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A review by oxnard_montalvo
The Map of Love by Ahdaf Soueif
3.0
We got off to a shaky start, this book and I. It's in need of a brisk edit, especially in the beginning. Reading one page I counted about 6 smiles; he smiled, he smiled a small smile, his eyes smiled, the corners of his mouth twitched in amusement, but his smile didn't reach his eyes... that kind of thing. Bland characterization. Occasionally Anna's voice seemed forced and unlikely. Some turns of phrase that didn't sit well and seemed like something the writer had learned on a writing course. A word here and there that appeared inserted to lend authenticity and authority.
Nevertheless it was a compelling, well told story. Moments of utterly heartbreaking beauty and excellently detailed landscape. A few improbable sidetracks and incidents that were greatly unnecessary to the story at large; forgettable at best, bewildering and confusingly out of step with the overall tone of the novel at worst. While mostly lyrical and poetic, the language came across as trite now and then. Some of the minor characters blended together after a while, and I couldn't quite get a fix on the recurring Egyptian political figures.
But this is the kind of book that, if I had read it when I was 14 or 15, would have set a bar for all the future men in my life, and possibly only high-jump Olympians would be able to surpass it.
(Egypt)
Nevertheless it was a compelling, well told story. Moments of utterly heartbreaking beauty and excellently detailed landscape. A few improbable sidetracks and incidents that were greatly unnecessary to the story at large; forgettable at best, bewildering and confusingly out of step with the overall tone of the novel at worst. While mostly lyrical and poetic, the language came across as trite now and then. Some of the minor characters blended together after a while, and I couldn't quite get a fix on the recurring Egyptian political figures.
But this is the kind of book that, if I had read it when I was 14 or 15, would have set a bar for all the future men in my life, and possibly only high-jump Olympians would be able to surpass it.
(Egypt)