One almost needs a map to make sense of this novel. It's not that the story is convoluted; it's more the way the story is told. At its core, Maps is exquisitely written with a story that is perhaps a bit too drawn out, but is interesting nonetheless. The language Farah uses to craft this story is ph...
Farah takes the perspective of Ebla, a nineteen-year old Somali girl from a rural area who has no education, and whose reflections on freedom and society form the incendiary core of the book. Most of them arise from her experience at the hands of men to whom she is a chattel.I found this to be a mov...
He is a good writer but there is a disconnect here. It's as if his heart just wasn't in it. The story flounders in a murky soup of characters and blurry ideas. Themes struggle with their identity crisis. Maybe this is exactly the intent. That's what I believed on first reading the book, that the st...
In telling of Ebla, an 18-year-old runaway who seeks solace in the home of her Mogadishu cousin, Nuruddin Farah draws multiple comparisons to the lives of animals. In one segment, the reader hears of monkeys who cake their female’s vagina with dirt in order to stave off – or reveal signs of – adult...
Don't give up on this book too soon. I feel the book completely turns around when Askar arrives in Mogadishu and one meets with Hilaal and Salaado. They are marvelous! This is what I thought before this point: I wanted to like this book...... but I don't. I always check Kirkus Reviews because usuall...
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