An Unnecessary Woman

De: Rabih Alameddine

Narrado por: Suzanne Toren

One of the Middle East's most celebrated voices, Rabih Alameddine follows his international best seller, The Hakawati, with an enchanting story of a book-loving, obsessive, 72-year-old "unnecessary" woman.

Aaliya Saleh lives alone in her Beirut apartment, surrounded by stockpiles of books. Godless, fatherless, childless, and divorced, Aaliya is her family's "unnecessary appendage." Every year, she translates a new favorite book into Arabic, then stows it away. The 37 books that Aaliya has translated over her lifetime have never been read by anyone.

In this breathtaking portrait of a reclusive woman's late-life crisis, listeners follow Aaliya's digressive mind as it ricochets across visions of past and present Beirut. Colorful musings on literature, philosophy, and art are invaded by memories of the Lebanese Civil War and Aaliya's own volatile past. As she tries to overcome her aging body and spontaneous emotional upwellings, Aaliya is faced with an unthinkable disaster that threatens to shatter the little life she has left.

A love letter to literature and its power to define who we are, the prodigiously gifted Rabih Alameddine has given us a nuanced rendering of one woman's life in the Middle East.

©2013 Rabih Alameddine. Recorded by arrangement with Grove/Atlantic, Inc. (P)2014 Audible Inc.

Love this book.

This was a fascinating book. I really enjoyed it. The Narrator was amazing. Highly recommend.

So refreshingly different

This made me feel like I was with a friend telling me a story. It was informative of the middle eastern conflict in the late 70's , early 80's. It was intellectual, artistic, humble, and down to earth all at once. So very good at painting a scene. So good at describing family drama. I learned a lot about history, family, human troubles, and so many other works of literature were mentioned. I miss it already.

Made me wish I'd read more in my past

Very soulful book, showing one woman's inner thoughts in depth. Nothing much actually happens in the book, but the delth of reflection on her life and how this connects to literature is interesting.

Could be called " A Solitary and Self Fulfilling Woman"

A little slow and repetitive , but it may have been key to developing this unique woman.

Poetic, excessively literary, quietly lush

This is a very specific book, extremely literary and poetic. It starts out quite, quite slowly and builds slowly, towards a truly lovely ending. It is, much like a life.

There is much I related to in the narrator (character) - although at times I felt so done with her. I also truly felt I was in Beirut, which I enjoyed - it’s a city I really wish to visit.

The performance is quite good and it seems like the woman can really speak Arabic? I’m not sure but I enjoyed thinking it was true.

It’s a strange quiet story and I quite liked it.

Brilliant performance

Suzanne Toren does a magnificent job reading this book The character comes alive with all her nuance and subtlety. Brava!

Words heard are lovely!!!!!

To hear the words as this author put them together in such a way that delights the intellect is truly a treat! In addition , the reader's voice was, in my estimation, perfect for the part!!!!

Loved It!

A friend recommended this book to me. She and I are fascinated by languages. I think that was why she thought I would love this book. She was right.

I went looking for the book on Amazon and found the Kindle version a bit too pricey for my book budget. So I went to Audible and found I had a credit sitting there waiting for me to use. I was so glad I did! Suzanne Toren is a great voice for Aaliya Saleh, the woman living alone in Beirut, Lebanon.

Look, this book wasn't nail-biting excitement or in anyway stress inducing. But I loved hanging out with Saleh. This is the reason I love books. It is a chance to travel to other places and get inside other people's heads. This book is a perfect example of both of those. And it left me wanting to start doing my own translations for my own edification. I have plenty of books in other languages. I plan to pull out a notebook and just get busy.

I want to read this again and have the Kindle version to read along with the Audio. It helps me internalize the story better. Even so, the narrator kept the story very interesting and age appropriate. By the way, the fun of this book was it was about an aging woman. Stories of this type are rare! I don't think it would matter what gender or age you are this story has something for everyone to relate to and learn from. Enjoy.

Books are the protagonists of this work.

I enjoyed this book which is narrated in a precise neat and possibly punctilious way that fits the main character's musing like a glove.

The story is set in Beirut but the town and most of the characters are barely sketched the protagonist and the author focus all their attention to the books and the music talking of them with love and reverence and in a interesting way.

The writer has been reading my mail

I've never read something I identified with more. Different country, different pastimes, but so painfully similar to my life and old age. I almost stopped listening as it got too close, but I'm glad I finished.