I’m not sure how I feel about this book…I actually am really uncomfortable reading it so far. I mean, I guess where not in high school anymore, so it technically is “appropriate” but I just don’t like the sexual imagery.
I guess my main question is, What is Ali’s identity, male or female?
And another question is, are there other characters involved in this novel? I feel like Ali and the princess are one set of characters and then the couple in Paris are another set of characters…I guess I’m just really confused by the book in general.
I just am confused by the plot of the story and I’m 45 pages in- I feel like I should understand what’s going on…I think it is set in the future, and it know it takes place in france/Antioch? What in the world is going on with Antioch? Are they talking about history or is that where Ali lives in the timeframe of the book…
So far..I just am not really enjoying this book, sorry…however, its going by fast so thats nice.
erinhorning said,
March 6, 2008 @ 1:36 am
I had the same thoughts as you seem to be having. It seems like Ali was born as a girl, but then since his mother changed him into a boy he has completly become a man? I’m not really sure how that could be seeing as how they used tulips, but I guess that’s just another factor of this book’s strangeness. I am really confused by this book too, and I am VERY glad I am not the only one….or the only one who is not enjoying this book. Hopefully, it will change and things will start to get better? I kind of doubt it though.
Kirstyn said,
March 7, 2008 @ 8:25 pm
Discomfort is . . . uncomfortable. No doubt that this book is meant to push on some boundaries of comfort that we are used to. It’s supposed to be confusing. And uncomfortable. But also funny. And about the nebulousness of writing.
How might our discomfort as readers relate intimately (heh) to what’s going on the novel? How might it help us make meaning?