Welcome to Litsy!

🏫 I‘ve learned how to work effectively in a team, and that I really enjoy it.
🏫 I‘m currently a PhD student and teaching assistant.
🏫 In another life, I‘d be a marine archaeologist. I want to be by the ocean and near ships.
Thanks for the tag @Eggs #WondrousWednesday

We have two main characters, Saleh and Latif. Both from Zanzibar, both living in the UK, both with complicated histories.

Everything we see, we see directly from our main characters minds, like a stream of consciousness in many ways. We only ever look backwards, in reminiscent.

This didn't grab me, it felt very drab and I understand that's the vibe the author is going for here. I wasn't particularly engaged, was fine.

My 3rd novel by Gurnah, all since he won the Nobel Prize. I‘ve enjoyed them all. He‘s a wonderful storyteller, weaving gentle kindnesses into serious story tensions. This 2001 novel is a beautiful book about two refugees from British Zanzibar and later independent Zanzibar/Tanzania, who meet up in England.

No clue why kitty is head-butting my book. She was very determined though. Anyway, I‘m going to try to start it today.

Great

Heartbreaking but good.
Characters were great, hated Saleh first but started having sympathy for him in the end.
Everyone is the antagonist and protagonist so this book was written well.

I'm sorry, despite Saleh eating one meal a day, having to do chores in the morning and being locked in at night on the island, he was living my life. They don't do jail like that nomo.

Of course I had to read something by the Nobel Prize winner in Literature. But actually I got lucky to get this book, since all his German translations are out of print.
Honestly, if I wouldn't know about the prize, I wouldn't say that I just read a Nobel laureate. Maybe it's the translation, but tbh I've read better books about migration and life as a refugee than this one. It's not bad, but imo not something I'd connect with the Nobel prize🤷‍♀️

Hey NC folks! Here's a curious book sale next weekend...