Reviews with content warning for Sexism - Season of Migration to the North

Tayeb Salih’s 1969 book Season of Migration to the North, originally published in Arabic, presents a unique view of postcolonial society, as it chooses to focus mostly on how colonialism affects interpersonal relationships rather than the entire country of Sudan.

Salih flourishes in time skips and non-linear storytelling, as the narrator switches back and forth between his present reality and unraveling Sa’eed’s past. Part of the reason why this technique is so successful is that the book utilizes opposing writing styles to create a dynamic tale; the prose goes from oral to literary and informal to poetic within both narratives. After a little research, I learned that the dual “tones” I had observed are distinct elements of the Arabic language. I thought that its English translation captured that pretty well. Its long dialogue allows the characters to pour out their unfiltered thoughts, feelings, and philosophical musings.

The characters refer to colonialism itself as a “germ” or a “disease,” which seems to make Salish’s message very obvious. Unexpectedly, however, these feelings are contrasted by subtler emotions, including a fond reminiscence for the English government, and uncertainty about Sudan’s future under a new and independent government. Yet the most complex aspect of colonialism portrayed in the book is also the most controversial part: the violence against (often white) women, usually in a sexual context. Judging by the more negative reviews I saw on Goodreads beforehand, the violence and sex was a main reason why people rated the book 3 stars instead of 4 or 5—some select phrases include “copious abuse of women and robbing them of dignity, told largely from the abuser’s point of view,” “violent and shameless misogyny,” and “toxic sexuality and gender dynamics.” Reviews with higher ratings either don’t bring it up or acknowledge the inclusion of such toxicity while describing it as metaphorical, thematic, and a significant part of the characters’ flaws.

After reading the book for myself, I think that Salih is actively critiquing Mustafa Sa’eed’s relationships with women and does not encourage the behaviors of either party. Season of Migration to the North’s discussions of sex and portrayals of sexual scenes are not explicit to the point of being pornographic or gratuitous, but they are graphic enough for readers to feel seriously uncomfortable or triggered. Even just including the phrase “sexual violence” somewhere in the blurb would fix the problem without spoiling anything, since the blurb uses only slightly vaguer terms like “fraught and deadly relationships.” The matter is further complicated because not all the scenes can be boxed into categories of “assault” or “rape,” and other factors such as racial fetishization play a key part in connecting the sex and violence to colonialism. Sudanese and British characters display equal parts fascination and disdain for each other’s cultures, which plays into the tense, passionate relationships they have.

Salih’s engrossing novel strikes me as urgent above everything else. The narrator’s discomfort in how he, his community, and his country are changing throughout the novel don’t even offer a definitive stance on how he feels about said change. This imperfect resolution that the author settles on is reflective of the other ways in which he stands out from other Arab writers of his time. According to Laila Lalami’s introduction in the NYBR edition of the book, Salih’s resolutions differ from those of the Nahda, a movement of Egyptian literature, in that they attempted to create a “rosy conciliation between modernity and tradition” that is “absent from Salih’s novel.” In the end, his greatest interest—and strength—is to explore how the realities of the postcolonial world trickle into every aspect of his characters’ lives.

Content Warnings

apthompson's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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mrlsdevos's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Content Warnings

kxiong5's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

5.0

this book resists definition in such an incredible way. took notes in my journal so won't rehash this here, but the conversation with Heart of Darkness is palpable (and this book knows just as well as HoD how to use language as a violent colonial tool & adds the layers of recognition on how the use of colonial logics / living under the colonizer's rules explodes the possibility of identity / continued existence (think Franz Fanon and Invisible Man in that kind of violent misrecognition and motion) & yet ALSO does not let the men of the novel off the hook for how their 'emasculation' under coloniality directly links to the violent pursuit of / conquest of women & also has the most convincing Kurtz-figure & expands the Marlowe figure in the interplay between Mustafa Saeed and the unnamed narrator...and also isn't didactic or one-dimensional with any of its characters "representing" any concepts & all having such clearly social existences (even the stranger Mustafa -- who is so characterized by mobility and antisociality, is also an intensely social being?) and it's just such a startling and intricate novel and makes palpable the way in which violence (linguistic, colonial, self-directed, etc.) can reduce all life to a plane of incomprehensibility and yet *still* we find ways to plod on and try to live with this inability to act...or are we able to make that choice at all??? (and the ending encapsulates that so well). so many more thoughts (actually once I get my own copy and am no longer sticking shit in my library copy I might just reread it in a week, which is the first time in ages I've been so drawn to a book that I actively do not want to move on from it) + so much to study with how Tayeb Salih uses motion throughout the novel and often has such poetic passages shore up a fundamental and growing sense of emptiness // contrast the narrator's emptiness with the richness of the lives of the people around him...jdkafhkjdhf this was just off the charts. I think I need to sit with this forever.

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mganier's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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leselina's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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niallgoulding1's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I was disappointed by this book. I'd heard so many great things & expected a deep examination of post-colonialism. A counterpoint to Heart of Darkness (full disclosure a book I also didn't enjoy). But instead I got a tale of one man's time as a fetishised, exotic sexual play thing for a group of self destructive upper class British women. Wrapped by a depressing tale of a traditional, patriarchal village exploding into a tragic event that was so cartooonishly over the top that I couldn't find it in myself to care.

Like Heart of Darkness, the writing is beautiful in places and I'm sure that this could form part of an interesting lit course comparing and contrasting the literature of coloniser and colonised. But I struggle to find any value reading it alone.

Another reviewer mentioned the question posed on the back cover, "But what is the meaning of Mustafa's confession?"and how having finished the book they were still left pondering the same question. I think that sums up my experience with the book. Maybe it was above my ability but I struggled to see the point of this

Content Warnings

giovannigf's review against another edition

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dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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