lepasseportlitteraire's reviews
99 reviews

Niketche. Una storia di poligamia by Paulina Chiziane

3.75

Dopo molti anni di matrimonio, Rami scopre che il marito ha molte fidanzate e figl* in giro per la città. Mentre lui aveva intenzione di tenere tutto segreto, Rami decide di agire per "tenersi" il marito, ma finisce per creare qualcosa di molto più grande: lascia andare la sua disperazione e la sua rabbia per riunire tutte le fidanzate segrete in un'alleanza e far sì che il marito affronti le conseguenze costringendolo a creare ufficialmente una famiglia poligama. 

Questa non è semplicemente una storia di poligamia, come suggerirebbe il titolo, ma è sembrata una storia molto più speranzosa sulla sorellanza femminile, sulle donne che uniscono le forze per elevarsi a vicenda nonostante i loro disaccordi e persino la loro rivalità. Inoltre, la scrittura è risultata fluida anche quando si affrontano temi pesanti, e a volte anche con tocchi umoristici.

Paulina Chiziane offre certamente una trama allettante e personaggi stuzzicanti, ma allo stesso tempo espone questioni relative alla società patriarcale e una vera e propria riflessione interiore su come le donne stesse possano essere portatrici di questa cultura. 

Se siete alla ricerca di una lettura di narrativa femminista, diversificando al contempo le vostre letture in termini di autor*, credo che questo libro faccia al caso vostro e sarà una piacevole aggiunta alle vostre liste di lettura.

The Seven Necessary Sins for Women and Girls by Mona Eltahawy

challenging informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

First of all: FUCK THE PATRIARCHY.

If you already know Mona Eltahawy and her work, you know there was no other way to start this review. I am not even going to define this as a review, because I found her work of such intelligence, empathy, and power that I feel like I am no one to judge the work, I am in literal awe of this woman, her force and power and of course this book. 

While she previously published a book concentrating on feminism in Muslim contexts, with this book Eltahawy brings her reflection on feminism on a global level, and the result is a sort of guide, each chapter a « sin » that the patriarchal societies we all live in condemn, but that she praises and call upon on all women* (she is very clear to include trans women in this group) to make them their weapons and to declare war on the patriarchy.

The order of the chapters is not casual either, but they are ordered from the least to most important: I was fascinated and never felt more empowered and enraged than after exiting her book presentation which I had the chance to attend in Italy. The feeling of reappropriating my anger, and understanding that my anger not only is valid, but is necessary, moved me to tears, and I will never stop being grateful for this gift. 

Another aspect of the book and her presentation (just one of many, I could write pages and pages about this book), is her definition of feminism as not wanting equality to men, but freedom. The reflection is that not the majority of men are free - the only truly free people in our racist, classist, patriarchal societies are white, cis, heterosexual, and super-rich men. Consequently, why aspire to be equal to someone who is not free? And that explains why she put the most important sin, lust. Truly owning our body, is what makes us free, our bodies are our primary weapons in the fight to destroy the patriarchy, which is why I have only one last thing left to say: FUCK THE PATRIARCHY

You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi

emotional funny lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

3.75

This is my first Akaeke Emezi book and probably won’t be my last. If you have been here with me for a while, you know I am not the biggest romance reader. 

However, Akaeke Emezi managed to give me what I have been looking for for a long time: a realist romance book.

Do not get me wrong, the premises of the book and the plot are not realistic AT ALL: it is not every day that you meet a rich guy who immediately falls for you and not only proposes a free luxurious vacation but also the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to expose your artwork and advance your career. So, before you all come at me, let’s agree the plot is not realistic. However, while the plot is extra (and I am here for it by the way), I did find realistic aspects that I was looking for in other elements of the book like the characters, especially the main character and her messy grief and approach to relationships.

Is the main character perfect? No, far from it. Does her best friend enable her? Yes. Was I still rooting for her? Absolutely. I think a lot of people, including me, found ourselves in situations where we had misplaced feelings for someone we should not, and attempted to control them, to redirect them, and ended up hurting people in the process of trying to do so. I found that relatable, which made up for the absurdity of the plot. 

I would describe this as an enjoyable hot-girl summer read for sure, but nothing more. However, I am curious to read other of their work, as they published several books and explored very different genres (I am thinking about PET in particular, which has been everywhere on bookstagram and booktok)

A Burning by Megha Majumdar

4.5

After a terrorist attack in a train, Jivan - a Muslim girl from the slums - unexpectedly finds herself accused of the attack. Rapidly brought to prison, she will do everything in her power to prove her innocence. Meanwhile, PT Sir - a gym teacher - is determined to join a right-wing political party and finds his ascending is linked to Jivan’s case. The same happen to Lovely, an exuberant outcasted actor who has the alibi to set Jivan free but it would cost her her success.

The characters made me held my breath throughout the pages, except for PT Sir who I absolutely hated (which I believe was the author intent). Capable to move, indignate, enrage and amuse, Megha Majumdar gifted us with a debut novel close to perfection that bring us into the streets of Indian slums while also exposing political hypocrisy and society injustice.

What is even more remarkable, is that « A burnin » is Megha Majumdar’s debut novel, setting the bar quite high for her next works which I am impatient to read.

The River Between by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

4.0

The River Between is a must-read to add to your Classics TBR. Written by Kenyan author Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, it follows a conflict between two neighboring villages in Kenya following the arrival of « the white man ». However, this conflict is expedient to expose other kinds of conflict that afflicted not only Kenya but other African communities before, during, and after colonization, without for that matter making colonization the focal point of the story. 

The whole plot is based on conflicts that seem to have a unique answer between two choices while challenging this Western dual optic of the world. I felt this was especially true for one particular character, who while believing in the new religion brought by the white man, also still highly values her village traditions that she desperately seeks to participate in against her father's will. Yet, this is far from being the only angle of analysis of a book that not only provides the reader with an enthralling story but with many reflection points about the past and modern societies, especially those that were affected by colonization.

The River Between is a classic that lives through space and time, and it needs to be on your reading list.

Une si longue lettre by Mariama Bâ

4.5

In this epistolary novel, the protagonist, Ramatoulaye Fall, spends her mandatory quarantine after the death of her husband and writes this long letter to her best friend Aïssatou. In this letter, she not only recounts her widowhood but also her life as a woman, wife, and mother. In so few pages, Mariama Bâ does not simply describes the life of a particular woman, but more widely the condition of women in general. She underlines the importance of access to education, as well as the generational differences between the women of yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

The novel is beautifully written and does a great job of advocating for women's rights while providing a variety of points of view, also looking into the future, exemplified in the main character’s daughters. 

Finally, what I find primordial with African literature, and with literature in general that is not part of the mainstream Western canon, is to not confine these works in a box: Mariama Bâ talks not only about the Senegalese woman (as she does of course) but also about women everywhere. Generally speaking, authors who are outside the Western canon and/or part of marginalized communities (ex. LGBTQIA+, BIPOC, etc), put work out there in the world that usually risks being analyzed uniquely through that lens. 

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

This is the first book of what will be a series, and damn am I disappointed!

I am disappointed because I bought this and started reading it immediately, and I DID NOT KNOW IT WAS A SERIES, NOW I READ IT AND LOVED IT AND I HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL 2024 TO READ THE SEQUEL.

Hum, sorry.

In this Chinese-inspired fantasy novel set in Huaxia, young boys and girls are in charge of protecting the Great Wall and the remaining human population from an alien invader species. However, while the boys are the ones in charge of piloting the Chrysalises (human-energy driven robots), the girls are merely an instrument for the boys, and they almost every time die But not Zetian. Zetian will not only attempt to revenge her sister's death, but when she will get paired up with Li Shimin, the strongest and most discussed pilot in Huaxia, she will unveil some history-changing details about this flawed system. 

Iron Widow is an explosive mixture of futuristic-science-fiction-dystopian fantasy, with references to Chinese history and mythology, with a great capacity of reimagining literary and real-life clichés such as love triangles. This book not only has everything you could ask for from a fantasy book, but it is also a monument to the shattering of gender codes. And at the center of it all you have a vengeance-driven plot with unapologetic feminine rage and grey characters that I cannot wait to see developing, personally hope they will develop into full villains.

This book has been everywhere, but if you were still on the fence on whether to read it or not, take this as your sign to do so!

Our Migrant Souls: A Meditation on Race and the Meanings and Myths of “Latino” by Héctor Tobar

informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

Héctor Tobar is a Pulitzer writer with many successful books behind him that I’ve never read, but that I will definitely add to my wishlist after reading his newest release « Our Migrant Souls » (already available to purchase).

In this informative yet emotional essay, Tobar brings the reader around the United States both geographically and historically speaking, uncovering and dismantling the meaning and myths of being “Latino” today, but also of notions so commonly used as “race” and “ethnicity”. He does so not through the sterility of definitions, numbers, or statistics, but through history and most importantly through people and their stories.

This essay is short, yet it effectively showcases the global condition of “the migrant” while not stripping the migration experience of its multiplicity of experiences. He places people’s experiences at the center of the paradox of the migrant in the United States: constantly needed yet constantly mistreated. While it is an essay centered on the USA context, I felt that many concepts and reflections expressed in the essay apply to the universal migrant experience, and I could not avoid thinking about how the same paradoxes apply to migrants in Italy (my country).

« "Ethnicity" and “race" are sold to us as boxes containing our skin tones and our surnames, but the truth about you, about us, will not fit in any box. »

Why Do You Dance When You Walk? by Abdourahman A. Waberi

emotional informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.0

His daughter asks her father the innocent question « Papa, why do you dance when you walk? ». This a simple question that will force author Abdourahman A. Waberi to embark on an intimate journey reminiscing his childhood in Djibouti, between bullies, a strict and yet distant family, school, and books as his only friends. But most importantly, he has to relive one of his worst moments in life, when he began to « dance as he walked »: a bully, an aggression, and then an infection that left him with a lifelong limp.

Abdourahman A. Waberi gives a heartfelt account of his childhood and his journey from Djibouti to France as a beautiful gift to his daughter while also coming to terms with his past.

The book is touching and well written, without too much pretension, and I recommend it if you are looking for a mix between biography, novel and lyrical prose.

Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

In this masterpiece, Susan Abulhawa gifts us with a heart-wrenching novel following the Palestinian family of the Abulhejas throughout four generations of Israeli occupation. The family is forcibly removed from their hometown of Ein Hod and moved into the Jenin refugee camp. Through the different components of the family and their different dreams and destinies, Susan Abulhawa tells not only the Abulhejas story but the stories of all Palestinians.

If you are looking for a historical novel that will give you some understanding of the creation of Israel and how it impacted people’s lives, this is for you: while giving some historical information, it concentrates and gives a central spot on the stage to the humanistic side of things, particularly showing how Palestinians lived the invasion first, and how the protraction of the occupation as well as the international community silent acceptance of it bred sentiments of injustice which eventually fueled rebellion.

As you might know, if you have been following me for a while, Susan Abulhawa’s « Against the loveless world » is one of my favorite books ever, and I can easily say that « Mornings in Jenin » has joined it in my top reads ever, and Susan Abulhawa the list of my favorite writers. The novel is not an easy read, and how could it be considering the Palestinian struggle? But it is a necessary one. It has primordial historical relevance, and if I could rewrite the scholastic programs I would add it to the list of essential readings.