Rayyan Mikati > Recent Status Updates

“Doesn’t the act of looking at an object become also one of its definitions? And isn’t a ‘woman’ all that had been said about her, all that has been seen in her, all that has been done to her?” (P. 22)

"If I could be half the person my dog is, I would be twice the human I am."

This is an engaging story and a real page turner. But I kind of hate myself for enjoying the read because of how annoyed I am at the same old "fumbling, helpless wife + competent, stoic husband" dynamic. It feels sexist. To the book's credit, it has some semblance of self-awareness, but not enough to excuse it in my opinion.

I read the original a year or two ago, currently working through the Arabic translation. So far, it's a good translation. A few words are changed here and there (particularly English slang or more vulgar phrases) but the sentences are more or less directly translated and appear in the same order as in the original.