zeinab ajarmeh

Nicholas Sparks’ The Return- a book about healing, forgiveness and search for belonging! Is a very quiet and slow book. It feels like a gentle reminder that life doesn’t stop when we’re hurt. it just waits for us to find the courage to begin again. Through Trevor’s struggles with pain, his attempts to piece together his grandfather’s past, and his hesitant steps toward love, the story shows how healing comes slowly, but only when we let others in and make new connections. It may not be the most surprising romance, but it leaves you thinking about forgiveness, resilience, and the quiet power of connection.

A literary work rich in symbolism and deeply layered in its portrayal of issues such as identity, history, literature, and socio-cultural conflicts. The novel is not merely a narrative of events or historical facts but a profound analysis of the shared history between Turks and Armenians. Its plot seamlessly weaves together the past and the present, revealing contradictions and reflecting how deeply history influences the present. As always, Elif Shafak excels in transitioning between past and present. Her symbols are captivating and intriguing (such as food, places, names, and more), alongside her precise descriptions of scenes, locations, and characters. She compels the reader to ponder many questions. The novel is an invitation to reconcile with oneself and with the other, emphasizing shared human understanding across cultures and peoples. The characters are deeply portrayed, each carrying a wound or a question from the past or present. The ending of the novel serves as a pivotal and unexpected turning point when the author reveals Asya’s father. During his first visit back to Turkey after spending twenty years in America fleeing his past, he meets his end in his family home. Ironically, this is the same house where he raped his sister. His death comes at the hands of his eldest sister, who, out of pity, believes he cannot bear the burden of his past. She was the only one who knew the secret of Asya’s father, having learned it from her Jinn friend, Petar!

Kafka’s Letters to Milena is a profound work, overflowing with intense emotions, yet marked by constant contradictions stemming from Kafka’s own inner turmoil. His anxiety, perhaps exacerbated by his illness, deeply colors his correspondence. As you dive deeper into the letters, you can’t help but feel that something is missing: Milena’s responses. Her voice, absent from the collection, leaves a notable void, prompting the reader to imagine what her letters might have said. This absence creates a lingering incompleteness, as we witness Kafka’s overwhelming love for Milena, but are left wondering how she truly felt about him. Although Kafka occasionally alludes to her feelings, the lack of her direct words makes it harder to fully grasp the depth of her emotions toward him. What struck me most is the shift in Kafka’s relationship with the letters themselves. At the start, and even well into the middle of the book, Kafka speaks of how he cannot live without Milena’s letters, clinging to them as his lifeline. However, as the correspondence progresses, these very letters transform into a source of torment for him. This evolution—letters moving from a source of comfort to one of suffering—illustrates Kafka’s complex emotional state, encapsulating the paradoxes that define his love for Milena. You cannot prevent the book from affecting your emotions….

We are all blind but we can see…but we do not want to see…. In essence, the novel contends that our sight is obscured by our own unwillingness to truly perceive. While I appreciate the book, I don't believe it reaches the pinnacle of Nobel Prize-worthy literature. However, it undeniably stands out for its originality and innovation. The author's thought-provoking style serves as a critique of human values and ethics, compelling readers to form their own judgments and strip away the metaphorical blindness that shields self-interest.

This novel was recommended to me by a friend…when i bought it i thought it would take me forever to finish but Zafón was able to make me literally live all the details and the feelings of the characters due to his way in depicting life in Barcelona and the people including the characters in the novel. I fell in love with this book and felt that i need to get to the end so fast…i enjoyed very much how he made Daniel’s life similar to Karkas…you feel that it is a story within a story… and it is actually you feel that when you realize that there are lots of turning points in the events… it depicts love…friendship…hatred… sadness….happiness…violence…determination…ot to mention the historical, social, and literary knowledge that it provides the reader with…I loved the end and was excited when i got to the point to know that Karkas resumed writing….a must-read book💖💖💖