Nirzona - Libroj.org

Poŝlibro, 256 paĝoj

Eldonita je 1-a de decembro 2016 de Amazon Crossing.

ISBN:: 978-1-5039-3836-6

(1 recenzo)

When Sidan’s family and village are swept away in the 2004 tsunami that ravaged Indonesia, he rushes home to Aceh, leaving behind Yogyakarta, his studies, and his beloved, Firdaus. Interrupting their plan to marry, Sidan promises Firdaus he will soon return to her side so they can spend the rest of their lives together.

But the unimaginable scale of loss and the political and cultural complexities that ensnare the recovery make it impossible for Sidan to abandon his birthplace and the graves of his family. Stoked by his love for Firdaus and their shared devotion to the poetic beauty of Islam, Sidan remains in Aceh, doing everything in his power to help the survivors while keeping in close contact with his beloved.

In spirit Sidan and Firdaus are one, but in body they are distant. Theirs is a love bonded in the transcendent fires of death and destruction, but is …

When Sidan’s family and village are swept away in the 2004 tsunami that ravaged Indonesia, he rushes home to Aceh, leaving behind Yogyakarta, his studies, and his beloved, Firdaus. Interrupting their plan to marry, Sidan promises Firdaus he will soon return to her side so they can spend the rest of their lives together.

But the unimaginable scale of loss and the political and cultural complexities that ensnare the recovery make it impossible for Sidan to abandon his birthplace and the graves of his family. Stoked by his love for Firdaus and their shared devotion to the poetic beauty of Islam, Sidan remains in Aceh, doing everything in his power to help the survivors while keeping in close contact with his beloved.

In spirit Sidan and Firdaus are one, but in body they are distant. Theirs is a love bonded in the transcendent fires of death and destruction, but is that enough to sustain the relationship?

1 eldono

Stephanie Jane recenzis Nirzona de Abidah El Khalieqy

Not quite the read I had hoped for

3 steloj

Nirzona is billed as a love story which led me to expect a romantic novel and Nirzona does have an ill-fated, tragic romance at its heart, but it also explores other love concepts including love for ones country and love for ones religious faith. I actually felt as though those alternative concepts were more convincingly portrayed than the romantic bond between Sidan and Firdaus which I often struggled to fully believe in. I think part of the problem for me is that they are already miles apart at the beginning of the novel so I had no image of them together to start from. I did appreciate how El Khalieqy linked Sidan and Firdaus with the mythical lovers, Layla and Majnun, however. Understanding that this is how the young people viewed themselves helped me to see their estrangement from the same perspective.

Throughout Nirzona we readers also learn a lot …

Nirzona is billed as a love story which led me to expect a romantic novel and Nirzona does have an ill-fated, tragic romance at its heart, but it also explores other love concepts including love for ones country and love for ones religious faith. I actually felt as though those alternative concepts were more convincingly portrayed than the romantic bond between Sidan and Firdaus which I often struggled to fully believe in. I think part of the problem for me is that they are already miles apart at the beginning of the novel so I had no image of them together to start from. I did appreciate how El Khalieqy linked Sidan and Firdaus with the mythical lovers, Layla and Majnun, however. Understanding that this is how the young people viewed themselves helped me to see their estrangement from the same perspective.

Throughout Nirzona we readers also learn a lot about the Aceh province, especially its fraught relationship with the rest of Indonesia, and the dreadful devastation suffered there in the wake of the 2004 tsunami. It is not a Western tourist destination so I don't recall the tsunami's effects being as widely reported from there as, say, from Thailand. Sidan's personal devastation at seeing his homeland so completely destroyed was the most emotional aspect of Nirzona for me. I could understand how trying to cope with this could eclipse everything else in his life, even his love for Firdaus, and I thought El Khalieqy's poetically inspired prose was beautifully poignant.

Unfortunately I wasn't as entranced by Nirzona as I had hoped I would be, especially considering the accolades heaped upon El Khalieqy's other novels. I felt not having a full appreciation of all the Quranic references kept me at a distance from the text and, while many scenes are deeply profound, their being interspersed with streams of text messages didn't work for me personally. I would certainly try another of El Khalieqy's novels as there was a lot I did like about Nirzona, but it just wasn't quite the read I had hoped for.