Great African Reads discussion

SPOILERs

This thread is for discussions of our Nov/Dec 2021 read of Memory of Departure, by Abdulrazak Gurnah - Notice that there may be SPOILERS (Find the no-spoiler thread here)

- Feel free to discuss anything you like about the book here: Here's a few questions to get you started:

How did you like the characters? The plot? The style? The portrayal of characters and their surroundings?

This is Gurnah’s debut novel. I confess to being disappointed. I rated it 3 stars. It had some great writing but seemed incomplete. I look forward to trying another. Of his books, several reviews said it was not his best contribution. I rely on kindle to source books.

I am almost done with the book and do like his writing style. But I do understand your deception, Margaret: I did like Desertion, the only other Gurnah book I read, a lot more.

I finished last week and I do agree that the story seems unfinished, as if he avoided the climax he was preparing. Strange way to end the book with a letter.

Gave it three stars. If this was his only book thus far, I would not have been keen to read more. Off course, being a Nobel Prize laureate, in a way demands that I explore some of his other work.