This is a novel that seems written by a still-evolving writer. It contains some beautiful pieces of writing, lovely descriptions, almost poetic language. But somehow the story doesn't hang together.While there are certain similarities to a favorite author of mine - Khaled Hosseini, author of "The Kite Runner" -- Khaled Khalifa lacks the strong story line that Hosseini's books have. Instead, this book is more like a collection of vignettes, with too many characters and too many side tales to keep straight. And Hosseini was able to write in a female voice in "A Thousand Splendid Suns," whereas Khalifa's female characters were less convincing. Khalifa writes a picture of Syrian society disintegrating around a family of spinsters and their blind male servant who concocts perfumes. The unnamed narrator is a schoolgirl who becomes disillusioned when her formerly religious friend and crush becomes the lover of a death squad member. She joins an extreme Muslim cell where she admires the angry strength of the sister leader and discovers the strength of hatred. Even as her brother becomes disillusioned with killing other civilian members of the faith, she wants to make a list of immodest and immoral classmates and to throw acid on them. This book looks at the political uprisings of the 1980s, through the eyes of a young Syrian woman. The narrator is an unmarried woman in a society that oppresses women. As she witnesses the growing violence between rebels and secret police, she becomes more and more discontented. The violence is completely horrifying. Khalifa really presents a sense of the world closing in on the narrator, as violence gets closer, and she is dealing with the quotidian stifling of women along with the political dangers all around her. This is an intriguing story. Sometimes the writing was a bit ponderous, but overall this was a book worth reading, for the look at Syrian life in the 1980s.......
Over all the book is 3*...... The first 40% of the book describes the mundane every day to day living in rual syrian village. At first it is very interesting how well the author managed to capture the tediesousnes of life for group of women, who for various reasons remained unmarried (an oddity in muslim culture). But as the peages keep going the vevery day non-eventful story telling gets... well tedious. Midway the book picks up and little by little the mundane of life weaves subtly into how easily women (and men) can be brainwashed into extremism. And the integral role the un-noticed women play in giving support, sheltering and spreading the fundamental ismamic agenda, and violence. This novel is openly stating what are well known but unspoken facts about Islamic extremism. It is the reason why this book has been banned by the Syrian govermant. Not because it speaks of actual events but because it gives us glipmses into how the true recrutiing is done, under the watchfull eye of the powers that be, and a lot of times with the silent aproval (and averted gaze) of said powers. Even though the writting in this book is well done the book is disjointed with many characters popping in and out making it had to keep track of whom is whom, what they are about. It a kind of a cartoon book, though the imagery is done trhough words, and tot pictures. It is a worthy read but not a keeper.
Over all the book is 3*...... The first 40% of the book describes the mundane every day to day living in rual syrian village. At first it is very interesting how well the author managed to capture the tediesousnes of life for group of women, who for various reasons remained unmarried (an oddity in muslim culture). But as the peages keep going the vevery day non-eventful story telling gets... well tedious. Midway the book picks up and little by little the mundane of life weaves subtly into how easily women (and men) can be brainwashed into extremism. And the integral role the un-noticed women play in giving support, sheltering and spreading the fundamental ismamic agenda, and violence. This novel is openly stating what are well known but unspoken facts about Islamic extremism. It is the reason why this book has been banned by the Syrian govermant. Not because it speaks of actual events but because it gives us glipmses into how the true recrutiing is done, under the watchfull eye of the powers that be, and a lot of times with the silent aproval (and averted gaze) of said powers. Even though the writting in this book is well done the book is disjointed with many characters popping in and out making it had to keep track of whom is whom, what they are about. It a kind of a cartoon book, though the imagery is done trhough words, and tot pictures. It is a worthy read but not a keeper.
