Divorce Islamic Style
3.5/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
The Italian secret service has received intel that a group of Muslim immigrants based in Rome's Viale Marconi neighborhood is planning a terrorist attack. Christian Mazzari, a young Sicilian court translator who speaks perfect Arabic, goes undercover to infiltrate the group and learn who its leaders are. Christian poses as Issa, a recently arrived Tunisian in search of a place to sleep and a job. He soon meets Sofia, a young Egyptian immigrant whose life with her husband, Said a.k.a Felice, an architect who has reinvented himself as a pizza cook, is anything but fulfilling.
In alternating voices, with an anthropologist's keen eye and with sparkling wit Lakhous examines the commonplaces and stereotypes typical of life in multicultural societies. Divorce Islamic Style mixes the rational and the absurd as it describes the conflicts and the contradictions of today's world. Marvelous set pieces, episodes rich in pathos, brilliant dialogue, and mordant folk proverbs combine as the novel moves towards an unforgettable and surprising finale that will have readers turning back to the first page of Lakhous's stunning novel to begin the ride all over again.
Amara Lakhous
Amara Lakhous was born in Algiers in 1970. He has a degree in philosophy from the University of Algiers and another in cultural anthropology from the University la Sapienza, Rome. He recently completed a Ph.D. thesis entitled “Living Islam as a Minority.” His first novel, Le cimici e il pirata (Bedbugs and the Pirate), was published in 1999. Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio, winner of Italy’s prestigious Flaiano prize, is his second novel. He currently resides in New York.
Read more from Amara Lakhous
Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio (Bilingual Edition): Bilingual Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Divorce Islamic Style Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dispute Over a Very Italian Piglet Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Prank of the Good Little Virgin of Via Ormea Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to Divorce Islamic Style
Related ebooks
The Demon Catchers of Milan Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDear Babies: Crazy Life, Simply Explained Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDream of Senegal and Other Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDial M for Merde: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Monk's Disciples Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dead Souls: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Reckless Death Persuasion Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOther People's Money: The Rise and Fall of Britain's Boldest Credit Card Fraudster Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Baby Blue Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Unstoppable: Unstoppable, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Last Fiesta Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5House of Cards Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On the Top of the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Copper Trance & Motorways: The Lincoln Trilogy, #2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMissing in Milan Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNatural History: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Journals Of The Invisible Man: Journal One Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMotion Sickness Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWill That Be Cash or 'Cuffs? Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFence Sickness Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhich Witch is Which?: The Tony Mandolin Mysteries, #11 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAbuse Cocaine & Soft Furnishings: The Lincoln Trilogy, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMy Father's Fortune: A Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Worlds Collude: Escape Tales from Surf City to Sidi Ifni Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsI Want to Write for Vanity Fair Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Leash and the Ball Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Write, she said: Book 5 of the Venus as She Ages Collection Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Funny Thing Happened At 27,000 Feet Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsVanity Bagh Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jimmy This, Jimmy That Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
General Fiction For You
A Man Called Ove: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Life of Pi: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Silmarillion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Priory of the Orange Tree Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fellowship Of The Ring: Being the First Part of The Lord of the Rings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Unhoneymooners Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The City of Dreaming Books Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cloud Cuckoo Land: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dante's Divine Comedy: Inferno Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jackal, Jackal: Tales of the Dark and Fantastic Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mythos Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird: Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shantaram: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ulysses: With linked Table of Contents Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My Sister's Keeper: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beartown: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Iliad of Homer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Labyrinth of Dreaming Books: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Meditations: Complete and Unabridged Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pet Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Cabin at the End of the World: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Outsider: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Alchemist: A Graphic Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beyond Good and Evil Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The King James Version of the Bible Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Divorce Islamic Style
25 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Great read about a immigrant enclave in Rome and the nuances of modern Muslim culture, through the eyes of an Italian "Orientalist" spy disguised as a non-observant Tunisian immigrant (phew!)
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Those who enjoyed Lakhous' previous Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio can cheer over the fact that he wasn't a one-book-and-out author. Divorce Islamic Style—the title is a clear play on Divorce, Italian Style, the '60s Mastroianni film—has the same underlying theme of ethnic and religious prejudice as its predecessor, and wraps it in the same laugh-out-loud humor.In fact, it goes one better in giving us Safia (or Sofia if, as most people, you don't bother to listen to her pronunciation) who is one of the most engaging characters I've encountered in a while. She's a young Egyptian woman who has come to Italy with her husband, a man she doesn't particularly love or even care for. She wants some independence, but her husband wants her to wear the veil. She wants money to help out a sister who is suffering, but her husband doesn't want her to work. She wants a better life for her daughter, but her husband just wants a son...and Italians just seem to want immigrants to go home. She meets all of this with a combination of intelligence, pluck and good nature that won me over from her first chapter.Safia both articulates and embodies the immigrant problem, the absolute requirement to be successful so as not to fail all those who sacrificed to get you into the new country. Pitted against this are prejudices, both in the host country and the culture you've brought with you, that make this difficult. She's framed in by a cast of colorful characters, ranging from young, illegal immigrant men who are hanging on by their fingernails to the other major character of the novel: Christian, a young Italian of Tunisian descent who is asked by the Italian police to infiltrate the Muslim community in search of terrorists. I liked Christian, but I didn't love him the way I did Safia; there's a little too much weakness in his character. However, his newcomer perspective allows us to meet the various characters and his adventures, which border on the bizarre at certain moments, serve as the glue to bind together the plot lines.Lakhous' second book was better than his first, the right direction to go. I look forward to his third.