Customer Reviews

The Dark Side of Love

5 star:		(3)
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2 star:		(2)
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The best and most enjoyable book I have read in years. This book is like a good French film, which in its focus on the everyday life of the main characters unravels the nuances of the local culture and psychology. I say French film, because the book reveals the culture and problems of Damascus and Syria though the conversations and actions of the characters in a way that feels believable and authentic, unlike other films that bludgeon the viewer with their message. In terms of style, skill in execution, interest in the characters, and revelations of culture, I give this book 5 stars. There are two excellent reviews about this book in the Guardian (the best of which is [...]). Oh yes, it's long, but it held my interest on two 9 hour flights. One of those books you don't want to end.

As a Syrian I discovered Rafik Schami when I moved outside Syria. This book was a pleasant surprise and a lesson.

Reader should first get use to the style. It is written in 1001 Nights, jumping from one subject to another.

The events are taking place in streets and cities I know, so beside the words, I could see the pictures.

Through this book I learned a lot about politics and Syria and things "you never mention" while you live there. Two months after finishing the book the apprising in Syria began.

Though covered with history the book is describing what was happening in Syria the last 40 years, and what resulted in the current apprising.

Good read, good school. And hopefully one day I will be able to shake hands with Mr. Schami in our beloved Damascus.

Let's cut to the chase here from the off: If you fancy meandering, soap-operatic, sprawling books without much introspection, compiled of seemingly endless little stories - or narrative "mosaics" as Schami calls them in the last chapter to the reader - then you will love this book. If not, the book will bore you to tears, as it did me. The problem with this "mosaic" - sticking with Schami's term - method of writing is that one's sense of the characters, especially the main ones, Farid and Rana, becomes so dissipated and attenuated that the reader rather loses his/her way amidst the wildly disparate tales and consequently isn't capable of identifying with them or even sympathising with them save in a rather vague and languorous manner.

Parts of this book are quite good when taken by themselves such as the monastery section (previously published as a short story in German) and, perhaps, the last hundred pages; though I still failed to really connect with Farid or Rana in these sections, or only for brief moments. The other parts of the book read like (again, disparate) historical fiction or a ribald sort of Syrian Kama Sutra.

The experience of reading the book is nothing like the reading of great literature to which it is compared: Romeo and Juliet, War and Peace. Romeo and Juliet is a Shakespearean Tragedy, and the reader (or playgoer) is aware of the sloping, tragic arc throughout the play. War and Peace has thoroughly fleshed out characters, long philosophical sections, and, above all, a linear narrative. Neither work of literature consists of a bewildering array of "mosaics" concerning everything under the - in this case, Syrian - sun which disorient and fatigue the reader.

In short, this book is the quintessential Syrian shaggy dog story, or maybe "mosaic" mess might be the more apt description. Some readers claim to enjoy this type of thing (How, I don't know, but it seems they do.), and I fully commend the book to them. Lose yourself among the mosaics, by all means. Others: Pray don't waste precious time on this book. Rather, read or reread Romeo and Juliet or War and Peace. There are too few hours in a life to waste them by whiling them away amongst these tedious tales, or should I say tiles.

This book was an excellent read, I highly recommend it. The story is labyrinthine, just like the streets of old damascus, and complex, just like the history of the Middle East. For a change, the book sheds light into the world of christian arabs, and the tribal structures that continue to transcend time, religion, education, etc. A book that is full of poetry and humanity.

I did not enjoy this book. Found it very superficial. Have visited the Middle East a number of times and read other Middle Eastern authors whom I have enjoyed. I bought it hoping to enrich my upcoming trip to Damascus.....