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I really struggled to finish this book. I didn't like any of the characters. What redeemed it was the descriptions of the cities and villages in Algeria.
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Jan 01, 2010
Sunflower
rated it
really liked it
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review of another edition
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Three Americans who think of themselves as travellers, not tourists, are adrift in North Africa after the second World War. What happens to them is a miserable cry of despair, as their emotional dislocation and incomprehension of their surroundings gradually destroys them. Most of the book is about their inner landscapes, though the Sahara and North Africa and its people feature prominently. Everyone is flawed, more so as time goes on and the main characters move further and further from civilis
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I honestly don't know a thing about this book. Is this supposed to be about Americans? Is it supposed to be about women? colonialism? This paperback edition also promises to provide supplementary information, but really it provides one review by Tennessee Williams and literally pages of timeline biography of Bowles and those within his circle concerning their unconventional lives. I am a new reader to this author and would have hoped someone would throw me a bone. There are two web links include
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Started off good. For a while I was sucked into Africa but then it kind of betrayed its promises. The characters are incredibly unbelievable and the things they do are just plain ridiculous. Before the middle I couldn't care less about the story anymore. The two stars are completely dedicated to the occasionally beautiful prose.
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I loved the desert as the stark, over-powering landscape against which one comes face-to-face with the inner most workings of one's soul. I did not love the unnecessary extended sexcapade that happens in the last section of the book. I was disappointed that what was mostly a compelling psychological story ended as a letter to Penthouse.
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Mar 13, 2008
Tracyene
marked it as to-read
Jun 22, 2009
Kristin
marked it as to-read
Mar 25, 2011
Shannon Wallner
marked it as to-read
Aug 03, 2013
Grace
marked it as to-read
Sep 11, 2013
Lillawa
marked it as to-read
Jul 23, 2018
Rachel
marked it as to-read
Sep 30, 2020
kora
marked it as to-read
