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anna_wa's review against another edition
reflective
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
kurtwombat's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Hidden like a book on a shelf, the life of Aaliya Sohbi is slowly revealed in AN UNNECESSARY WOMAN. She has retired from the world, supplanting her life with literature. Relating her uneasy life through the reassuring eyes of books promotes peace and understanding within her and gives the reader access to depths we might not have expected. From the first page I was at home in her shabby apartment. No matter the weather outside, it feels overcast inside. I can almost smell the mildew, feel the mustiness of a stagnant life clench at my nostrils. Books are always a refuge.
For a woman who has chosen isolation, her most interesting relationship is with the city she lives in.
She at once sees Beirut how it is and how it used to be. She has turned it into another book—many chapters and many viewpoints, part history-part biography.
"Beirut…is the Elizabeth Taylor of cities: insane, beautiful, tacky, falling apart, aging, and forever drama laden. She'll also marry any infatuated suitor who promises to make her life more comfortable, no matter how inappropriate he is."
She broadens her reading experience by each year translating a book—the process is really a kind of deep reading since she has no plans to publish or even let anyone else see them. Each translation is like a relationship that runs it’s course.
The writing is direct and personal. Once in her apartment, drifting with her thoughts, I was content like her. Her life is a path not too distant from my own possibilities. And that is why, when there is an eruptive evolution at the end of the book I was especially delighted. Imagine I would have been happy anyway—as drawn into the narrative as I was.
Quietly seductive and worth the visit.
tigerwibi's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
5.0
kbambilena's review against another edition
4.0
Really good, but it took me a while to get into it. I started and stopped reading it several times before getting halfway through and finally getting hooked (which probably has more to do with me than the book). Regardless, it’s worth the read.
doublel11's review against another edition
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.25
This book was kind of weird, but I also kind of liked it. I liked the main character's way of talking about life, but I didn't enjoy the incessant literary references, sometimes in foreign languages that weren't translated.
jocelyn1967's review against another edition
5.0
This book reminded me how rarely we encounter a genuine, strong voice in fiction. I so enjoyed this protagonist--skeptical, weary, innocent, cranky, lovable. Yes.
luckthelady's review against another edition
5.0
It was like being in my head, but smarter and with clearly cited references.
clairealex's review against another edition
3.0
I read this book after hearing the author read from it and enjoying the humor.
It is the story of an old woman who lives alone and translates books. She does one a year--never intending to publish them; the joy is in the doing. She has a very distant relationship with the other women in her apartment building, mostly observing them and commenting (usually negatively) on their behavior.
Because she is so bookish she frequently alludes to or quotes from a large number of books, some familiar and some not. Sometimes the references are apt. It doesn't matter if they are recognized or not to the content of the allusions, but there are times when it slows the action to a grinding halt and seems intrusive, beyond characterizing the old woman.
And the fault I find with so many books: the ending is not believable.
It is the story of an old woman who lives alone and translates books. She does one a year--never intending to publish them; the joy is in the doing. She has a very distant relationship with the other women in her apartment building, mostly observing them and commenting (usually negatively) on their behavior.
Because she is so bookish she frequently alludes to or quotes from a large number of books, some familiar and some not. Sometimes the references are apt. It doesn't matter if they are recognized or not to the content of the allusions, but there are times when it slows the action to a grinding halt and seems intrusive, beyond characterizing the old woman.
And the fault I find with so many books: the ending is not believable.
bamandia's review against another edition
2.0
this book flipped me back and forth between being bored, agitated and then bored again. there were maybe three moments in the entire novel where i went 'hm...that was interesting.' the narrator was at times pretentious and at times annoying, but rarely likable or empathetic. and about one third of the way through there was the most disgusting sex scene i've ever read. almost made me abandon the book. i wish i had.
an unnecessary woman was an unnecessary story also.
an unnecessary woman was an unnecessary story also.