Rabih Alameddine
Hardcover | Pages: 291 pages Rating: 3.81 | 10202 Users | 1709 Reviews
Present About Books An Unnecessary Woman
| Title | : | An Unnecessary Woman |
| Author | : | Rabih Alameddine |
| Book Format | : | Hardcover |
| Book Edition | : | Deluxe Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 291 pages |
| Published | : | February 4th 2014 by Grove Press (first published 2013) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Writing. Books About Books. Literary Fiction. Cultural. Lebanon. Contemporary |
Rendition Concering Books An Unnecessary Woman
One of Beirut’s most celebrated voices, Rabih Alameddine follows his international bestseller, The Hakawati, with a heartrending novel that celebrates the singular life of an obsessive introvert, revealing Beirut’s beauties and horrors along the way. Aaliya Sohbi lives alone in her Beirut apartment, surrounded by stockpiles of books. Godless, fatherless, divorced, and childless, Aaliya is her family’s "unnecessary appendage.” Every year, she translates a new favorite book into Arabic, then stows it away. The thirty-seven books that Aaliya has translated have never been read—by anyone. After overhearing her neighbors, "the three witches,” discussing her too-white hair, Aaliya accidentally dyes her hair too blue. In this breathtaking portrait of a reclusive woman’s late-life crisis, readers follow Aaliya’s digressive mind as it ricochets across visions of past and present Beirut. Insightful musings on literature, philosophy, and art are invaded by memories of the Lebanese Civil War and Aaliya’s volatile past. As she tries to overcome her aging body and spontaneous emotional upwellings, Aaliya is faced with an unthinkable disaster that threatens to shatter the little life she has left. A love letter to literature and its power to define who we are, the gifted Rabih Alameddine has given us a nuanced rendering of a single woman's reclusive life in the Middle East.Define Books In Pursuance Of An Unnecessary Woman
| Original Title: | An Unnecessary Woman |
| ISBN: | 0802122140 (ISBN13: 9780802122148) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Setting: | Beirut(Lebanon) |
| Literary Awards: | California Book Award for Fiction (Gold) (2014), Prix Femina for Étranger (2016), Arab American Book Award for Fiction (2015), PEN Open Book Award Nominee for Shortlist (2015), National Book Critics Circle Award Nominee for Fiction (2014) National Book Award Finalist for Fiction (2014) |
Rating About Books An Unnecessary Woman
Ratings: 3.81 From 10202 Users | 1709 ReviewsAssessment About Books An Unnecessary Woman
Of course, the moment of enlightenment was when dear Aaliyo discovered coffee. The coffee is ambrosia, a flavor of heaven. And that's how my mind worked at the end of this book. A little bit of my own trumpery about the life of the seventy-two-year-old woman in Beiroet. So jejune of me. After all, Aaliya Sohbi lived alone in her Beirut apartment, surrounded by stockpiles of books. "Godless, fatherless, divorced, and childless, Aaliya is her familys "unnecessary appendage. Three witches, as sheJust before I began this book I learned that Rabih is a mans name, a Middle-Eastern mans name. It means, alternatively, spring, or winner. I wondered what kind of Middle Eastern man felt he could write a book about the internal life of an aging widow. And now I know. It would be a man who reads.This is a book about loneliness and connection. Aaliya, a name meaning the exalted one, is a translator. That is, she spends her time translating into Arabic books written in English or French. Some of
Although I know the characters of a novel as a collection of scenes as well, as accumulated sentences in my head. I feel I know them better than I do my mother. I fill in the blanks with literary personas better than I do with real people, or maybe I make more of an effort. I know Lolitas mother better than I do mine, and I must say, I feel her more than I feel my mother. I recognize Rembrandts painted face of his mother better than I recognize the real face of mine. Aaliyas city otherwise
There is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worshipDavid Foster Wallace"Perhaps reading and writing books is one of the last defences human dignity has left, because in the end they remind us of what God once reminded us before He too evaporated in this age of relentless humiliations - that we are more than ourselves; that we have souls."Richard FlanaganAaliya does not believe in God (to her he is a
"Hope is forgivable when you're young, isn't it? With no suspicion of irony, without a soupçon of cynicism, hope lures with its siren song." After finishing this voluptuous novel, I am seriously at a loss for words. I'm not a real fan of books about protagonist musings that lead nowhere, but this novel was delightful. Aaliya is a single Beiruti woman in her 70s, living alone in a tiny apartment surrounded by the books she loves. Wary of people in general, she passes the years working on
The first thing that strikes a reader of this book is the vibrancy of the speakers voice. Here are the first two paragraphs:You could say I was thinking of other things when I shampooed my hair blue, and two glasses of red wine didnt help my concentration.Let me explain.I just couldnt help being drawn in by this first person narrator Aaliya, a seventy-two year old woman living alone in Beruit. Shes deemed unnecessary because (as the bookflap tells us) she is Godless, fatherless, childless, and
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