Reviews for Season of Migration to the North

The average rating for Season of Migration to the North based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2018-04-11 00:00:00 Malcolm Williams I liked the book quite a lot. It's beautifully-written. But that is despite the misogynistic viewpoint that was probably true in the life of the village and the people in the countryside of Sudan. I disliked how that was amped up with racism when it came to the 'Northern' women. I don't want books to be written from a pc point of view but when half the world's worth is judged by looks, sexuality and their usefulness to men it doesn't enhance my enjoyment of it. Do African Americans like reading about the slaves in Gone with the Wind? I want to say two things, the first is to quote a GR author, Emer Martin: "I asked them why when they persecute men, for religion or colour it was seen by the world as oppression and when they persecute women, it was dismissed as tradition." Secondly, if the book had been written from any other point of view, it would have been dishonest. And this honest point of view didn't make me dislike the characters or the book or the author, but gave me more insight into where the Rotherham and other grooming gangs came from and why their communities didn't give them up. We all share this tribal, wanting to protect our own, feeling, but hopefully we have moved on enough to out those whose who are criminally evil. That's my point of view. Perhaps another culture would give a different weight to that, or think of it in a different way. Books like this help me try and understand that, but I don't really understand it, not at all. There are a lot of good reviews of this book. I only mentioned one aspect. Don't let it put you off just because the world view is one that I find difficult to pass over when reading. It's a very good read that made me think. On advice I have had to rewrite a considerable part of this review so I remain pc and don't give offence to anyone who might misinterpret what I mean, so I did. I'm not really happy about this. I don't see why some cultures should get a free pass, and especially so when they are brought into and maintained in a country that does not support them. But I have to have some friends left to buy me drinks!

Review # 2 was written on 2018-10-23 00:00:00 Benedict Bahner The narrator of the novel is a young man returning from studies in the North (Europe) to his village near the Nile in Sudan. He periodically visits the village of his childhood, while working in Khartoum. The village did not change much since his departure, his family and his tribe are still there, the independence of Sudan and its modernization is slow to reach those parts although some progress was visible. When he first come back he discovers a new face, that of Mustafa Sa'eed, a stranger who moved to the village, married a local woman and settled for an agricultural life. Not much is known about the man's past and our narrator becomes fascinated by the mystery surrounding this man and, one fateful night, manages to obtain a "confession" from him which will haunt all his future life. Both the narrator and Mustafa share an education abroad and the need to return to their ruts. However, Mustafa's time in London is dark and hides a terrible secret, including terrible treatment towards Northern women. As the Introduction written by the translator says, Season of migration to the North is an African response to the terrible Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. I was lucky to read that book a few years ago and I could spot the connections. For starters, they both involve a narrator who develops and obsession with another man with a dark soul. If in HoD the victims were the Congolese Africans, here they are replaced by European women who fall for Mustafa's charms and are destroyed by the experience (for details I will let you read the short novel). Moreover, in both books, the writing is poetic although in this one I actually understood something. There is a fine border between real and surreal and sometimes it is difficult to distinguished between the two states. There a few political statements as well, since the book was written after Sudan obtained independence and the white people were mostly still in power, corruption was high and progress was slow. Also, the author makes a case of the unjust treatment of women in Sudan and their lack of rights. Tayeb Salih is considered one of the best Arabic authors and I can see why after reading his most known work. It might not be for everyone but I think it is worth trying,