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A review by nikkigee81
Fantasia: An Algerian Cavalcade by Assia Djebar
3.0
[This is part of my Around the World Reading Challenge, begun in 2014/2015].
Closer to 3.5 stars.
This is a difficult book to review. It is not a memoir or autobiography. It is not a history book. It is not fiction created from whole-cloth, either. Fantasia shares elements with all of these.
The book does not really have a plot, per se. The author gives us snippets from her childhood in Algeria, and the perception of women. This is interwoven with set-pieces from Algerian history, specifically, the French-Algerian War and Algeria's own war for independence.
Some of the pieces are very lush and beautiful, and others seem to have an almost clinical detachment, even when it is describing a fearless woman standing up to the French, for example. This disconnect had a tendency to pull me out of the reading, and made this book very slow-going for me, at times.
In short, I am glad that I read it, but I feel that I am missing a lot. I don't know if it is because it was originally written in French (always a wonder when not reading in the original language), or because I only knew a smattering of Algerian history going in, thanks to Wikipedia. Apparently, there is a second and third book in the series, but I'm not sure if those are more novel-like or much like Fantasia. [From my readings it appears that it was supposed to be a quartet, but Ms. Djebar passed earlier this month, so I don't know if it was ever completed.]
Closer to 3.5 stars.
This is a difficult book to review. It is not a memoir or autobiography. It is not a history book. It is not fiction created from whole-cloth, either. Fantasia shares elements with all of these.
The book does not really have a plot, per se. The author gives us snippets from her childhood in Algeria, and the perception of women. This is interwoven with set-pieces from Algerian history, specifically, the French-Algerian War and Algeria's own war for independence.
Some of the pieces are very lush and beautiful, and others seem to have an almost clinical detachment, even when it is describing a fearless woman standing up to the French, for example. This disconnect had a tendency to pull me out of the reading, and made this book very slow-going for me, at times.
In short, I am glad that I read it, but I feel that I am missing a lot. I don't know if it is because it was originally written in French (always a wonder when not reading in the original language), or because I only knew a smattering of Algerian history going in, thanks to Wikipedia. Apparently, there is a second and third book in the series, but I'm not sure if those are more novel-like or much like Fantasia. [From my readings it appears that it was supposed to be a quartet, but Ms. Djebar passed earlier this month, so I don't know if it was ever completed.]