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kxiong5's review against another edition
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Murder, and Colonisation
Moderate: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicide, and Sexual harassment
affanshikoh's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
4.5
A haunting, visceral tale set in the heart of Arab-Africa, and exploring a character's journey to and exploits in White Europe.
This is a piece of Postcolonial writing which flips the likes of Joseph Conrad on their heads, and provides depth to the previously believed to be witless, voiceless and unlettered colonized people. A masterpiece of not just modern Arabic, but also world literature.
The story is at once a mystery, and an enigmatic exploration of (I assume) typical Sudanese village life. The narrator meets the charming Mustafa Sa'eed and is instantly drawn into his world of a secret and clandestine history. As bits and pieces about Sa'eed's past are revealed to the reader, we grow to develop mixed emotions about this ruthless womanizer and roma tic conquistador. A significant B-plot of the story explores life in the Sudanese village after the sudden demise of Sa'eed, how his family carries on without him, and how the narrator and his friends and relations lead a simple life.
This is a piece of Postcolonial writing which flips the likes of Joseph Conrad on their heads, and provides depth to the previously believed to be witless, voiceless and unlettered colonized people. A masterpiece of not just modern Arabic, but also world literature.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, and Alcohol
Moderate: Colonisation
somturtle's review against another edition
medium-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
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, and Colonisation
doreneemi's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Honestly I feel like I wasn’t smart enough for this book. It was beautifully written, even in translation, and at times it felt like a fever dream. I think it’s an excellent book. It’s complex, engrossing, and certainly deserves its reputation as a classic. However, it was not a book I especially enjoyed on a personal level.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Gore, Sexual content, Suicide, and Colonisation
Minor: Alcoholism
confuusedcreaturex4's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
3.0
I still feel like I don't what to feel about this fever dream of a book
I liked the writing,he's certainly a good writer,I loved the descriptions and the places and so many things about the writing but I just couldn't look over the sexism and misogyny there even tho I know that it's understandable considering the time and place but I still didn't like how many times it wasn't addressed as an issue and sometimes even the characters that re aware of the wrongness of some things sometimes it feels like they act as if they don't think its that much of abig deal, the explicit sexual scenes were just toooo much,the way Mustafa and some of the elderlies talks about women was just so disgusting and racist at so many times,I read a lot of reviews to see what other people thought about this cause know it has to signify something bigger about colonization and all but I stillfeel like that wasn't the best way to talk about it ,in just 200 pages there was a lot of stuff and I was often left confused and perplexed,I'm sure with time ill probably change my mind about so many things and think about some others but for now that's all of it and unf again still cant really wrap my head around it for some reason
I liked the writing,he's certainly a good writer,I loved the descriptions and the places and so many things about the writing but I just couldn't look over the sexism and misogyny there even tho I know that it's understandable considering the time and place but I still didn't like how many times it wasn't addressed as an issue and sometimes even the characters that re aware of the wrongness of some things sometimes it feels like they act as if they don't think its that much of abig deal, the explicit sexual scenes were just toooo much,the way Mustafa and some of the elderlies talks about women was just so disgusting and racist at so many times,I read a lot of reviews to see what other people thought about this cause know it has to signify something bigger about colonization and all but I stillfeel like that wasn't the best way to talk about it ,in just 200 pages there was a lot of stuff and I was often left confused and perplexed,I'm sure with time ill probably change my mind about so many things and think about some others but for now that's all of it and unf again still cant really wrap my head around it for some reason
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
adverb17's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexism, Sexual content, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Cancer, Drug use, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting
abby_bookworm's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape and Colonisation
dawntin's review against another edition
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Murder, and Colonisation
Minor: Suicide and Violence
manoushp109's review against another edition
dark
reflective
5.0
read this for the modern western other literature course i took - fucking insane. this writing goes hard the characters are all hate-able there’s so much trauma everywhere and so many trigger warnings but i loved it in a traumatizing way
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Colonisation
Moderate: Death of parent
amavi's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I don't really know how to rate this book.
I fully agree that it is written beautifully. Unfortunately it didn't leave much of an impact on me. This short novel is packed with important topics.
I'm sort of dumfounded on what to think about it. But since finishing it I find myself thinking about it a lot-maybe that is the impact. Right now it feels like an itch I can't scratch.
In the introduction (which I didn't read), the book: The Heart of Darkness was mentioned- I want to read that as well, then read the introduction, do research and give a final review
I fully agree that it is written beautifully. Unfortunately it didn't leave much of an impact on me. This short novel is packed with important topics.
I'm sort of dumfounded on what to think about it. But since finishing it I find myself thinking about it a lot-maybe that is the impact. Right now it feels like an itch I can't scratch.
In the introduction (which I didn't read), the book: The Heart of Darkness was mentioned- I want to read that as well, then read the introduction, do research and give a final review
I no longer saw or was conscious of anything but this catastrophe, in the shape of a woman, that fate had decreed for me. She was my destiny and in her lay my destruction, yet for me the whole world was not worth a mustard seed in comparison. I was the invader who had come from the South, and this was the icy battlefield from which I would not make a safe return.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Colonisation