lareviewofbooks:For the wholehearted bibliophile, there’s something especially satisfying in
lareviewofbooks: For the wholehearted bibliophile, there’s something especially satisfying in reading a book about the love of books, or a story that distills the longing to tell and be told stories. Lebanese author Rabih Alameddine’s latest novel, An Unnecessary Woman, is precisely this: a paean to the transformative power of reading, to the intellectual asylum from one’s circumstances found in the life of the mind. However, it’s also a shrewd reflection on the limitations of a retreat from the world of people into the rarified heights of ideas. Ivan Kenneally and Priyanka Kumar discuss building a life out of books in Rabih Alameddine’s new novel, An Unnecessary Woman, in two reviews: “Not Quite Lost in Translation” and “Reading ‘Anna Karenina’ in Beirut.” -- source link