An Unnecessary Woman in Reading with Style

Feb 06, 2018 Rosemary rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Aaliyah is divorced, childless, and no longer even has a job, except for her re-translation of literary classics from English and French translations to Arabic, which she stockpiles in her box room. Byher own account she's no good to society. But she's still alive, still reading, still translating, and in spite of her best efforts to be a recluse, she does have an impact on other people's lives and vice versa.

I was a little scared going into this book that I might identify with Aaliyah too much ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

May 13, 2014 Juniper rated it liked it

Shelves: 2015-books

hmm... okay. so i am trying to figure out how i feel about this book, because it's a bit of a confusion of thoughts in my head right now. in theory, an introspective novel featuring an introverted literary translator and enough literary references to send a reader on quite a bookish project for a couple of years should be a book made specifically for me. and yet... things are niggling at me.

i never really got into a good rhythm with this book. the text is so peppered with references to authors a hmm... okay. so i am trying to figure out how i feel about this book, because it's a bit of a confusion of thoughts in my head right now. in theory, an introspective novel featuring an introverted literary translator and enough literary references to send a reader on quite a bookish project for a couple of years should be a book made specifically for me. and yet... things are niggling at me.

i never really got into a good rhythm with this book. the text is so peppered with references to authors and book titles - which are great, and i totally highlighted them all - that every time a name or title appeared, it was an interruption to the flow for me. i also kept questioning the main character's assertion that she was translating (into arabic) in a 'desert', that beirut was fairly culturally devoid. i felt this couldn't be correct (artistic license, perhaps?), and a quick bit of googling this morning shows my feelings were right. beirut was, at the time of this character's life, actually quite a literary hotspot with a very active and vibrant community for literature and translations.

personally, i found i could related to aaliya (the main character) quite a lot. i take refuge in reading every day. i can talk about books and authors ad nauseam. i have, in fact, questioned whether i have traded living a more interesting outside life for a more bookish interior life. and this was something i certainly saw in aaliya. her world was very insular and everything was related back to a book, or an author, or a philosopher, or a piece of classical music, or a work of art. so then, i guess, the question becomes whether philosophy and the arts are enhancing one's life, or providing a substitute for a life?

alameddine has a lovely style, but i kept wondering what would be left if all the external references were removed - was there a different way this book could have been structured? and i then had the thought that this may have worked better for me as a series of connected stories. anyway... it's funny how we all experience books so differently. i did very much appreciate several things about the book: the glimpse at beiruti life, the question of what makes someone necessary (in their own minds), and the idea of this book is so appealing. i just wish i was left with more than a couple of vignettes in my mind, and a deeper appreciation in my heart. ...more

3 likes · Like · see review