Palestinian existence has long been harrowing and has gone without many global witnesses, so I am heartened to see this novella recommendation and can’t wait to get my order in.
I'm a little bit obsessed with this novel. I bought it on vacation at a terrific book store near my parents' cabin and read it twice in a row. I've read it a few more times. I don't read Arabic and don't actually know much about literature in Arabic, but the attention to language in the translation, like mirroring or evoking particular phrases from one half to the other, is spectacularly well done. I also was so filled with dread EVERY time, even though I knew what would happen in the text. I'm not entirely sure I know what really happened at the end, but maybe that's part of the effort of the novel/la. (How would you categorize this novel's ending in your taxonomy of endings?) Shibli is interviewed on a Between the Pages podcast. She's fantastic.
Thanks for adding your reading list to the comment section! I love this method for learning about other countries, so I took a screenshot for later reference.
This was an inspiring review because as a multilingual neuroatypical, writing about neuroatypicals, I live with the masking, hypervigilance, and detail drilling. Plus, I'm a fan of Rabih Almaddine and miss his art posts on Twitter.
I've been following along with #84BooksAroundTheWorld since you shared with me at Longleaf, and I have so enjoyed it! I especially appreciate this highlight of a Palestinian author and story. This year I am focusing all of my reading on nonfiction, but I look forward to reading Minor Detail. Thank you for this thoughtful series, Rebecca!
For those keeping track, here's the complete list of my reading so far:
Hungary - Magda Szabo, The Door
Croatia - Vesna Parun, You With Hands More Innocent
Bosnia - Semezdin Mehmedinovic, My Heart
Austria - Elfriede Jelinek, The Piano Teacher
Albania - Ismail Kadare, The File on H
Greece - Alexandros Papadiamantis, The Murderess
Turkey - Sabahattin Ali, Madonna in a Fur Coat,
Syria - Khaled Khalifa, No Knives in the Kitchens of this City
Palestine - Adania Shibli, Minor Detail
Next up:
Lebanon - Hoda Barakat, The Stone of Laughter
Yemen - Zayd Mutee’ Dammaj, The Hostage
Egypt - Latifa Al-Zayyat, The Open Door
Palestinian existence has long been harrowing and has gone without many global witnesses, so I am heartened to see this novella recommendation and can’t wait to get my order in.
I'm a little bit obsessed with this novel. I bought it on vacation at a terrific book store near my parents' cabin and read it twice in a row. I've read it a few more times. I don't read Arabic and don't actually know much about literature in Arabic, but the attention to language in the translation, like mirroring or evoking particular phrases from one half to the other, is spectacularly well done. I also was so filled with dread EVERY time, even though I knew what would happen in the text. I'm not entirely sure I know what really happened at the end, but maybe that's part of the effort of the novel/la. (How would you categorize this novel's ending in your taxonomy of endings?) Shibli is interviewed on a Between the Pages podcast. She's fantastic.
Thanks for adding your reading list to the comment section! I love this method for learning about other countries, so I took a screenshot for later reference.
This was an inspiring review because as a multilingual neuroatypical, writing about neuroatypicals, I live with the masking, hypervigilance, and detail drilling. Plus, I'm a fan of Rabih Almaddine and miss his art posts on Twitter.
Reviens s'il te plaît!!!!!
I imagine you caught this article today but I wanted to make sure. Translators discussing translation. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/28/books/review/literary-translator-roundtable-discussion.html?campaign_id=69&emc=edit_bk_20230630&instance_id=96483&nl=books®i_id=48054904&segment_id=138123&te=1&user_id=1ba732f6f4ab95c2778e1af28d1786cd
For those interested in novellas check out the Substack: A Book For Ants: Bite Sized Reviews of Snack-Sized Books by Bram Presser.
I've been following along with #84BooksAroundTheWorld since you shared with me at Longleaf, and I have so enjoyed it! I especially appreciate this highlight of a Palestinian author and story. This year I am focusing all of my reading on nonfiction, but I look forward to reading Minor Detail. Thank you for this thoughtful series, Rebecca!
I'm only half-way through this one. The first part is so intense that I've had to take it in spurts. "Perfectly harrowing" - oh yes!
Great review! I'm hooked to read this! I'm falling behind you but ever valiant.