Anchor Books The Hakawati

The dilemma with this book is that Alameddine is a terrific storyteller; yet most of his stories are not worth telling. He is brilliant at building up stories and setting the mood, but then most of his stories whirl into stale anticlamactic endings. The start of the book was very engaging and made it seem promising; then suddenly starts the quirky journey of Fatima that is so fuzzy and overcrowded with cartoonish detail that almost let me go of the book. I hung on however and managed to get past it, and the rest of the book became manageable. Too many stories crammed together as Alameddine tries hard to superimpose contemporary Beirut stories with Arabian nights themes. Too many unnecessary hospital scenes. Lots of stories but little overall plot makes this book only manageable and occasionally entertaining thanks to Alameddine beautiful writing.

This is one of the best books I’ve ever read. The multiple layers weave into a fantastical narrative where the past is rooted in the present.

Enjoyable.

A fantastic read! Have recommended it to lots of friends, all of whom have been very happy.

This is a wonderful book which will take you on many different journeys in many different (magical) times with vibrant, life-like characters.