An Unnecessary Woman

By: Rabih Alameddine

Narrated by: Suzanne Toren

Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

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.

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.

A Necessary Read

I was not expecting to love this book as much as I did. You know how everyone has that one book they really connect with and they need to reread it every year or so? This is that book for me. It brought me so much joy and the narration beautifully expressed Alameddine's tale. This may actually be my most bookmarked audiobook just because of how many passages were wryly witty or laugh-out-loud humorous. Even through the heartbreaking sections, I loved every minute and became so emotionally invested. I cannot recommend this book enough.

A romance, not with a man, but with books

I was hooked by the first few lines. The poetry of Alameddine, the tone and intellegence of her charactar pulled me in, as did her spirit.

Not much happens in this novel, but it was never meant to be a plot-driven novel. It's a romance, but her lover is books. She lives alone in her apartment, translating one book a year. Her prose caresses the works she loves, unflowery and lyrical. She tells of her life and treats the people in it as characters- since she is a translator, she has no control of the characters, nor does she want control. She lets life pass her, disinterested to all those except her books and those that threaten her solitude with them.

Savor it

Whether you read this book quickly or slowly, as I did, savor it. The writing takes you to a place much in the news but from another perspective. For lovers of books.

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.

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.