The Parisian

THE PARISIAN is totally enveloping. Rarely does a novel provide such deep insight into character while also communicating a world with such intricacy and complexity. Definitely a must-read for anyone who loves a story with a fantastic sense of place. Wholeheartedly recommend!

You know that feeling you get when you near the end of a book and your heart breaks a little because you don’t want it to end? I only just finished The Parisian, but I already feel a bit lost, suspended in time, missing the characters, and the country I grew to love all over again through Isabella Hammad’s beautiful prose.It’s funny, because during the first fifth of the book or so there were areas where I struggled, and wondered if I should just leave it and move on to something else. The thing is, every time I put the book down, Midhat stayed in my mind, following me around, and I couldn’t leave him hanging, could I? I’m so glad I didn’t, because firstly I would have continued to wonder how Midhat’s life played out, and secondly I would have missed the wonders of this book.The Parisian revolves around Midhat Kamal, the son of a wealthy fabric trader from Nablus in Palestine, and follows him through about 20 years of his life, which coincide with the First World War in Europe, the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, the British Mandate, and the Arab uprising for independence in the mid 1930’s. The first quarter of the novel takes place in France, where Midhat’s father sends him to study medicine. Midhat falls in love, both with a woman and the country, but he then returns to Nablus alone, where he moves to learn his father’s trade. France never leaves his thoughts, but Nablus is where he stays. The rest of the novel is the story of a country fighting to exist in its own right. Midhat is the leading thread through the story but we also get to know many other characters, all of whom add depth and importance to the story, as well as necessary information towards grasping a concrete overview of the country, the changes, and a history we don’t talk about.It’s beautifully written, and the setting, the characters, and the plot really interested me. I loved the depth, and the intensity of the descriptions, both visual and psychological. I also feel like I learned so much about a country I already thought I knew so much about.The Parisian reminded me so much of the 19th century French and Russian literature I studied in depth in my teens and early 20’s. The richness of the character development, and the intensity of the language reminded me that literature is art, and that this book is actually a work of art. There is a level of commitment required from the reader, and if readers aren’t aware of that they may be put off by the story at first. I am glad that I persevered, because The Parisian is a very, very special book.This is historical fiction, history, and literature at its finest. If you only buy one book in April make sure it is this one.

Terrific debut novel from Isabella Hammad

Hammad is talented but her prose becomes a bit fussy and prolonged. Likewise, her subjects take introspective jaunts that are tedious and not very believable. It was a slog of a book to get through. The ending was sadly deficient, seemingly a function of finishing up and getting the work to her publisher.

Isabella Hammad is a brilliant storyteller. In 500 pages, she tells a gripping, cohesive story while also holding space for the inherent ambiguities and messiness of life. Her attention to historical details adds a rich texture to the narrative (e.g. a grandmother's experience of peering into a camera for the first time; the evolution of French and Middle Eastern men's fashion) without the book reading like the product of copious research or a history lesson. The characters, from young revolutionaries to an aging priest, are complex and wholly believable. Hammad's novel is full of beauty, passion, and a wonderful sense of humor. I will return to this book again and again.

Though historical fiction, the author meticulously researched the culture and history of Palestine between the two great wars, from about 1914 (I know, that's during WWI, but the first few years are set in Paris) through the dissolution of the Ottoman empire and the slicing up of the middle east by the French and English, to the nascent assent of the Jewish state. It is a time most Americans know little about and, for the most part, what we do know doesn't really jibe with reality. But this is not a political treatise. One could call it a novel of manners, but it is more than that. The Parisian (al-Barisi in Arabic) is a story of love found, love lost, and love lost again in a shattering and tragic manner. You'll love it.

A huge immersive experience- a book to get lost in. Midhat Kamal is the Parisian but he's more than that. He's the history of Palestine between 1914 and just before WWII. Moving between France and the Middle East, he exemplifies the ebb and flow for so many during that time frame, and today as well. There are lots of characters, there are some densely written descriptive passages, but once you sink into this, it will reward you with a good story that's also informative. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. Fans of big Russian novels will recognize the rhythms of this. It's also one which might be better read in hard copy instead of kindle.

Early part of book is interesting interweave of French colonial mores & influence in Syria/Lebanon. The main character's time at med school in France and his thwarted romance with daughter of host family interesting. "The Parisian" goes on to have a very dull life, however, and there is not enough action for him in the political crises of Palestine as more and more Jews immigrate to the region.

Hammad is a superb writer. She has a amazing eye and imagination for detail - both external descriptive detail, and the internal detail of her characters' thoughts and feelings. But she has a great deal to learn about being a novelist.She seems to have no understanding (yet) of narrative flow, pace, and rhythm. She needs to learn to use all that detail sparingly and not let it get in the way of telling the story.There story she tries to tell is a crucially important one of pre-WW2 Palestine, and it is laudable to show how the historical events and personal histories interweave. But they don't interweave here - they tumble over each other in a confusing melee.In addition, there are too many characters. The use of unexplained arabic (and french) phrases is not the minor editorial glitch others have mentioned, but a major barrier to understanding for very many readers and likely to alienate their receptivity and sympathy for the story.As for "The Parisian" ... the apparent protagonist's early life in Paris and his affair with Jeanette are a distraction that - at the very end of the book - dominates over the context of the historical events in a puzzling way.It seems to me that this ""novel" is a concatenation of about 15 short stories and twice as long as it needs to be. I managed to finish it, but only just!Where were the editors? Were they heeded?

I’ve read several beautifully written memoirs by Palestinians touching on the events that led to the creation of the state of Israel. This is however the first English language novel of that period, I’ve come across. The Parisian is an ambitious historical fiction work with a main anchor in Nablus in Palestine from early in the twentieth century to the early days of the Arab Revolt in the late 1930’s. A secondary anchor is France and life in France under the First World War.Isabella Hammad is a master painter of settings, her beautiful lyrical prose breathes life in places. Hammad transports the readers to Montepillier gardens, streets and houses, and to the dinner parties and the sophistication of an affluent segment of the French society. With equal mastery Hammad takes the reader to Nablus and the rugged mountains around it, the olive groves, the crowded homes and the bustling streets.Midhat Kamel, the central character of the novel, a Nabulsi son to a merchant who is sent to France for education during the war years and comes back to live in Palestine in the turbulent years following the fall of the Ottoman Empire and subsequent British Mandate over Palestine. While the reader gets to know a lot about this central character, he remains aloof, distant even after some 550 pages. The other characters of the novel are sketched by Hammad around Midhat, most are not fully developed beyond their physical appearance and their interactions related to Midhat.Hammad displays great knowledge of history, the novel recreates the early days of the Jewish immigarstion into Palestine and beautifully crafts the Palestinian search and development of their identity: Syrian, Arab, Palestinian, Muslim. Hammad humanized the various adversaries, the Jewish immigrants were not made out to be the baddies nor were the Samaritans or other Arabs. The Turks, the French and the British were painted as the cruel masters.The part of the story novel that deal with Qassam revolt was particularly fascinating. The tension between the urban city dwellers and the felaheen peasantry was well portrayed. I particularly found Hammad treatment of the issue of women veiling clever. After city women started shedding the veil, they were forced to adopt it again by the adherents of Qassam. This part of the novel reminded me of the beautiful memoir of Afaf Kenfani who viewed Palestinian women struggle for freedom from men as ultimately now less than the struggle against Zionism.The breadth of the novel and its adherence to the generally undisputed events of history may have made it difficult for Hammad to develop her characters and plot more fully. At the end we have a beautifully crafted impressionist painting of characters on top of a vivid historical photograph.

The story of Medhat Kamal is a typical story of an individual(ist) lost in the pattern of society and politics. In her first literature trial, Isabella Hammad wants to talk politics. Her historical research lightens an important, though neglected part of Palestinian history and helps Western reader to understand the Palestinian perspective of the Palestine issue. The work even more valuable as she portrays the city of Nablus at the beginning of the century. Although Nablus is one of the major Palestinian cities, it has not received that much attention in literature and historical works. Isabella Hammad re-collects the fragments of written and oral history of the city and manages to use it as magnificent coulisse for her novel.I found the Part in Montpellier is rather slow and partly unnecessary for the further development of the story.If you are from Nabuls or have been there once, you will love this book.In total good read.

I have read 30% according to Kindle but cannot warm to Midhat, the central character. He is a shallow, self centred, defensive chap. Happy to wound others and destroy lives without care for those around him. He arrives as the guest of the French family. They treat him kindly making him feel part of the family but he abuses the father’s trust, canoodling with the daughter secretly. With northern European men falling like flies on the battlefield, he cares only for himself and finds it unforgivable that the father has written about him in some notes. At a dinner party he decides to speak up and make wild unjustified accusations against a fellow guest. I gave up after that, not caring what this tedious young man did next.

An interesting story as a whole, briefly covering the political changes and challenges in the Middle East during the turn from 19th to 20th century. The geographical changes are briefly covered by following a family’s story across four generations exploring their struggle for recognition, survival and cultural belonging within the community.