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Indlæser... Lyrics Alleyaf Leila Aboulela
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Bliv medlem af LibraryThing for at finde ud af, om du vil kunne lide denne bog. Der er ingen diskussionstråde på Snak om denne bog. I like how the book ends. The final chapter expertly encapsulates what happened to the main characters through Nur Abuzeid's interview with the radio station. Nabilah Bey returned to Egypt and her children became friends with Fatma's daughter, and Soraya became a mother. And Ustaz Badr moved into his dream home. It wasn't clear initially what Ustaz Badr's role is, and the chapters on him slowed the book down. Turns out that he had an important role in spurring Nur to become an excellent poet and unwittingly persuaded Nabilah to return to Sudan. While reading this, I can't help but think of Palace Walk. Both took place in Egypt and had kind patriarchs. Palace Walk took place in Egypt in the 1910s; Lyrics Alley partly took place in Egypt but in the 1950s. But as I write this review, it strikes me how different the two Egypts are. The Egypt depicted in Palace Walk is so much more conservative. That's one of the interesting things I like about reading - learning about different countries and cultures. This is a story of a wealthy Sudanese family. The father has made a fortune in trading; he has two wives: one a traditional Sudanese wife who gave him two sons, now grown. The second wife is much younger from Egypt who has a young son and daughter. The father also has a brother who is widowed with three girls; the oldest taking the place of the mother, the second married to her cousin, and the youngest, Soraya, who wants to study and become modern. The setting is in the 1950's when Sudan was a part of the British protectorate, The father admires the British and easily moves between cultures of Sudan, Egypt, and Britain. The the youngest son who also has the most promise of following the father's steps has a very serious accident which leaves him paralyzed, everything changes. Soraya has hopes of marrying Nur. The second wife becomes very embittered and takes her children back to Cairo after the first wife performs a circumcision on the daughter. As Nur mentally works through his disability, he begins writing poetry even though the father and uncle it is a disgrace. His words later become the lyrics of a popular Sudanese song. An interesting look at the time in Sudan when Muslims and Christians easily intermingled (Soroya attends Catholic school and is beloved by one Sister who encourages her to go to school). At the end of the book, Sudan is just becoming independent and the reader gets the idea that the family troubles will be eased as the country's troubles start. Started slowly, but became very engrossing in the middle and then fizzled a little toward the end. The book is based on the life of the author's uncle (although she says she didn't try to stick closely to the facts of his life) and I wonder if that accounts for some of the pacing problems. I also found the large cast of characters hard to keep track of in the first few chapters--they are all interrelated (often in multiple ways) and I practically need to make a chart to figure out the different relationships. Started slowly, but became very engrossing in the middle and then fizzled a little toward the end. The book is based on the life of the author's uncle (although she says she didn't try to stick closely to the facts of his life) and I wonder if that accounts for some of the pacing problems. I also found the large cast of characters hard to keep track of in the first few chapters--they are all interrelated (often in multiple ways) and I practically need to make a chart to figure out the different relationships.
LEILA ABOULELA’S “Lyrics Alley”, which has been shortlisted for the 2011 Orange prize for fiction, is set in Sudan, as it sloughs off British and Egyptian rule and prepares for its new liberty. Mahmoud, the urbane patriarch, straddles two worlds, embodied in his two wives. The first, Waheeba, is Sudanese; her bulk swathed in a traditional tobe, the tribal scars on her face like “cracks on a French loaf”. Spoilt Nabilah, his younger second wife, is an Egyptian glamourpuss, who sulkily divides her time between Egypt and Sudan, infuriated at the “primitiveness” of her new home, sullen at the heat and squalor of her husband’s “untamed land”. Dismissive of Waheeba, she scorns the very idea that this lump of a woman, “obese, menopausal, illiterate”, could be her rival in anything. The novel was inspired by the life of Aboulela’s uncle, a poet, and a deeper question running throughout is: what is the role of artists in our society? Lyrics Alley sensitively charts the growth of a young artist discovering and honing his talent: 'It must be a skill, like fishing, to cast your net into a river of dreams and catch a splendid array of words.’ In an unstable world, Nur finds that 'the poem is his home’. Vividly evoking the alleyways of Sudan, Egypt and Britain, this novel also movingly and meticulously traces the hidden pathways of the mind and heart with all its anger, shame, hate and love. As a tale of stricken love between two souls, Lyrics Alley is impressive. It is a shame that the novel's gentle, gilded atmosphere prevents it being more. HæderspriserDistinctionsNotable Lists
Their fortune threatened by shifting powers in Sudan and their heir's debilitating accident, a powerful family under the leadership of Mahmoud Bey is torn between the traditional and modern values of Mahmoud's two wives and his son's efforts to break with cultural limits. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Indlæser... GenrerMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.914Literature English & Old English literatures English fiction Modern Period 1901-1999 1945-1999LC-klassificeringVurderingGennemsnit:
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