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Nomad Diaries

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Nomad Diaries: A Review
By Ali Artan
Jan 02, 2010

Whether you are an immigrant or someone who has never embarked on a journey to far off places, whether you've intermingled with strangers, eaten exotic dishes or immersed yourself in alien customs the novel Nomad Diaries should entice and enthrall. Nomad's fictional accounts based on the author's firsthand experience are unfiltered stories that will enlighten you.

Nomad Diaries, as its name implies, are collections of anecdotes conveying the twists and turns of immigrant lives in transition. There is a love affair, a survival story, and an integration-assimilation-isolation in one locale. If you are an immigrant there are plenty of scenes you can relate to and appreciate; if you are not, the novel will be an eye opener to a whole new experience about what it means to be a newcomer to the melting pot called America. The book will certainly shake you up and maybe reshape your presumptions about immigrants. Yasmeen Maxamuud is a talented writer, a Somali immigrant who tells stories of immigrant families and their experiences in America from a female viewpoint with tapestry and textures unique to her unique style of storytelling.

In a world filled with stereotypes, prejudice and despair Nomad Diaries forces the reader to hope and dream again. Hence the recounting of Nadifo Caafi and her husband Cartan's stories (a high ranking government official) is remarkable. They were people who had it all, living large as the saying goes in their mansion in the blistering capital Hamar. Little did they know on the eve of the civil war while their son Geele's (expatriate, engineer from America) wedding festivities were underway that a destiny of shattered dreams would turn their lives upside down.

The family migrated to Kenya hence beginning a life of refugees known to most Somali immigrants, adjusting to a destitute life of food ration and wood gathering for a family that once had it all. However, after years of waiting Nadifo's family migrated yet again to a new country, this time to a much better place: The United States of America?

It was ironic that the resettlement manager in Minneapolis who could neither speak good Somali nor good English took the Cartan family to their transitional apartment. He started explaining how to turn on/off the stove, the purpose of having a refrigerator in the apartment, and so on. They were amused how little he knew about their past life. Nadifo knew Cartan was multilingual who could do a much better job interpreting than this poor guy, but she restrained herself from interfering.

Cartan and Nadifo's relationship is tested like any other marriage, refugee immigrant life introduces to them issues they would have not have dealt with as a couple, being that their marriage was one based on love and mutual respect. To deal with her problems Nadifo is reminded the unlucky hand life had dealt her, as she takes possible scenarios from Amy, her American friend who places material worth on everything. The chapter "Glimpse and Awe" revisits their past life and compares and contrasts it to their contemporary one.

Then there is the relationship between Ceebla, a very sophisticated, gifted and successful lady, and Haybe, a lawyer, handsome and generous. Their relationship is hardened when they are faced with the dilemma of family interferences and old aged cultural beliefs that they both believe should be done away with, especially giving their new lives in America.

Yasmeen touches on another dimension of immigrant life where Hanad a cab driver and his wife Warsan find marriage bliss anything but; their marriage seems on a collision course as they struggle to make senses of Diaspora marriage that has been influenced by Warsan's Western values. Warsan wants to live lavishly and spend beyond her means, and Hanad works hard round the clock yet his efforts are not appreciated. Hanad finds himself between a rock and hard place.

And then there is Idil, the pretty, rebellious and rough girl of Cedar Springs Apartments.
She is rough yet companionate, rude yet honest, crude yet loving. She looks out for Shirwac while wreaking havoc in the apartment complex where she has reluctantly became a resident. When she accompanies Shirwac, a modest kid with issues of his own to deal with, the opposite of her in temperament and her cousin, she persuades him that they should embark upon their first journey to California, she said "Hey Shirwac! I know it is federal for us to go to California but we got no choice." Slang as it turns out is the language she uses to comoflouge her inner self. Shirwac who at the beginning dislikes her for her rudeness towards elders suddenly finds himself in awe of her. He may be smitten by her, but she is his cousin and matters of the heart between them would not jive with her.

This novel acknowledges that America is still the land of opportunity and possibilities where one has the leverage to shape his future, it also clarifies that the path one takes is decidedly his own given the many possibilities that exists in the streets of America. All of this is within reach in America but we are reminded that America too has its own problems, crime, gang violence, dysfunctional families, rebellious teens, and drop out rates that are on the rise. Nomad Diaries warns the newcomers to be vigilant about this "other America." Nadifo and Cartan and their offspring are good examples of how misery can exist even in one of the richest places on earth.

The main characters, an affluent, well off Somali family where Nadifo and Cartan are at the helm may not give us a fair glimpse at other groups that are in different social strata, some more fortunate, others less. Some who immigrated to unknown territories and reached their respective destinations taking harsher routes than Nadifo's family, a story that also deserves a mention in my opinion.

I found at times that Nomad Diaries emphasized some negative aspects of the Somali culture, and then there are other negative influences such as that of Amy's suggestion of retaliation amid family problems. Also Nomad Diaries does not introduce some positive stories like Somali immigrants who are running successful businesses, although its apparent it was not the intention of this particular novel. This is not a critique so much as a recommendation: Translating Nomad Diaries into Somali would allow its message to reach a larger audience and have a wider impact.

Yasmeen has provoked controversial yet constructive community-held assumptions about immigrants. She's also brought purposefully to the surface the limited knowledge of citizens of host countries about the richness and resourcefulness of immigrants. By all accounts, Nomad Diaries is for anyone who has an interest in reading about an adventurous life and a love affair all within the world of human migration. I hope Nomad Diaries makes you dance.

Ali Artan,
Email: aliartan@gmail.com

The story is a compelling story, nearly 500 pages was hardly enough. I was always wanting more. It is one of those books that I couldn't put down. Yasmeen is an extraordinary writer, a great story teller. This book is very well written and was easy to read. I haven't read a story of this magnitude in a very long time. The author brilliantly captures the emotions and state of the characters and brings them to life that the reader feels as if they are right there living it with the characters. This is a story of tragedy and triumph. Although the main characters of the book are Somali, this story is a human story that all in humanity can relate to and enjoy reading the rich yet sometimes tragic experiences of the characters in this book. Nadifo the main character of the story was a woman who had it all. A wealthy lifestyle in Somalia's capital during the country's years of peace, a lifestyle that was filled with extravagant parties and designer clothes, summer vacations in the great capitals of the world such as Paris. She went from a poor village girl to the wife of an important Government official raising her social status remarkably. Her utopia and that of her family comes to a tragic bloody end and the great and important life Nadifo once enjoyed is shattered and replaced with a life of hardship as she becomes a refugee in America without anything apart from a fiery spirit. Nadifo constantly longs for the great past she once lived while simultaneously finding it nearly impossible to escape from the demons of the past. The book brilliantly captures shattered life of war victims, the struggles faced in a foreign country, the difficulty in dealing with different customs and learning a new language, the hardship endured in raising children that are caught between conflicting cultures, the pain of betrayal. Nomad Diaries is a book that touches many social issues and pulls on many human emotions, it will make you laugh, cry, think, and believe in the human spirit on what it can endure and able to conquer. I enjoyed this book immensely and recommend it to anyone that is looking for a great read.

This was a fast-paced easy read and gave some insight into Somali culture and issues Somali immigrants face. I found the story sufficiently interesting, however the writing did seem choppy to me. I felt like some of the characters were a bit too contrived or the story line was too far fetched or forced. There were a lot of characters, but none of them quite seemed sufficiently developed. If you are interested in reading about Somali immigrants or even exploring issues that many immigrant populations face, it isn't a bad book to read, but if you're looking for something really well written I wouldn't recommend this.

This novel is a page turner! I could not put it down. It has enough material for a television series that would make the Desperate Housewives look like sweet folks! The central character is an egotistic, self-righteous, mean woman called Nadifo who brings pain and suffering to her family because she only knows one way of doing things--the old way. The story may be set in a recent Somali refugee settlement in the US and the conflict-ridden, war-torn Somalia, but it could have easily been anywhere in the world with similar circumstances. The pains and joys that are expressed are universal. For all those romantics out there, there is no fairy tale ending but it is definitely a good read.

First, everyone should understand that this is a novel, even though much of the presentation makes it sound like it is non-fiction. Nonetheless, most of what is written is likely very emblematic of the real Somali immigrant experience in the US. The characters serve as stick figures representing certain genuine archetypes in Somali and US cultures.

I particularly appreciate how the author delves into the mind-set of everyone depicted in the book, including the way that both refugees and Americans view each other, as well as the conditions of their own lives. It takes a cynical but compassionate view of both perspectives--reflecting on the fading dreams and daily struggles endemic in both cultures.

The editing and writing are pretty rough at times, but it gives the book a raw realism that so many novels lack. It seems to be the genuine article. A heartfelt expression of the aspirations, ironies, sweetness, and brutal hypocrisy laced through every culture--and perhaps no more starkly than in American and Somali societies.

This is a page turner book. The author will vividly walk you thorough what happened to the character of her story before the civil war in Somalia, during the civil war, and after the she settled in Minneapolis.
The author is a young gifted writter.

I did not quite know what to expect. A gentleman at my coffee shop strongly recommended this book to me as he had read it and met the author. I ordered it and then emerged from it two days after it was delivered. It was not an easy read, and if you are a nit picker over spelling you will notice some inconsistencies, but they are common in a new culture attempting to assimilate. I was enthralled with the family and the reasons for the relocation and the reactions to many situations that are presented as local but that in my experience are actually all too human and general.

I must recommend Vilhelm Moberg's Emmigrant series to any who become fascinated by this book and the stories of those who must break their lives and leave the homes they know. I have bought copies of Nomad Diaries for my family of readers.