طحالب

by Mary Watson, أماني توما (مراجعة), عمرو خيري (ترجمة)

Evie walks with her father at night in the secret moss garden; the Warlock sisters play games with the jagged metal in the scrap yard; the adulteress drags a boulder up a hill in penance, watched by the Brethren and their strangely scarred congregation... such are the denizens of these intense, lush stories of good and evil, purity and contamination, desire and religion.

"A collection of some of the most exquisite short stories I have read in a long time. Each story has been finely carved, with every little detail in place, creating such a dense system of interrelated meanings that the reader cannot skip a line without missing something vital.. I can honestly say that I have seldom, in South African literature, come across short stories of such suggestive power as these." - André Brink.

Genres: Short Stories, African Literature

272 pages

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Find me on Instagram @marym_watson

Reviews

[Mohamed El-Mahallawy · Rating 4 out of 5]

متتالية قصصية شديدة الروعة ، قرأت ترجمتها عن ترجمة عمرو خيري وإصدار سلسلة الأدب ، تجمة إحترافية حقيقية قام بها عمرو خيري وإن كانت هناك نقطتين أو ثلاث في المتتالية لم يستطع إيصال المعني المطلوب بدقة كبيرة عن طريق كلماته ولكن يمكن غض الطرف عن المرتين لأنه حقاً يظهر جهده الشديد ومهارته في بقية الكتاب كله ...
المتتالية تحكي قصة جماعة معينة بأفرادها في حياتهم وفي اختلاف أفكارهم وطاشفتهم الدينية بأوامرها الصارمة والمجتمع الجنوب أفريقي بمشاكله وأفكاره وأحلامه ، تستمتع للغاية مع القصة الأولى والتي تتحدث على لسان طفلة صغيرة تصف حياتها بمأساتها ثم تنتقل مع الشخصيات كلِ يتحدث عن حياته بمنظوره ، تستمتع للغاية مع الشخصية الأكثر تأثيراً على الجميع طوال القصة "جيسيكا" العذراء
تستمتع وتشعر بكم الخيالات والجو المريح والصعب والأسطوري أحياناً ، لم أشعر أبداً بأن التسلسل القصصي قد هرب من يد المؤلفة ولا من يد المترجم
رائعة حقاً

[Gail Gilbride · Rating 5 out of 5]

Title: Moss
Author: ​Mary watson
Reviewer: Gail Gilbride
The secret moss garden is where Evie and her father walk after dark. The ‘virgin Jessica’ and the
Warlock girls hang out in the metal scrap yard and play strange games. The Brethren and their
fanatical congregation, force an adulteress to drag a boulder up a hill, while they judge and jeer.
These exquisitely written short stories about good and evil, blur the boundaries at times and
question the definitions of wholesomeness, passion and religious belief.
Mary Watson’s command of language and attention to detail, results in subtle, lyrical prose which needs to be savoured. This is not a collection to be raced through, but rather read at leisure, in order to absorb the many layers of meaning and intensity, in each inter-related piece.
The mythical, nuanced stories weave into each other and yet stand on their own at the same time, touching on themes of innocence and loss, strength and vulnerability, and the human condition in general.
If you are after a light read, I would say this is not it. But if you are looking for a deeply
meaningful collection, don’t miss Moss.
Reviewer: Gail Gilbride

[Osama Mohamed · Rating 3 out of 5]

فكرة المتتالية القصصية نفسها فكرة لطيفة ولكن القصص لم تكن علي المستوي من وجهة نظري .
اكثر ما أعجبني في الكتاب في الحقيقة المقدمة عن الأدب الجنوب أفريقي اللتي كتبها المترجم فهي رائعة وتتحدث عن تاريخ الأدب في جنوب أفريقيا ورواده.

[Justme · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the way the stories connect, and the way they don't. Amazing structure for multiple perspectives.

[Elite Group · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mythical stories about good and evil, weave into one another.

The secret moss garden is where Evie and her father walk after dark. The 'virgin Jessica' and the Warlock girls hang out in the metal scrap yard and play strange games. The Brethren and their fanatical congregation, force an adulteress to drag a boulder up a hill, while they judge and jeer. These exquisitely written short stories about good and evil, blur the boundaries at times and question the definitions of wholesomeness, passion and religious belief.

Mary Watson's command of language and attention to detail results in subtle, lyrical prose which needs to be savoured. This is not a collection to be raced through but instead, read at leisure, to absorb the many layers of meaning and intensity, in each inter-related piece.

The mythical, nuanced stories weave into each other and yet stand on their own at the same time, touching on themes of innocence and loss, strength and vulnerability, and the human condition in general.

If you are after a light read, I would say this is not it. But if you are looking for a deeply meaningful collection, don’t miss Moss.

Gail Gilbride
Author of Under the African Sun

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

[Tutankhamun18 · Rating 3 out of 5]

//3.5//

Some of these stories are weird, some beautiful, others too strange to really comprehend. You get the feeling thay all these strange worlds are interlinked or play out in the same realm. Running figures and symbols throughout include the Virgin Jessica, young girls, moss, secrets and transformation. Themes of judgement, purity, Sin, love, loss of innocence, innocence, connection.

The prose is beautifully crafted, with each sentence dripping imagery. When the story is good, its very good, but a few are bad and that is why the collection looses a few stars for me. Definately worth reading and the less good stories do not spoilt the excellent, which is the beauty of a short story collection.

[Ahmed Gamal Shafik · Rating 2 out of 5]

بمنتهي الأختصار و بالعامية المصرية البسيطة لأن الموضوع لا يحتاج لتجميل المتتالية القصصية دي ضعيفة جدا و لم أكن أتصور أن تكون بهذه الهشاشة بغض النظر عن المقدمة اللي أعطاها المترجم عن الأدب الأفريقي أو الجنوب أفريقي تحديدا يعني المقدمة كانت فشيخة و كلام عن الادباء الافارقة اللي حصلوا علي جايزة نوبل و بتاع حسيت أنى هقرا عن أرنست هيمنجواى لكن الحقيقة أن القصص ضعيفة سوى أول قصة بعنوان العذراءاللي نقدر نقول أنها رواية جميلة تتكلم عن العنصرية ضد النساء الأفارقة السود غير كده بلح و نجمتين والله علشان المقدمة الفشيخة عن الأدب الأفريقي للمترجم

[Cheraé · Rating 3 out of 5]

While epic in its writing style, I found myself struggling to finish some of the short stories presented. The author weaves magically between good and evil, but I found myself sitting more deeply in the earlier stories than the last few ones. This book is not one you can pick up and rush through, the words hold so much meaning, you’ll find yourself going back often and re-reading for fear of missing the fuller picture. Unless you enjoy reading this way, this book of short stories may not be everyone’s cup of tea.

[Kinosfronimos · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an incredible book. Nuanced. Subtle. A pearled string of stories blurring narrative lines with sheer aplomb. It was a felt journey of a book: rolling through waves insistently moulding a beach, a loss of innocence couched in moss, myth and stark reality woven by trains and errand bees; and women, women of strength and vulnerability, piercing intention and beggared dreams, sex and throaty laughter left in a shallow tide pool.

[Muhammad Nida · Rating 4 out of 5]

الريفيو بعدين

صفر ١٤٣٥

[جلجامش Nabeel · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was OK, and already my first African novel to read. There was some strange religious sects in the last chapter trying to throw a woman from atop the hill. I did not like it.