Reviews

Infidels by Abdellah Taïa

nithou's review against another edition

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3.0

Un peu plus hermétique que les autres romans du même auteur, peut être moins colérique. Un parcours difficile d’un fils et d’une mère dans un monde qui les rejette

unemini_books's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

flowingleaves's review

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I did not like the style it was written in, bored me to hell and back. 

sophiavass's review

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

husseinbaher's review

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1.0

"Deep inside me, words will always be Arabic. That’s the language inside me, there long before me. It sticks to my skin, goes far beyond me, speaks to me in spite of myself."

I was doing fine until that sudden twist of narrative towards the end where Islam was portrayed as a hallmark for terrorism.
It was cheap, illogical and downright the wrong wrong WRONG choice to take to drive the plot forward. This book could have been taken to a completely different path that is so much less problematic.

In short:
Annoying, hasty, incoherent, sloppy and jumbled writing. Basically, words vomit.
Pedophilia. Romanticized Pedophilia used as stepping stone for lgbt representation( ha! Not today MAPS)
Wrong reflecting image of Islam.

I am so disappointed with everything in this book.

mattsitstill's review

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2.0

This book had me with its powerful, poetical writing, its tragic history, its backdrop, right up until the last few chapters. Then it pulled a stunt that felt cheap and lazy. And it really dragged the whole thing down.

bmurray153's review

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3.0

Infidels is an extremely flash novel. The writing occupies the murky place between poetry and prose with a sprinkling of stream of consciousness. Each page is deeply ingrained with honest emotion and fluttery writing.

But because it is so expressive, there is little room to build character or story. What we get feels like a bare bones story without a lot of reason for investment. But as novel exploring elements of queer identity and representations of Islam, it feels both fresh and important, separating itself from typical western narrative structure, and that's more than enough reason to pick it up.

booknerd85's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.0

knowledgelost's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective

3.5

yopo's review

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1.0

Disjointed, acontextually violent, unfocused. Really unpleasant to read. A few bits about Marilyn Monroe shone as the only pieces of the narrative to hang onto, but the rest of this really thin novel left the reader adrift in overly lyrical prose with scant details or plot.