A review by binstonbirchill
Knots by Nuruddin Farah

4.0

It’s hard to put my finger on why I enjoyed this novel. It’s very slow moving and there’s not too much action, but I think that might be where the this succeeds. Thorough descriptions and flashbacks are plentiful in this novel set in the failed state of Somalia. Progress in Mogadishu is tenuous, when things are moving forward towards some goal or other one always suspects that incredible violence is right around the corner. I think the author plays on that feeling and gives us a novel of hope, partially subverting out expectations but always reminding us that at any moment it could all come crashing down.