Raja'a Alem is a Saudi Arabian novelist from Mecca/Hejaz. She received her BA in English Literature and works as a tutor for the Center for Training Kindergarten Teachers in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Open ending, 436. sayfada b谋rak谋yorum 莽眉nk眉 daha fazla ilerlemek ve finali g枚rmek i莽in bir gram istek duymuyorum. Hatta daha evvel akl谋m ba艧谋ma gelmi艧 olsayd谋 ikinci b枚l眉m眉n ba艧谋nda bunu yapard谋m. Neyse. Kitap hakk谋nda fikirlerim genel olarak 艧枚yle:
脟ok yo臒un, yorucu bir metin. Hikayenin ak谋艧谋n谋 takip etmek zor, ayn谋 zamanda ki艧iselle艧tirece臒iniz detaylar dolay谋s谋yla bo臒ucu. Ben bu kadar konsantrasyon isteyen kitaplardan genellikle haz etmiyorum 莽眉nk眉 okuma eylemini g眉ndelik hayat谋n karma艧as谋ndan kurtulal谋m, kafam谋z谋 biraz da臒谋tal谋m diye tercih ediyorum ve 艧枚yle arkama yasland谋臒谋m zaman okudu臒umu anlayarak sayfalar谋 ge莽ebileyim istiyorum. G眉vercin Gerdanl谋臒谋 burada s谋n谋fta kal谋yor. Ilk zaman ilk sayfalar谋yla iddial谋/etkileyici ba艧layan bu 枚d眉ll眉 kitab谋n GR puan谋 neden d眉艧眉k diye d眉艧眉n眉yordum, acaba kurgu sorunu mu, geli艧me mi k枚t眉, sonucu mu ba臒layamad谋 derken asl谋nda hay谋r hi莽biri de臒il ama evet nedenini art谋k anlayabiliyorum. Kalk谋p muhte艧em bir eser kesin okuyun diyemem ama 枚yle. Metaforlar ve di臒erleri. Ben 莽ok yoruldum, Allah size sab谋r versin.
The Dove's Necklace by Raja Alem is a captivating novel that will lure all readers to its great depth. A mystery that intrigues the soul to flip its pages in a haste to find out its secrets. What lies deep in this novel is a history that will blow readers away with every word. Raja Alem is indeed a talented writer with a way of bringing, to life, the murder, customs, and investigation that is portrayed in this stunning tale. The point of view is enjoyable. Told from an alley way's point of view...was a brilliant idea. This sets readers, onto a journey, that will keep them hooked until the last page. Ever wondered about the city of Mecca and what secrets it keeps or the lives of the people? The Dove's Necklace masterfully covers these and many more interesting questions that will surely rise as readers keep digging deeper into this powerful story.
Inside this riveting tale, The Dove's Necklace, opens readers to the place where the danger and mystery begin. It's also a place with tons of history such as wars, kingdoms, and customs that keep one's mind buzzing with action. Raja Alem's story is about love and revenge. Soon, readers are taken where a dead woman's body lies...not only is she dead but also completely nude. No one knows the woman's name...this scene and the people's reaction to the dead woman's body intrigues readers deeply. Who is she? Why her? Who killed her and why left nude? These questions and many others are answered but will keep readers guessing and on the edge of their seats as they rush through the pages with a burning intensity to find out the answers. I loved reading this Arabic story. Traveling all the way to Mecca without so much as leaving my seat was amazing. The raw beauty of the novel will hold readers in like prisoners...Intriguing, dramatic, and suspenseful...The Dove's Necklace is a must read for all. Giving readers worldwide a glimpse into one of the most famous cities of all time.
The opening for The Dove's Necklace by Raja Alem seems to declare that this is a mystery though scarcely a conventional one. I can't say that I've ever read a mystery which begins from the perspective of the street where the body was found. There is a police detective investigating the death. Yet if you were expecting to find out whodunit, you will be sorely disappointed. It can be challenging to even get an identification of a female murder victim in a country where women are completely veiled in public and no one but a close relative or a husband has ever seen her. In some circumstances, solving the case may well be impossible. So Alem's intentions must lie in another direction.
Actually, The Dove's Necklace is more like a thriller. It primarily takes place in Mecca and is awash with secret conspiracies with religious implications and a historical dimension. You might call this an Islamic Da Vinci Code. There is even a looking for clues in paintings sequence late in the book. It's certainly much more literary than anything Dan Brown ever wrote.
What do I take away from The Dove's Necklace ? Well, I'm not sorry that I read it because I did learn from some of the content about Islam and Islamic history. I did think that the book was too long. Not all the content was equally interesting. Other readers seem to have stronger opinions about the value of this book than I do.
Alem's novels demand patience and are to be savoured piecemeal if we are to do the writer's genius credit. I found it rich, dense, fascinating, beautiful, tiring, and at times frustrating. However, I was left with memorable, even if unbelievably philosophical, characters who managed to convey Alem's unforgettable and intricate mythologising of Macca. Hers is a very different history, one that invites tasting (鬲匕賵賯) with a palate desensitised to tyranny of fact. Alem knows Macca from its mystical heritage and conveys it as such. The prophetic and apocalyptic tone of her plot is hard to ignore as facts, beamed daily into our television screens, remind us of Macca's unholy transformation into a commercial megaplex.
I'm really not sure what to think about this book. On the one hand, it's highly original; totally unlike anything I've ever read. On the other, it is very confusing. It is beautiful and ugly at the same time.
It is, underneath all the overlaid intersecting story-lines, a book about the conflict between modern global capitalism and traditional tribalism, class structure and religious fundamentalism. It is particularly concerned with the rights of women; how in traditional Wahabbist society, women are little more than slaves to their husbands, fathers and brothers.
It starts as a traditional detective story. But while plenty of clues are given to the reader to "solve" the mystery, an equal or greater number of red herrings and cross-threads are also presented. When you get to the end, a lot of these threads have been woven together successfully, but the central mystery the book started with is open to interpretation. Because there are multiple narrators, and they're all unreliable.
The Dove's Necklace contains some beautiful and moving lines that are eminently quotable, especially in the second part of the book. But it also contains an awful lot of purple prose and imprecise metaphors, at least in translation. It may read differently in Arabic.
Bottom line: I enjoyed it, but found it a tad difficult. But my rating may go up with the passage of time. Definitely an important book, not a "fluff piece".