Mirage

by Bandula Chandraratna

Within a closed Saudi Arabia kingdom, an unexceptional man, Sayeed, finds happiness with Lalifa, a girl who might have been beyond his reach had widowhood and misfortune not brought her within it. But soon the struggle to make a decent life for his new wife and her child amidst heat, dirt, and squalor form the backdrop of tragedy, one fueled by pretty jealousy, sexual desire, and religious fervor.
Mirage was published in England in 1999 at the author's own expense. It emerged from that year's Booker Prize deliberations the unexpected favorite of a number of the judges, just missing the final short-list. Boyd Tonkin, literary editor of the London Independent , chose it as his Book of the Year, saying "we need novels as lucid, moving, and compassionate as this one."

Genres: Fiction, Middle East

214 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Smitha Murthy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was one of those chance finds at the local bookstore. I haven’t read many books by Sri Lankan authors and this seemed like a good time to try. Set in a fictional Arab country that is never revealed, ‘Mirage’ traces the tortured journey of Sayeed. The blurb is entirely wrong - it’s not the story of two “star-crossed lovers.” There were hardly any stars and certainly no lovers in this book. What you do get is a rather detailed insight into a life where the sun is unrelenting, where the date palms sway, and the complexities of rural and urban life are juxtaposed.

I was interested enough to read to the startling end. And still interested enough to consider the sequel.

[El · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sayeed, an orphan, is leaving his village and his younger brother for a larger city and to work in a hospital. His entire life he has sacrificed for others and worked hard, yet still has little money to his name.

I want to say that things happen in this book, but I really have little to say. I wanted to really like Sayeed, but while he wasn't dislikable, his character wasn't particularly fascinating either. While being a short book, Chandraratna uses such painful amounts of detail that I wanted to give up several times. It's not that I'm turned off by detail (hello, I adore Victorian literature!), but here it felt to serve no purpose other than to make a full length novel out of it.

I told myself this is a first novel, and maybe that explains it. Maybe his next book has more character development and an interesting plot. Or... just a plot at all. This evidently didn't do much for me.

[Josie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in a fictional Arab country that is never revealed, by Sri Lankan author Bandula Chandraratna.
This one seem to plod along at a reasonably slow pace and had me wondering with 20 pages left how it was going to be wrapped up, right before being sucker punched with a rather swift and brutal ending!

[Catherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure about this one so it's a 5/10 type of 2-star rating.

The style, although very easy to read, was just a little to faux-naive for me. At certain points, every little movement - every part of making a glass of tea, say - was described in simple language, but there was the odd long or unusual word thrown in too. Also the inconsistent italicisation of Arabic made clothes seem more significant than greetings.

The matter-of-fact narration, added to the lack of agency experienced by all of the characters most of the time, made them feel distant and unreal so I could never quite warm to or empathise with them. The climax therefore shocked as much for it being sudden and unexpected as for the event itself, and the consequences seemed almost matter-of-fact rather than heartbreakingly inevitable.

While it describes the lives of the less-than-rich locals in an Arab country - a population often overlooked, with attention focused on the even worse treatment of many foreign labourers and servants - I didn't feel there was any real insight in the way I did with, for example, Rohinton Mistry's A Fine Balance . Given the endorsements and some of the other reviews, I expected more and was disappointed.

[Rosemary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I admired the way the author by using the minutiae of everyday life built up the tension to heighten the contrast between the life of an individual and the irrationality of religious tyranny. Maybe this is a novel about control - describing the different levels from control to vulnerability to powerlessness. I found it a gripping read as the author involved us in the characters' hopes as opposed to the limitations of a society oppressive in both social and economic realities.

[Nicholas Beck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seemed surprisingly superficially simplistic at first but this tale of an illiterate villager attempting to make a life for himself in a modern Saudi Arabian? city packs an emotional punch with it's slow and steady build to a devastating conclusion. Sayeed has no idea of the sheer number and heft of the social and economic factors barring him entry to the new world and as a result is completely taken unawares. Recommended.

[Anne Cupero · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the sweetest little book. It ends sadly, but it is written so plainly, so detail-oriented, that you don't want it to end. You want to watch Sayeed and Latifa and Leila just go through their daily activities on-and-on. It is quite easy to read, so it doesn't take a long time, but it just transports you to a place you would never otherwise go, and it gives you a taste of a very different life. I enjoyed it immensely.

[Ananth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nicely told about a person who works in a hospital and has his own financial and social issues. How he feels with the foreigners and handles the situations. Nostalgic moments of the home in the village. Later his marriage and the changes he thinks of bringing to his life. The ending felt little abrupt but overall it's fun, humor, emotional and much more. Have a good read.

[Joneill1225 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Apparently the entire text is representing the feelings of the protagonist, which intrigues me now. But while I was reading I just kept waiting for the relevant information in the story. I might need to read it again.

[Jennifer Flygare · Rating 2 out of 5]

It seems like this book was written by someone who is a non-native anglophone. Not the best written book, but the subject is interesting, and the story has fascinated me enough to want to read the sequel.

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

There was a vast amount of detail. I don't think that anything good ever happened. It gives an account of life in an Arab country, but does not present much in the way of a story.

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you like Kite Runner or A Thousand Spendid Suns you would like this! It is quick read and has a surprising end.

[Sasha Strader · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book never did manage to get a real storyline. It was just sort of meandering and then, abruptly, it's over. The writing style could have been beautiful with just a touch of a plotline.

[Lesley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simple writing and easy flowing story. Disappointed in the way the story folded out. Clearly a first novel, but I really loved the characters.

[Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

I could believe this story of a poor city dweller in an Arab country marrying a girl from the village, ending in tragedy. The characters are convincing.

[Jared Mcgregor · Rating 1 out of 5]

AWFUL book! Terribly written, boring, with no real discernible plot. If this is the sort of drivel the Booker prize judges like, then count me out!

[Nic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Incredibly vivid sense of place (desert, village, city). But the narrative style is a touch plodding, and it takes a sharp turn into arbitrarily cruel misery-lit towards the end.

[Anna Bogdanova · Rating 3 out of 5]

Torn between a 3 star and 4 star rating here. The book isn't without fault. I felt that the pacing is very irregular, though maybe that's intentional. It felt too jagged to be intentional though. The prose style is an interesting choice too: its plainness and directness is startling, but enveloping. It's very eloquent, but somehow feels off at times. The irregularity of the pacing took away from the ending for me quite a bit, I'm not sure whether some parts of the novel were redacted in editing. But it's a very powerful book and it left me blinded with anger.

[Jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A novel on life in Saudi Arabia. The ending is shocking and the picture painted of the country is not very pleasant. A powerful novel told in a sparse, but very effective style

[Ranjana · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautifully written book with a simple and tragic plot.

[Lulu Arraiza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really liked it. Not about "star-crossed lovers" but the story of a man who has lived a solitary life. But when that changes, it is not in the way he expects.
This novel is less about the main character and more so explores the impacts of Western development of a Middle East nation and the associated cultural and religious differences.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I hadn't realized I had read this book before until I got close to the end. It was interesting to read again and see how a simple, uncomplicated man could be swept up into victimization that is passed off as religion. Sayeed wasn't stupid but he was pushed. His brother pushes him to get married. Sayeed marries a widow with a child which turns him into a bit of a outcast where he lives. Sayeed sees the best or at least ignores the worst in people and that blows up in his face with his wife.

He's a sympathetic character but only to a point.