Showing posts with label Yamen Manai. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Yamen Manai. Show all posts

Friday, July 29, 2022

The Ardent Swarm, Yamen Manai

 

The Ardent Swarm by Yamen Manai hit my eye when I was looking at books by non-American authors.

Started: 7/13/2022
Completed: 7/29/2022
Recommendation: Mild Recommendation
Recommended By: A list of non-English speaking authors whose books were being translated into English

Review:

Pretty much everything is unresolved in this book.  This is a sort of slice of pastoral life in an imagined village in Africa.  The contrast between the "city folk" and the "country folk" seems to have a little bit of "city mouse, country mouse" in it, but it is also a contrast between styles of religious adherence.   As a slice of life, I don't feel like I understand what it is like to live in North Africa any better, but that may be too large a task.  There is supposed to be an allegorical component of the story, but I am too thick to see it except in its most basic forms.  I cannot say I enjoyed it particularly, but there are parts that are compelling and the life of Sidi is certainly interesting.