An Unnecessary Woman in Around the World in 80 Books

Jan 07, 2014 Sam rated it liked it

Shelves: 1-contemp-literary, setting-middle-east-northafrica, reviewed, read-2014

The titular Unnecessary Woman is a 72-year old woman in Beirut who’s been translating great works of literature into Arabic for decades and then consigning her translations to boxes never to be read by anyone. We join this woman at a time when she’s feeling unsettled and looking back at her life, on her regrets and loneliness, but also the books and writers that have been her anchor. Of course, there’s melancholy here, but also some humor, surprisingly. Parts of the book do lag a bit, but just a ...more

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Jun 22, 2020 Julie Griffin rated it it was amazing

This is a good book to read during a lockdown in a pandemic. Aaliyah lives in solitude in an apartment in Beirut in her senior year. With no husband, no friends, no close family, she's distanced herself in her life much as she's spent much of her time translating books into Arabic from French or English. Because most people who would read these books wouldn't do so in Arabic, she boxes them up when she is done and stores them in a dark extra room in her apartment. Like many women of her generati ...more

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May 23, 2021 Stil de scriitor rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Cartea este destul de subțitică (280 de pagini), iar ca teme avem războiul, cărțile, familia, prietenia, trecutul, supraviețuirea. Titlul cred ca m-a atras din prima și spre surprinderea mea, este o metaforă bine aleasă, deoarece face referire la Aaliya, o septuagenară iubitoare de cărți și traduceri. Aceasta a fost timp de 50 de ani librar, o meserie pe care am experimentat-o și eu când eram studentă, timp de 7 luni. Femeia de hârtie este, după cum spuneam, metafora femeii iubitoare de cărți, c ...more

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