THE ANGEL OF HISTORY
Product ID: 98216847
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''Here is a book, full of story, unrepentantly political at every level. At a time when many western writers seem to be in retreat from saying anything that could be construed as political, Alameddine says it all, shamelessly, gloriously and, realised like his Satan, in the most stylish of forms'' t he Guardian Set over the course of one night in the waiting room of a psych clinic, The Angel of History follows Yemeni-born poet Jacob as he revisits the events of his life, from his maternal upbringing in an Egyptian whorehouse to his adolescence under the aegis of his wealthy father and his life as a gay Arab man in San Francisco at the height of AIDS. Hovered over by the presence of alluring, sassy Satan who taunts Jacob to remember his painful past and dour, frigid Death who urges him to forget and give up on life, Jacob is also attended to by 14 saints. Set in Cairo and Beirut; Sana''a, Stockholm, and San Francisco; Alameddine gives us a charged philosophical portrait of a brilliant mind in crisis. This is a profound, philosophical and hilariously winning story of the war between memory and oblivion we wrestle with every day of our lives. ''A profoundly beautiful novel that infolds the political with the personal in unexpected and new ways . . . An extraordinary book'' Neel Mukherjee, New Statesman, ''Books of the Year 2016'' ''His stories take the reader into the labyrinth that is the mind . . . The Angel of History is digressive and daring'' t he Economist ''Alameddine has created a scintillating, original work whose moral complexity and detail of observation are wholly contemporary and entirely his own'' Spectator Review: Four Stars - Product reached in good condition. Review: Not an easy read, but worth the effort - Such an important novel. Not an easy read, but worth the effort.
| Best Sellers Rank | #543,692 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #12,821 in Classic Fiction (Books) #33,131 in Contemporary Fiction (Books) |
| Customer Reviews | 4.1 out of 5 stars 134 Reviews |
L**N
Four Stars
Product reached in good condition.
I**R
Not an easy read, but worth the effort
Such an important novel. Not an easy read, but worth the effort.
P**A
Magnificent
An acute , deep and moving elegy about ethnic displacement , poetry , pain and friendship. Written , as always, by Mr Alameddine , with his terse prose, it's a compassionated insights into the tragedies and fleeting joys of human souls.
L**E
AIDS, Nahost, weiße Überlegenheit
Als einer, der das Glück hatte, so jung zu sein, dass er keine/n persönlichen Freund/Freundin durch AIDS verloren hat, ist es schier unvorstellbar, wie es gewesen sein muss, als diese Katastrophe über eine immer selbstbewusster werdende und alle Fesseln abstreifende schwule Community hereinbrach. Unvorstellbar auch, wie es für die gewesen sein muss, welche überlebten und das grausame Sterben ihrer Freunde und Liebhaber haben machtlos mitansehen zu müssen. Rabih Alameddine lässt spüren, was das für die Übriggebliebenen bis ans Ende ihrer Tage bedeutet. Ihre wirkliche Macht erlangt die Geschichte aber durch ihre Verwebung mit der coming-of-age-Geschichte des Helden Ya'qub/Jacob und ihrer Verortung in Jemen, Ägypten und dem Libanon, bevor Jacob letztlich in den USA anlangt. Grausamkeit und Menschlichkeit auf allen Seiten und Kontinenten, und eine Ahnung davon, was White Supremacy für den nicht unerheblichen Rest der Welt bedeutet, ziehen sich konsequent durch das Buch. Das Ganze wird fachkundig durch Satan, Tod, und Ya'qubs beschützende Engel diskutiert, die verhandeln was war und was noch werden kann. Versteckt sind dazwischen atemberaubend poetische und zum Teil absurde Kabinettstücke wie über eine Drohne, ihre Steuerer und die Angriffsziele. Eben jenes Stück macht einmal mehr klar, was sich die Schicker und Lenker von Drohnen anmaßen und wiederum an Leid verursachen. Der Schluss des Buches ist sehr tragend, wiederum poetisch und berührend. Wie genau, soll bitte jede/r selber erlesen....
D**E
Not that reading should be easy, but I get impatient with a lot of ...
Fascinating story, but a bit hard to follow. Not that reading should be easy, but I get impatient with a lot of self-examination.
R**R
Interesting story. Perhaps a little flawed. Basically a ...
Interesting story. Perhaps a little flawed. Basically a prose poem going on in the head of the main protagonist with some unusual characters...
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