Last month I didn't read any translated work and I was pretty disappointed in myself. August ia Women in Translation month, so I was sure I wanted to read something in translation.
A quick perusal of things available from my library brought me to Celestial Bodies. It won the Man Booker Prize in 2019, so I felt pretty sure that it would be at least well written, if not enjoyable. I also was fascinated that it was written by an Omani woman, about Oman, a country that I really could not even point out on a map. I was primed for an interesting read.
Reading the blurb I was ready to get into a generational saga that allowed me a window into how society changed over decades on both a community and personal level.
What it felt like I got- Gossip Girl, but set in Oman.
Every chapter seemed to be the reporting on the troubles in someone's relationship, the ill advised choices of another, who was doing what with whom or for whom. This was interesting but jumbled up so that if there was an overarching message, I surely missed it.
Not bad, but...also very put-down-able.
Readers follow three sisters, as they are born, mature and marry. We are present for each sister's decisions, and the outcome of these choices. Each sister takes a different path and the paths taken highlights a lot of the societal changes within Oman, and the world over the decades. I was fascinated by the decisions and options available.
What made this a difficult read for me was that there really was not a clear set of main characters. The sisters are given about as much attention as every other character in the book, including husbands, parents, aunts, cousins and notable community personalities. As readers travel through these women's lives it is additionally not a linear journey and the story dips and weaves in and out of the past in an unpredictable and dizzying way. I often found myself reading along about the marriage of one sister, only to be plunged with no warning back to a flashback about the death of one of the husband's parents. In the end for me, I read this almost as a series of "slice of life" moments over time.
I have a strong feeling that the translation is very good, but that somehow in the translation the boney structure of the novel was lost and changed into sort of a dreamy, confusing mush.
I do think it's fantastic to have a novel from Oman for us to read and I do feel like I understood much more about the role of women, and how it seems to have changed in that country. What I feel like I missed was a thread that held the work together, and a conclusion that would somehow bring all the different experiences into a sharp focus. Soooooo for me, although this book is a lot of firsts, and has a lot of good qualities, it was a three star read. Because of it's place in literature, I might still recommend as a book in translation from a culture that isn't widely represented in literature. I would love to discuss this one more, and if the timeline wasn't so jostled I would have loved to recommend for Book club!
STATS
First Published : October , 2019
Pages: 256
Available as an Audio Book :YES
Trigger Warnings: Death, blood, medical situations, violence, childbirth.
Not a full TW list, please read responsibly.
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