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La philistine: un roman by Leila Marshy

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deschatjes's review against another edition

4.0

This is not a quick or easy read. But it is well worth it with some wonderful passages. The book is one of those that keeps expanding spirals of ideas and events into a deeper and deeper understanding. What is it to be an immigrant, what is it to be part of a diaspora of a nation that is collapsing, what is it to be the daughter in a failed marriage. What is it to be human and accept and understand the fallibilities of family and the people around you. How do you respond to a culture that is and isn't yours - by staying and staying and living it and coming to grips with yourself and what you witness.

wildblackberrydays's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

blundershelf's review against another edition

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5.0

I was shocked but maybe not surprised to learn that it took Marshy ten years to write this novel. Perhaps that was meant to be, as to my eyes it contains nothing extraneous, nothing without meaning. A young woman who has lived her whole life in Canada flies to Egypt in a fit of decisiveness that leaves her almost immediately upon arrival. What follows is a coming-of-age in late 1980s (I believe 1987-1988?) Cairo as Nadia stumbles her way into personhood. Can Nadia claim to be Palestinian when she's never touched its soil? Is she lesbian, bisexual? Is she Arab, Canadian, something else? Do any of those qualifiers matter? This is a beautiful book that I'll gladly reread.

freakyfriendfiction's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

The first 4 chapters were hard to get through but after that it became much easier and I fell into a rhythm with it, which felt like it mirrored the story. I enjoyed this one a lot.