Reading 1001 discussion

4.5* - I enjoyed this very much, in large part for the writing itself and for the story’s structure (of stories being shared orally to a ‘silent’ narrator). I also enjoyed the perspective of a narrator returning home to Africa after living abroad (in Europe) and to see his beloved home through a new lens. And then there is the main story itself, told by a man who is new to the narrator’s town, which is intriguing and layered in its themes. This is a complex book for so few pages, but it doesn’t feel heavy.

The story is set in the 1960s and is told my a young man who has returned to his village on the Nile in Sudan. Back home, he sees a stranger who is not familiar to him, Mustafa Sa'eed. Mustafa has also spent years in London and is a brilliant young man. While in London this man has a series of affairs with European woman, all who are in love with exotic young man from Africa. It is a tale of the violence when two cultures collide. A story of not fitting in the past and not yet ready for future. 4 stars