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No Knives in the Kitchens of This City
No Knives in the Kitchens of This City | Khaled Khalifa
16 posts | 5 read | 65 to read
In the once beautiful city of Aleppo, one Syrian family collapses into tragedy and ruin. The mother, abandoned by her husband, struggles to raise her children alone. Her daughter Sawsan flirts with the militias, the ruling party, and finally religion, seeking but never finding salvation. All are slowly choked in the fog of violence and decay, as their lives are plundered and their dreams wrecked by the brutal Assad regime. Set between the 1960s and 2000s, No Knives in the Kitchens of this City is a graceful and profound depiction of life under tyranny. Through the story of a single family, we read the disintegration of a whole society over half a century. This novel teaches us about grief, fear, and the end of beauty.
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shawnmooney
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I have wanted to read this ever since hearing Jenny talk about it, including on a recent episode of her @ReadingEnvy podcast. And now I've just seen a review here on Litsy where somebody said it was the best book they'd ever read. I must get to it soon!

ReadingEnvy Okay but we need to figure out why all the Arabic language reviews are so negative. What did he do? 7y
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ReadingEnvy
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Pickpick

"Cities die, just like people."
A difficult story of the city of Aleppo from 1960s-2000, through the eyes of members of one family.

MyNamesParadise 😢😢😢😢 8y
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ReadingEnvy
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ReadingEnvy
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ReadingEnvy
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ReadingEnvy
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ReadingEnvy
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#TBRTemptation #bookmail Really looking forward to this novel about Aleppo. It was out of stock on Amazon for weeks! I'll read this for my #borders2017 reading project.

Michelle_mck I just stumbled across this book and am intrigued 8y
ReadingEnvy @Michelle_mck I really want to get to it soon! 8y
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JenniferJarrell
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Pittsburgh's City of Asylum, a nonprofit program providing sanctuary for exiled writers, opened a bookstore. Clearly, they deserve all of my money. (And their emphasis on translated-to-English works is outstanding.) http://cityofasylum.org/about/

emtobiasz Oh cool! I'll have to check it out! 8y
JenniferJarrell @emtobiasz They host readings and live jazz nights too. It's so cool. 8y
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Kkhalifeh
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Syrian authors YES PLEASE!

Gayan I adore those bookends. 8y
Kkhalifeh @gayan me too! 8y
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xplodybrain
Bailedbailed

I really wanted to like this book. So little is out there that offers such an intimate view of Aleppo in what would ideally be an easily accessible format. Was it a failure of translation? I suspect that some fault may lie there, but issues such as seemingly random appearances of unexplained yet obviously important characters can't be the work of shoddy interpretation alone.

No reader should have to work so hard to find the story.

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BookishMarginalia
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We mourn for Aleppo. This novel paints a picture of a world, now in ruins, just a few years before the Syrian civil war. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/14/books/review-no-knives-in-the-kitchens-of-this... #diversereads

Jaimelire Have to read this one. Thanks for suggestion. 8y
Jinjer Sounds good!! 8y
readinginthedark Oh good, I've been looking for books set in Syria! Do you have any other recommendations? 8y
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Cinfhen Wow, great timing on this one @BookishMarginalia 👍🏻I'm bumping it up on my wish list 8y
EmilyElizabeth I just downloaded this, thanks for this inspiration. 😊 8y
Posemn This one is on my list. I hope to find books on Syria that will tell their stories - good, bad, and sad - this year. 8y
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kookie
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Pickpick

Very interesting. Shows how easily a person could become radicalized even against their better judgment.