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Saracen at the Gates
With wry humor and a sharp eye on a contemporary and modern Muslim family, this narrative introduces the Cachalia familymother, father, and twins Zakir and Zakira. While Zakira's parents try to keep her on a short leash and have set her up with the devout heir to a sheep fortune, she and her brother are much more interested in living a less-than-sedate and distinctly nonobservant lifestyle.
180 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 27, 2013
Too much "local" flavoured for my liking. I guess if I wasn't from Joburg I'd have found the narrative riveting. Too many metaphors.
The chapters are not numbered but are titled. I guess this is the rave in the evolution of literary history. "The Twelve Tribes of Hattie" is also "chapter ed" like that, but it was done like that because each chapter told a story related to a new character. Jodi picoult names her chapters so the reader gets to "see" who is narrating the story.
Not recommending it.
The chapters are not numbered but are titled. I guess this is the rave in the evolution of literary history. "The Twelve Tribes of Hattie" is also "chapter ed" like that, but it was done like that because each chapter told a story related to a new character. Jodi picoult names her chapters so the reader gets to "see" who is narrating the story.
Not recommending it.
March 15, 2023
Saracen at the Gates is an interesting read set in South Africa and it's nice to read about Five Roses teabags, familiar people, places, languages and cultures. South Africa has a unique 'vibe' that cannot be found anywhere else in the world.
Our main character, Zakira, is wealthy, spoiled, offensive and unlikable (but she's meant to be. None of the characters are likeable). She's a messy character who surrounds herself with other messy characters, but she's compelling and intriguing.
This book deals with many different topics such as racism, discrimination, sexism, colourism, xenophobia, religion and sexuality. The characters show the negative sides of these topics through their words and actions. A character can be racist, sexist etc., but the views of the characters aren't challenged and none of these topics are tackled in depth.
The tone of this story doesn't work for me. The tone is tongue-in-cheek, shocking and edgy, but the shock factor and edginess seems forced. The metaphors are odd and the edginess that it's meant to create isn't organic.
The most unsatisfying part is the lack of resolution. Maybe this book is too smart for me, but I don't get the ending. I understand that things come full circle, but the plot is all over the place, there's so much going on and none of the plot points are resolved. Maybe there's something I'm missing.
Lastly, this is a personal gripe, but I'm tired of reading books with bad Muslim representation and characters mocking religion. No person is perfect and everyone practises religion differently, but if I wasn't told that the characters are Muslim, I wouldn't have known.
While I have many issues with Saracen at the Gates, I still couldn't draw my eyes away from reading about Zakira's messy life. This book has won an award, so there's probably something I'm missing, because when I turned the last page, I felt like nothing was resolved.
Our main character, Zakira, is wealthy, spoiled, offensive and unlikable (but she's meant to be. None of the characters are likeable). She's a messy character who surrounds herself with other messy characters, but she's compelling and intriguing.
This book deals with many different topics such as racism, discrimination, sexism, colourism, xenophobia, religion and sexuality. The characters show the negative sides of these topics through their words and actions. A character can be racist, sexist etc., but the views of the characters aren't challenged and none of these topics are tackled in depth.
The tone of this story doesn't work for me. The tone is tongue-in-cheek, shocking and edgy, but the shock factor and edginess seems forced. The metaphors are odd and the edginess that it's meant to create isn't organic.
The most unsatisfying part is the lack of resolution. Maybe this book is too smart for me, but I don't get the ending. I understand that things come full circle, but the plot is all over the place, there's so much going on and none of the plot points are resolved. Maybe there's something I'm missing.
Lastly, this is a personal gripe, but I'm tired of reading books with bad Muslim representation and characters mocking religion. No person is perfect and everyone practises religion differently, but if I wasn't told that the characters are Muslim, I wouldn't have known.
While I have many issues with Saracen at the Gates, I still couldn't draw my eyes away from reading about Zakira's messy life. This book has won an award, so there's probably something I'm missing, because when I turned the last page, I felt like nothing was resolved.
May 25, 2020
Best book - I lent it to so many of my friends it became dog eared until I realized I should start gifting it to them on their birthdays instead!
October 9, 2020
My favourite chapter was "Our Beautiful, Thin, Young Martyrs." The title alone ... I laughed way too hard. Way too hard! 🤣
July 5, 2010
Lots of twists and turns and a much different perspective of South Africa than other novels I have read.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews