One of the middle easts most celebrated voices, rabih alameddine offfers an enchanting story of a bookloving, obsessive, seventytwoyearold unnecessary woman. Aaliya sohbi lives alone in her beirut apartment, surrounded by stockpiles of books. It is a tale of blue hair and the war of attrition that comes with age, of loneliness and grief, most of all of resilience, of the courage it. One of the middle easts most celebrated voices, rabih alameddine follows his international bestseller, the hakawati, with an enchanting story of a bookloving, obsessive, seventytwoyearold.
Rabih alameddine, an unnecessary woman, grove press. The thirtyseven books that aaliya has translated over her lifetime have never been. For fifty years, she has translated novels into arabic, usually starting a. Finalist for the national book award washington post top 50 fiction books of 2014. Playful, brainy and full of zest, an unnecessary woman is an antidote to literary blandness. Godless, fatherless, divorced, and childless, aaliya is her familys unnecessary appendage. One of the middle easts most celebrated voices, rabih alameddine follows his international bestseller, the hakawati, with an enchanting story of a bookloving. Grief, hope and humor all combine in this story told by 72yearold aaliya saleh in the novel an unnecessary woman by rabih alameddine. From here, her present days are often uneventful and filled with solitude, but the novel itself is far from stagnant. Rabih alameddine invites the reader into aaliyas latelife crisis whereafter a few glasses of red wineshe has dyed her hair irreversibly blue. An unnecessary woman, by rabih alameddine december 1, 2014. Godless, fatherless, childless, and divorced, aaliya is her familys unnecessary appendage. Aaliya, the unnecessary woman of the title, narrates her story in the winter of her 72nd year, as she contemplates which book she should.
It is set in beirut, and for the most part in an apartment in the city. The original meaning of aaliyah is above it all, and for rabih alameddines protagonist in an unnecessary woman, the name is becoming. An unnecessary woman by rabih alameddine, paperback. Alameddines innovative novel collects several dozen of fictional. Aaliyas insightful musings on literature, philosophy, and art are. An unnecessary woman by alameddine, rabih and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. She translates their books into arabic, filling up her home with three dozen translations which no one else has ever read. Thriftbooks sells millions of used books at the lowest. An enchanting story of a bookloving, obsessive, seventytwoyearold unnecessary woman with a past shaped by the lebanese civil war. One of beiruts most celebrated voices, rabih alameddine fo. An unnecessary woman by rabih alameddine publishers. An unnecessary woman by rabih alameddine librarything. Its a portrait of an isolated woman with a dazzling mind as she comes to grips with getting old.
An unnecessary woman is a 2014 novel by lebanese american writer rabih alameddine that was nominated for the national book award for fiction. An unnecessary woman, a piercing study of detachment and. If youve ever felt not at home in the worldor in your own skinor preferred the company of a good book to that of an actual person. Books by series coming soon new releases this months biggest new books. Buy a cheap copy of an unnecessary woman book by rabih alameddine. Her tastes run toward the intellectual titans of 20thcentury international literature, including w. Rabih alameddines novel, both clever and pretentious, is set in a maddeningly americanised sitcom version of the middle east. One of the middle easts most celebrated voices, rabih alameddine follows his international bestseller, the hakawati, with an enchanting story of a bookloving, obsessive, seventytwoyearold unnecessary woman. Reading an unnecessary woman has encouraged jenny bhatt of storyacious to move all of alameddines books to the top of my toread list. Could the novel have been set anywhere else other than beirut. An unnecessary woman not much happens in an unnecessary woman, lebaneseamerican author rabih alameddines novel about an elderly recluse who spends her time reading and translating. Rabih alameddine books list of books by author rabih. Home for rabih alameddine, the author of four books before an unnecessary woman, is divided between beirut and san francisco. I like this book because i usually appreciate books that introduce me to other books.
Text publishing an unnecessary woman, book by rabih. Rabih alameddine follows his bestseller, the hakawati, with a heartrending novel that celebrates the singular life of an obsessive introvert, revealing beiruts beauties and horrors along the way. Books 2 screen pick an unnecessary woman by rabih alameddine agent. Everyday low prices on a huge range of new releases and classic fiction. A novel in first chapters 5 out of 5 based on 0 ratings. Over the past 50 years, while working at a bookstore, she has translated 37. See all books authored by rabih alameddine, including an unnecessary woman, and the hakawati, and more on thriftbooks. Osama alkharrat returns in 2003 to beirut, where his family once owned a prosperous car dealership, to visit his dying father farid. Mail on sunday an unnecessary woman dramatizes a wonderful mind at play. An unnecessary woman, a piercing study of detachment and devotion.
An unnecessary woman is a painful reminder that life is too short to read all the fascinating literary works from around the world. Aaliyahs existence is defined through multiple displacements estranged from her family, divorced, retired and friendless, aaliyah observes the present and past with aloof detachment. An unnecessary woman is a kind of commonplace book, stuffed with citations from aaliyas favorite novels and poems. Rabih alameddine is the author of the novels koolaids, i, the divine and the hakawati, the story collection, the perv, and most recently, an unnecessary woman. An unnecessary woman dramatises a wonderful mind at playfilled with intelligence, sharpness and strange memories and regretsand over all this fiercely original act of creation is the sky of beirut throwing down a light which is both comic and tragic, alert to its own history and to its mythology, guarding over human frailty and the idea of the written word with love and wit and. Set in beirut, lebanon, it painted a historical canvas of its turbulent years as seen through the eyes of an unlikely heroine, aaliya sohbi, a 72yearold. An unnecessary woman by rabih alameddine the boston globe. With an unnecessary woman, rabih alameddine has accomplished something astonishing.
Text publishing wonderful press for rabih alameddines an. With this accidental act, so begins rabih alameddines gorgeous fourth novel, an unnecessary woman, the story of a life lived in a city at war. It is also the first book i have read by a lebanese author unless you count kahlil gibran, but since he wrote in english, i. An unnecessary woman, nominated for the national book award. Everything that happens to her provokes a literary reminiscence. Books mentioned in the novel an unnecessary woman by. So begins rabih alameddines novel an unnecessary woman. Books mentioned in the novel an unnecessary woman by rabih alameddine a love letter to literature and its power to define who we are, the gifted rabih alameddine has given us a nuanced rendering of a single womans reclusive life in the middle east. At one point in an unnecessary woman, aaliya finds herself wondering if shes grown too old for beirut p.
Winner of the california book award finalist for the national book critics circle award finalist for the national book award beautiful and absorbing. He divides his time between san francisco and beirut. Rabih alameddine creates a playlist to go with an unnecessary woman for largehearted boy. Aaliya says that the city is too random and that she doesnt feel in charge of her life for it p. Her life story is punctuated by her musings on art, and by the inescapable intrusions of the brutal real world. An unnecessary woman by rabih alameddine reading guide. Buy an unnecessary woman by rabih alameddine from amazons fiction books store. The events that frame this novel take place over about 24 hours, but we also learn about the narrators life through her extended flashbacks. Sarah nour eldin never manages to get past the first chapter of the memoir she aspires to pen.
An unnecessary woman by rabih alameddine goodreads. New york times an unnecessary woman is a breathtaking portrait of one reclusive womans latelife crisis. An unnecessary woman by rabih alameddine waterstones. Unnecessary woman lives on the margins, enveloped in books. The story, written as a first person address, is set in presentday beirut, spanning the space between christmas. Howe has published more than 20 books of poetry and prose. An unnecessary woman is the latest novel from lebaneseamerican writer rabih alameddine.
Its the drama of daily life, only highly informed, says kosu radio. With a dose of wit and selfdeprecation, aaliya is a narrator who doesnt fail to entertain. An unnecessary woman, book by rabih alameddine paperback. Every year, she translates a new favourite book into arabic, then stows it away. Finalist for the national book award finalist for the national book critics circle award washington post top 50 fiction books of 2014. Aaliya saleh lives alone in her beirut apartment, surrounded by stockpiles of books. An unnecessary woman is a story of innumerable things. Home an unnecessary woman discussion guide libguides. An unnecessary woman is the fourth novel by jordanianborn lebanese author, rabih alameddine. An unnecessary woman isbn 9781922147233 pdf epub rabih. A novel arrested my interest from the very beginning and held it right to the end. An unnecessary woman is a sublime novel, a love letter to literature and its power to define who we are.
The book can be categorized as a work of metanovel. This detailed literature summary also contains quotes and a free quiz on an unnecessary woman by rabih alameddine. An unnecessary woman by rabih alameddine is published by text publishing in march 2014. So this is a woman who, whether it is by choice or by circumstance, has been forced into the margins of. An unnecessary woman by rabih alameddine book word. Her passion for translation is the prime source of the novels claim on its readers sympathies. Sebald, roberto bolano, joseph roth, vladimir nabokov and fernando. Shes sharp and sour and not especially likeable, but what redeems her is her love of music and books, especially the latter. Aaliya is one of the more memorable characters in contemporary fiction, and every page of this extraordinary novel demands to be savored and reread. Rabih alameddines unnecessary woman ablaze with wonder. Aaliya is a formidable character an unnecessary woman is a book lovers book. Not much happens in an unnecessary woman, lebaneseamerican author rabih alameddines novel about an elderly recluse who spends. Every year, she translates a new favorite book into arabic, then stows it away. Aaliya lives alone with her booksbooks she has collected over a.
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