, Mona, on whom he is uncomfortably fixated. I liked the prose of Anatomy of a Disappearance—there were one or two of the more lyrical lines which didn't quite work for me, but otherwise Matar's style manages to be spare while also being descriptive and suggestive. That's quite a skill! However, I was disappointed by the overall story. I could have dealt with the lack of resolution of many of the main plotlines if there had been some sense of emotional growth or change on Nuri's part. Nuri is largely passive throughout, his character somewhat opaque even from a first person POV, and I was uncomfortable with many aspects of the construction of the female characters. There's enough promise in Matar's writing to make me willing to read more of his work, but I doubt that I will be returning to this particular book.
alyssatuininga's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
This was a random library grab on a list of “best books” by Arab authors. It was mostly just weird. The basic story was about a son and father (mom was deceased) who meet a young woman on holiday. The teen has a crush on her (he is 13 and she is 28) and Dad eventually marries her. Dad is kidnapped by the government (maybe? It is never resolved). Eventually, there is an inappropriate relationship between the teen and the stepmother. The book was awkward and unrealistic in my opinion. It was almost like a warped dream written by a teenage boy. Awful characters, weird situations and pretty much nothing happens. Not a winner
idolofroses's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
katylang's review against another edition
3.0
A calm, quiet book, and a pretty fast read. More character-driven than plot-driven (as only one main thing happens, the disappearance). Did give a perspective not often seen - that of the child of a diplomat/politician after the spotlight has left him. Unique story but not up for a second read.
mazza57's review against another edition
2.0
For me this book was just too much of a non event to make it worthy of more than Ok. Nothing was really developed enough to capture the soul of this reader
shelfimprovement's review against another edition
4.0
There's a blurb on the inside of the book jacket that refers to Matar as an Arabic Salman Rushdie. That feels like an adequate comparison, as this books seems to capture something about what it's like to be Arabic at the turn of the century. An excellent, excellent example of the power of postcolonialism in literature, extremely well-written though somewhat hard to relate to as an outsider.
Nuri's mother dies when he is very young, and his father soon remarries a young woman named Mona. Nuri has an odd sort of crush on Mona and the arrangement never feels quite comfortable to him. While vacationing in Europe, Nuri's father disappears, the apparent victim of a politically-charged kidnapping. Nuri grows into a man while standing on shaky feet, never quite fitting in peers at his England boarding school. A lovely examination of the struggles to find oneself in an ever-changing world.
Nuri's mother dies when he is very young, and his father soon remarries a young woman named Mona. Nuri has an odd sort of crush on Mona and the arrangement never feels quite comfortable to him. While vacationing in Europe, Nuri's father disappears, the apparent victim of a politically-charged kidnapping. Nuri grows into a man while standing on shaky feet, never quite fitting in peers at his England boarding school. A lovely examination of the struggles to find oneself in an ever-changing world.