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Hugh's Reviews > Celestial Bodies
Celestial Bodies
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Winner of the Man Booker International Prize 2019
I am a little unsure what to make of this one.
I knew very little of Oman and its history, so that side of it was quite interesting, and some of the stories were quite moving, but overall it seemed to lack direction, and although the component stories are all part of a wider family story stretching over several generations, the organisation seems a bit random, which made it rather confusing. The family tree at the start didn't help much - too many crossed lines.
Overall I did get a sense of ordinary lives struggling with a culture in which ancient traditions and modern society are juxtaposed, and the female characters are strong. Worth reading but probably not a contender for the prize.
I read this book and wrote this review a couple of days before the MBI shortlist was announced, so before my personal favourite The Faculty of Dreams was eliminated. This book's win was still a little surprising to me but I suspect I underrated its appeal, and some of the other shortlisted books are more confrontational.
I am a little unsure what to make of this one.
I knew very little of Oman and its history, so that side of it was quite interesting, and some of the stories were quite moving, but overall it seemed to lack direction, and although the component stories are all part of a wider family story stretching over several generations, the organisation seems a bit random, which made it rather confusing. The family tree at the start didn't help much - too many crossed lines.
Overall I did get a sense of ordinary lives struggling with a culture in which ancient traditions and modern society are juxtaposed, and the female characters are strong. Worth reading but probably not a contender for the prize.
I read this book and wrote this review a couple of days before the MBI shortlist was announced, so before my personal favourite The Faculty of Dreams was eliminated. This book's win was still a little surprising to me but I suspect I underrated its appeal, and some of the other shortlisted books are more confrontational.
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Bianca
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Apr 09, 2019 01:27AM
Great write-up.
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Read it in Arabic the confusion will go away or it becomes more..انت Ùˆ Øظك
I agree with Hugh I’m afraid
The omanis intermarry a lot and first cousin marriages are the norm, that is why many people are twice or more related to each other. They could be cousins, brothers in law and sons of cousins
I agree with you. It's good to read but lacks the worth of a Man Booker Prize
I recently finished this book and while I enjoyed most of it, it did leave me feeling dissatisfied. The last chapter of the book was particularly disappointing, and left me feeling that I am not intelligent enough understand what the author is trying to say. I would really like to understand this book better than I do.
@Shipra. It won the Man Booker International prize, not the Booker prize. @Debbie. Couldn’t agree more. Especially about the last chapter.
The man booker long list is out, but not even the shortlist yet.
I felt perfectly the same way!
@debbie and Azi76...I read it in Arabic....still confused...the ending pissed me off.
I had the same feeling as Debbie Davis regarding the last chapter. It was very abruptly ended and got me confused about the outcome. Good to learn about Imani culture in general, however.
Who is the author of "The Faculty of Dreams"..??
Thank you for the good review. Agree with most of it. Not a great book and a little surprise with the award. Nonetheless worth a read to get a glimpse of Oman, a relatively little known country.
