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I, the Divine

I, the Divine

by RabihAlameddine (Author)

  • Used

    Hardcover 2002

    $3.47
Synopsis

I, THE DIVINE is a novel purportedly opening as a memoir, made up of first chapters as the protagonist, Sarah, struggles to find a way to tell her story but abandons each different perspective, be it her own aged 7 or 17 or her adult sister's many years later. As first chapter follow first chapter Alameddine builds up a rich portrait, not only of Sarah but of her extraordinary extended hybrid family formed by divorce and remarriage, of Beirut in wartime, of her mother's suicide, her sister's madness, her ex-husbands, her son. The device works wonderfully, building up layers of Sarah's story in a manner which is subtle, fresh, intriguing and accessible. We are left with the portrait of a dignified, passionate and determined woman who is trying to carve a fragile peace for herself despite growing up amidst political turmoil and internecine struggle.

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More Information

Format: Hardcover
 Pages: 320
 Edition: First British Edition.
 Publisher: W&N
Published: 13 Jun 2002
ISBN 10: 0297607944
ISBN 13: 9780297607946
Book Overview: Advance Praise : 'I, THE DIVINE is divine. Sarah is wonderful, irresistibly unique, funny, and amazing. And the structure is literary genius, humorously naughty in its satire, and perfect to the notion of someone reinventing and revising herself. I loved reading it and will have to re-read it again soon' Amy Tan (Author of THE BONESETTER'S DAUGHTER) 'Rabih Alameddine is one of our most daring writers : daring not in the cheap sense of lurid or racy, but as a surgeon, a philosopher, an explorer, or a dancer. In this delightful novel, he takes his greatest risks yet, and succeeds brilliantly, in a work that while marked by radical formal innovation, manages to be warm, sad, funny and moving, and above all, to bring to light and vivid life a world of Lebanon's modern Druze hidden until now' Michael Chabon, winner of the Pulitzer Prize

Media Reviews
Press date: 18 July. The Evening Standard ran a wonderful full page feature on Rabih, Shattered Truths. which ran prior to his visit to London. While he was here we did some good informal booksignings including Foyles, WaterstonesPiccadilly, Waterstones Harrods, Pan Bookshop and Hatchards Piccadilly and an excellent event at Vox n Roll at the Mini Bar at the Garage in Islington, where despite the tube strike we had a good crowd of W&N, friends, his US publishers and 5 or 6 booksellers including some from Waterstones Piccadilly and Hatchards. In the meantime, we are expecting lots of reviews including a rave in New Statesman by Nicholas Blincoe, Independent, Gay Times and The Pink Paper. Already we've received some good quotes: Alameddine has created a warmly engaging, sophisticated and subtle woman's voice... confirming Alameddine as a captivating storyteller who can move and amuse even in fragments. Maya Jaggi, Guardian. Beginnings are hard. You want to grab the reader's attention, reveal that elusive new angle on the world, and make your basic introductions - to people, to places, the story you're bursting to tell - preferablyin words of less than three syllables. The first chapter counts more than any other: if you don't pull it off, no-one is going to read the rest.... Presumably you could turn the book around, and read it from the last first chapterto the first - or even from the middle outwards. It's not just about the numbering. The effect is of a constant re-imagining: a woman looking back, reassembling her life from infinite advantage points. How does one begin to encompass a life anyway? It's a fascinating, very modern book, not only for it's form, but for it's rich, searching humanity. Time Out After endless semi-autobiographical unadventurous novels on the them of my awful childhood , or being a lad is tough , Alameddine's book is a huge relief. Firstly, he writesas a woman, and makes her voice utterly convincing; secondly, the book is made up of first chapters, with no ongoing narrative. It's a welcome relief to have to do some thinking in order to work out what's going on in protagonist Sarah's life, whether she's trying to deal with bombs in war-torn Lebanon or drunks in a San Francisco gallery. Big Issue ... jauntily brittle one moment, elegaic and lyrical the next, sometimes bleak and hopeless... arriving as it does in a non-linear order allows insights from unexpected directions. The Times This is a powerful and moving tale of one woman's quest to find herself. ABTA travel magazine Written as a series of first chapters, Alameddine's novel charts Sarah Nour el-Din's attempt to narrate her history and unweave the various strands of personal, national and artistic identity. This device works exceptionally well, the cumulative false starts asserting the irreducible complexity of the individual, and subtly revealing the conflicting mythsof her Lebanese inheritance. Scotland on Sunday Amy Tan : 'I, THE DIVINE isdivine. Sarah is wonderful, irresistibly unique, funny and amazing...And thestructure is literary genius, humorously naughty in its satire, and perfect to the notion of someone reinventing and revising herself. I loved reading it, love it so much I will have to re-read it again soon' Michael Chabon : 'Rabih Alameddine is one of our most daring writers - daring not in the cheap sense of lurid or racy, but as a surgeon, a philosopher, an explorer, or a dancer. In this delightful novel, he takes his greatest risk yet, and succeeds brilliantly, in a work that while marked by radical formal innovation, manages to be warm, sad, funny and moving and, above all, to bring to light and vivid l
Author Bio
Rabih Alameddine was born in Beirut in 1959 but now lives in San Francisco. He is also a well-known artist and has had shows in many of the major capitals of the world.