Scan barcode
A review by anushka_adishka_diaries
The Fall of the Imam by Nawal El Saadawi
3.0
“If my body dies my heart will live, but the last thing to die in me is my mind, for it can live on the barest minimum, and everything in me dies before my mind. Not one of you has ever possessed my mind. No one. And no matter how often you took my body, my mind was always far away out of your reach, like the eye of the sun during the day, like the eye of the sky at night.”
✨
Every time I read Nawal El Saadawi I fall short of words. No matter what I say, would ever embody her fierce Feminist spirit.
Her razor sharp words critiquing the fundamentalist regime & status of women in a Patriarchal world, pierce at your heart; and although her works are decades old, they continue to resonate with the brutal realities of our present society.
I'll never limit her work to one nation or a religion, because they sound true for every country & religion driven by right wing ideologies.
"The Fall of the Imam" by Saadawi, tr. from the Arabic by Sherif Hetata, set in a male dominated religious state, ruled by the Imam, follows two grisly events—the first is the stoning & mutilation of a woman and the second is the assassination of the Imam—and these two interconnected events, repeated over & over in the course of time, forms the basis of a horrifying socio-political tale & the misconstrued notions of honor, shame & virginity, that surrounds a woman's life, rendered by a fascist & fundamentalist regime.
Interspersed with heavy imagery, magical realism & non-linear narrative, with characters, their thoughts & identities, indistinguishable at times, this is a difficult read—both in terms of narration & the heavy themes it deals with.
It took me time to get acquainted with the narration, since magical realism this deep, isn't my favorite and it was only when I let go of my idea of forming a coherent story & instead started focusing on the characters & their emotions, I started liking it.
Although I won't call it my favorite novel, yet, the rawness in the writing & depiction of certain scenes left me feeling haunted & hollow, and I will remember that feeling for a long time.
The beauty of this book doesn't lie in the story but the social commentary it forms as its thread.
It's not a book that'll appeal to all but if you're looking forward to reading experimental narrative style & Feminist stories where women are taking up spaces despite the constraints put against their lives, then I'll surely ask you to read this.
✨
Every time I read Nawal El Saadawi I fall short of words. No matter what I say, would ever embody her fierce Feminist spirit.
Her razor sharp words critiquing the fundamentalist regime & status of women in a Patriarchal world, pierce at your heart; and although her works are decades old, they continue to resonate with the brutal realities of our present society.
I'll never limit her work to one nation or a religion, because they sound true for every country & religion driven by right wing ideologies.
"The Fall of the Imam" by Saadawi, tr. from the Arabic by Sherif Hetata, set in a male dominated religious state, ruled by the Imam, follows two grisly events—the first is the stoning & mutilation of a woman and the second is the assassination of the Imam—and these two interconnected events, repeated over & over in the course of time, forms the basis of a horrifying socio-political tale & the misconstrued notions of honor, shame & virginity, that surrounds a woman's life, rendered by a fascist & fundamentalist regime.
Interspersed with heavy imagery, magical realism & non-linear narrative, with characters, their thoughts & identities, indistinguishable at times, this is a difficult read—both in terms of narration & the heavy themes it deals with.
It took me time to get acquainted with the narration, since magical realism this deep, isn't my favorite and it was only when I let go of my idea of forming a coherent story & instead started focusing on the characters & their emotions, I started liking it.
Although I won't call it my favorite novel, yet, the rawness in the writing & depiction of certain scenes left me feeling haunted & hollow, and I will remember that feeling for a long time.
The beauty of this book doesn't lie in the story but the social commentary it forms as its thread.
It's not a book that'll appeal to all but if you're looking forward to reading experimental narrative style & Feminist stories where women are taking up spaces despite the constraints put against their lives, then I'll surely ask you to read this.