Scan barcode
A review by dc7
The Calligrapher's Secret by Rafik Schami
5.0
It is rare to find a novel that skillfully combines the three essential elements of a good book - interesting characters, an exciting plot and a dense atmosphere. This book hits them all.
Here, you get to immerse yourself in the world of the Damascus of the 1950s, get lost in the beautiful images that the author draws with rich words without ever getting bored. It is this descriptive narrative that, along with many other elements, gives the story such a realistic touch that even a reader who knows nothing about historic Syria can clearly picture this world.
The novel has one weakness, and that is it's slow pace. After the exciting prologue, there is a big leap into the past. The protagonists' childhoods are portrayed and the first 150 pages of the novel drag a bit. However, it gives the reader time to learn about Middle Eastern culture and get to know to vast cast of characters. There are a ton of POV changes and almost every single chapter of the first half (!) of the book is written from the perspective of a new character (!). Nevertheless the author gives each of his characters - and there are several dozens - a unique personality. All characters are hyper realistic and likeable. They are not categorised into good and bad, they all have reasons for why they do the things they do, even if these are (very) questionable. All this makes it easy for the reader to get attached to the many characters.
You learn a lot about the society and the customs of the Middle East and get an insight into the art of calligraphy, which becomes more and more important as the story progresses. What begins as a broad range of countless storylines becomes a religious-political conflict over the radical reform of the Arabic script.
A wonderful story, deep and compelling.
Here, you get to immerse yourself in the world of the Damascus of the 1950s, get lost in the beautiful images that the author draws with rich words without ever getting bored. It is this descriptive narrative that, along with many other elements, gives the story such a realistic touch that even a reader who knows nothing about historic Syria can clearly picture this world.
The novel has one weakness, and that is it's slow pace. After the exciting prologue, there is a big leap into the past. The protagonists' childhoods are portrayed and the first 150 pages of the novel drag a bit. However, it gives the reader time to learn about Middle Eastern culture and get to know to vast cast of characters. There are a ton of POV changes and almost every single chapter of the first half (!) of the book is written from the perspective of a new character (!). Nevertheless the author gives each of his characters - and there are several dozens - a unique personality. All characters are hyper realistic and likeable. They are not categorised into good and bad, they all have reasons for why they do the things they do, even if these are (very) questionable. All this makes it easy for the reader to get attached to the many characters.
You learn a lot about the society and the customs of the Middle East and get an insight into the art of calligraphy, which becomes more and more important as the story progresses. What begins as a broad range of countless storylines becomes a religious-political conflict over the radical reform of the Arabic script.
A wonderful story, deep and compelling.