Jokha Alharthi
Paperback | Pages: 256 pages Rating: 3.46 | 6705 Users | 1345 Reviews
Details Regarding Books Celestial Bodies
| Title | : | Celestial Bodies |
| Author | : | Jokha Alharthi |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | First Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 256 pages |
| Published | : | October 15th 2019 by Catapult (first published 2010) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Historical. Historical Fiction. Literary Fiction |
Chronicle During Books Celestial Bodies
In the village of al-Awafi in Oman, we encounter three sisters: Mayya, who marries after a heartbreak; Asma, who marries from a sense of duty; and Khawla, who chooses to refuse all offers and await a reunion with the man she loves, who has emigrated to Canada. These three women and their families, their losses and loves, unspool beautifully against a backdrop of a rapidly changing Oman, a country evolving from a traditional, slave-owning society into its complex present. Through the sisters, we glimpse a society in all its degrees, from the very poorest of the local slave families to those making money through the advent of new wealth.Itemize Books Toward Celestial Bodies
| Original Title: | سيدات القمر |
| ISBN: | 1948226944 (ISBN13: 9781948226943) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Literary Awards: | Best Omani Novel Award (2010), International Booker Prize (2019) |
Rating Regarding Books Celestial Bodies
Ratings: 3.46 From 6705 Users | 1345 ReviewsAssessment Regarding Books Celestial Bodies
Man Booker International Prize 2019. This is a challenging book for the reader. It is helpful to familiarize yourself with the family tree in the print editions. The main character narrates in first person, while the rest are in third person. And then there is the confusing shuffled deck chronology. Abdullah ibn Sulayman is the son of a prosperous Omani merchant married to a woman he loves and haunted by his fathers cruelty. His grandfather was an arms trader and his father diversified into theI get so excited whenever I start a novel that begins with a family tree. Something about the style of a family saga really appeals to me in the way it traces how individuals function both independently and as part of a family. Celestial Bodies mainly focuses on the stories of three sisters in modern day Oman, but it also presents a number of perspectives of different family members and people connected to that family. Like Sara Taylor's novel The Shore it also moves backwards and forwards in
This is the winner of the 2019 International Man Booker Prize and that was one of the things that drew me to read this book. The other was that while Ive heard of Oman, I didnt know much about it, except that it was in the Middle East. I had to look at a map to see exactly where. I ended up having mixed feelings about it. A family saga in a way spreading over decades, there is a focus on three sisters and the on how they accept or dont the marriages their family decides for them. The narrative
After a promising opening chapter, I struggled with this book. Ok, the mosaic-like structure of fragmented voices is never my favourite novelistic form but I think the breaking point for me is the amount of telling that Alharthi does: 'London wasn't blind. She did see all the signs, but she wouldn't let her mind accept them'. It just left me feeling that all the stories here are simplified as they are interpreted via the narrative voice and there's little work for the reader to do in
Daytime's for people but night-time's for the jinn.Written at night-time, I'm sure, Alharthi's novel is full of magic.Written in the daytime, I'm sure, it is full of people: what a wealth of people. But the jinn is at work too, conjuring life into each and every one. It's not always easy to remember the relationships between them; Cousin Marwan, for example, whose cousin was he again? Ah yes, he's that cousin of Mayya's husband that Asma was taken with. That sense of tranquil purity he radiated,
When it comes to diversity, International Man Booker presents nice trends - 3 of 4 winners have been from the third world and 3 have been women. That said, it ain't the most deserving one in my arrogant opinion - Annie Ernaux's 'The Years' is the best of 5 books listed in the long list this year that I have read.The summary saying it is the story of 3 sisters might suggest it is a family story - which it is, but it manages to capture a lot of Onami life including the slave trade, politics,
Spanning decades, Celestial Bodies explores the hopes and frustrations of three generations of a wealthy Omani family. The books chapters alternate between the perspective of a husband whos married into the family and that of an omniscient narrator who takes a kaleidoscopic look at the inner lives of the members of the household. Theres not a single narrative thread tying everything together, but Alharthi consistently contrasts characters differing conceptions of love, womanhood, and
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