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chapters are short, snapshot in time a memory's unraveling a reliving + reflection simultaneously— wow deep breath

all of this, his life story really, has been collapsing during his walk home after departing from Hosam...

the strength (wisdom?) of implanting the future as he retells is so visceral e.g. his description on mustafa's characteristics / approaches to friendship married w/ mustafa's trajectory in 2011

the lyrical prose train of thought pulled me in immediately

a monologue a remembrance across and transcending time and place and historical events in the same way love transcends grief and intertwines itself with fear and shame and desire and uncertainty and longing

past present tense done so well, pulls us fifty years forward and back in three words, collapses time, opens truth, and questions both

a bit slow the narrators tone is quite flat

*american-ness / diaspora of Cyrus showing
* he’s trying to understand being a ‘martyr’ as the end up point instead of understanding ‘‘revolutionary’ as the way of life — that seems to be the gap, the how to live
*so far first person is only Zee his father & now his uncle (ie third person for Cyrus & his mother

so much imagery and descriptive writing rooted in nature — beautifully written

enjoying time jumps

the narrator speaking to u, putting u in her shoes — and explaining events as they unfold in uncertainty in terror in horror in too much dehumanization to become legible…

strong narrator voice and such strong grasp on historical fact as experience; as witness

*1984 Jaffna’s Mother’s Front* — v imp and I’m crying

“Ifemelu wanted, suddenly and desperately, to be from the country of people who gave and not those who received, to be one of those who had and could therefore bask in the grace of having given, to be among those who could afford copious pity and empathy. She went out to the deck in search of fresh air.”

Adichie plays with time, treats it as malleable, blending present into past into the future of the past then returning to the past itself

so relationships fully evolve shift slide characters are understood in their past perceptions and evolution and in their present rumination on

So we have both a future reflection or understanding and also an ongoing development (within the time jump back ie the past)

“She liked, most of all, that in this place of a fluent ease, she could be pretend to be someone else [..] someone adorned with certainty.”

Certainty as an adoration as a beautiful luxury

“he was not one of those who used untidiness to substantiate their radicalism.”

the emotional transfer / tension that is so seamlessly carried through in the jumps between past and present makes both realities so visceral and the suspense so elevated across

“Grief is like falling in love; it is always narcissistic.”

Very intriguing set up wise, using quite a traditional formula (big event, fast forward, introduction of each character with flashbacks) — pulling together the relationships past and present between characters in a thrilling way, in a curious manner. layout of the town— also past+present coming together. so you see characters then&now, situate/assess them both better and differently.

“They mutter to each other and laugh and I can see that they are other’s spectator and spectacle.”

Part two done and I’m heartbroken and grieving and my heart has been tugged every last way —
what a genuine writing on desire, life, love, lust, grief, friendship, kinship, the female experience, war and politics and social life — so eloquently and naturally and brilliantly by Alyan. The jump in time (a mini story in itself) so meaningful to the past before it, the future after it, & the present we return to

the brilliance of Alyan is culminating in the “Road to Damascus” — everything piecing together like little clicks for the reader; the prologue unfurling itself slowly, tense but exciting — and I LOVE that we are meeting this all through Mazna

political context flows into the writing and setting so authentically

the ease of borders has been making me envious but saddened as its bound to end

the brilliance of Alyan is culminating in the “Road to Damascus” — everything piecing together like little clicks for the reader; the prologue unfurling itself slowly, tense but exciting — and I LOVE that we are meeting this all through Mazna

political context flows into the writing and setting so authentically

the ease of borders has been making me envious but saddened as its bound to end

Less than 20 pages have me SOBBING in a heartwarming way — how beautiful this coming of age section for Mazna is, especially after we meet her as a mother in part I, now to meet her as a child — to be transfixed into the key moment she became transfixed with theatre, to see her mother and her family dynamics

Mazna did indeed break my heart at the end of this section, I cannot wait for the rest of part II

Okay wow part one done, lyrical prose singing and aching and dancing; and what a beautiful setup of the siblings & family
• the prologue shattered me however let’s start there
• Alyan knows how to introduce not characters but families & webs of networks that feel familial and allow us into their childhoods, worries, successes, relationships
• setting written wow even though it is bouncing around places

Ok started off a bit rough but I do enjoy the language and imagery quite a bit + as per the meta fictional line the author knows what she’s doing

Still don’t know if I’m enjoying the plot itself tho lol

not sure if I love the narrative voice/it’s not that compelling so far buuutttt

The descriptions and imagery r beautiful and vivid and strange esp in some personifications of setting; interactions; character descriptions

*metafictional line p. 25 was also loveelyyy as an inclusion

the descriptions are so lyrical and beautiful esp setting she has a way with words

*also yes to the free falasteennnn protests she refers to

ugh wow I wouldn't stop rn if I didn't have to sleep
- the transparency in her writing about literature politics social relations is wow, esp the line that starts with "culture as class performance" pg 196
— the time jumps are SO SEAMLESS I could scream

Whoaaa immediately invested and loving this writing style — the play on time is so well done in terms of jumps between sections & also the little “present moment” then * “okay here’s how they got here…” style

Meh so and so I’m intrigued but also it’s not keeping me engaged — my theory is that’s the fault of translation and Arabic probably is more enticing

The short chapters are so efffective esp following Ari’s state like wow this writing style is insaaaaaaaneee so much to learn from

characters mimic style — ie we get a sense of Ari based on how it’s written

Sobbing

wow the lyricality the characterisation the dialogue I love this writing style so much the dynamics in this poetic sense are so strong

Ugh coco is doing exactly what I loved in cleopatra — insanely well character creations, yet again the type of book that shows you how to write real complex messy humans— and also simply how to write

The addition of sketches and drawings is so nice I love that she kept it and elevated it