Eric Beckman reviewed Sardines by Nuruddin Farah
Review of 'Sardines' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
I love Farah's expressive prose, and found this story as captivating as Sweet and Sour Milk. The book is a multifaceted exploration of the varied issues facing African women and their varied responses. While it is difficult to avoid skepticism when reading a book written by a man from such a heavily gendered social context, Farah's story clearly aims to represent the complexity of African feminist issues.
I was introduced to Nuruddin Farah through his novel Links, which I read as part of a diversity book club at school (SEED). The book, which is part of a trilogy of novels on returning to Somalia captivated me with its lyric prose and devastating description of war-torn Mogadishu. I've since read Knots, second in the "return" series, and Sweet and Sour Milk, an older book in a trilogy on the theme of African dictatorship.
I finished this book around the New Year, …
I love Farah's expressive prose, and found this story as captivating as Sweet and Sour Milk. The book is a multifaceted exploration of the varied issues facing African women and their varied responses. While it is difficult to avoid skepticism when reading a book written by a man from such a heavily gendered social context, Farah's story clearly aims to represent the complexity of African feminist issues.
I was introduced to Nuruddin Farah through his novel Links, which I read as part of a diversity book club at school (SEED). The book, which is part of a trilogy of novels on returning to Somalia captivated me with its lyric prose and devastating description of war-torn Mogadishu. I've since read Knots, second in the "return" series, and Sweet and Sour Milk, an older book in a trilogy on the theme of African dictatorship.
I finished this book around the New Year, appropriate because that is also the setting for the book.
Although Sardines and Sweet and Sour Milk were written 30 years ago, I still found them to be useful informants for amking sense out of the North African revolutions.