Amoxcalli
01-24-2010, 05:17 PM
Wedding Song is a short novel (or long novella, I can’t really tell) by Egyptian author Naguib Mahfouz. The novel is divided into four different chapters, each telling the entire story from the point of view of an unreliable narrator. The events in the novel revolve around a theatre in Cairo and the people that work in it.
At first I found the novel difficult to keep reading. It jumps on the timeline quite more often and more irregularly than usual and the blatant unreliability of the first narrator kept me in doubt. However, once I got into the story, I found it to be past-paced, exciting, but still very thought provoking. Often I was left with the feeling that I had just read a passage that needed some time to think about, while the story was so exciting and demanding of my curiosity that I didn’t want to take the time to think.
One of the main strengths of the novel is its unchronological build-up, in my opinion. The story wouldn’t have been that great, had it been told in a more conventional way, but as it as details are revealed gradually and information given is always questioned, I wasn’t able to figure out the characters’ motives, personalities and actions until the very end. Even after the last page, you’re left with the feeling that maybe, just maybe, you’re wrong after all, and you’ve trusted the wrong narrators.
All in all, I think I can safely recommend this book to anyone looking for a good read. It may not be as famous as the Cairo Trilogy and it’s probably out of print by now, but if you do come across it, it shouldn’t be left unread.
7.5/10
At first I found the novel difficult to keep reading. It jumps on the timeline quite more often and more irregularly than usual and the blatant unreliability of the first narrator kept me in doubt. However, once I got into the story, I found it to be past-paced, exciting, but still very thought provoking. Often I was left with the feeling that I had just read a passage that needed some time to think about, while the story was so exciting and demanding of my curiosity that I didn’t want to take the time to think.
One of the main strengths of the novel is its unchronological build-up, in my opinion. The story wouldn’t have been that great, had it been told in a more conventional way, but as it as details are revealed gradually and information given is always questioned, I wasn’t able to figure out the characters’ motives, personalities and actions until the very end. Even after the last page, you’re left with the feeling that maybe, just maybe, you’re wrong after all, and you’ve trusted the wrong narrators.
All in all, I think I can safely recommend this book to anyone looking for a good read. It may not be as famous as the Cairo Trilogy and it’s probably out of print by now, but if you do come across it, it shouldn’t be left unread.
7.5/10