Helpful Score: 1
In The Hakawati, the present-day-ish story of reunification at the hospital for a dying loved one is interwoven with fantastical Arabian Nights type stories (Hakawati translates as storyteller) throughout the ages and spanning histories of the Mid-East and ALSO interspersed throughout are stories about all the family's various members of varying generations and on both sides of the main character Osama al-Kharrat's family. It's a LOT to try and follow. So while I was hugely entertained by the colorful stories, I was constantly preoccupied thinking the author must be using foreshadowing and symbolism to make the mythical stories represent family members, and I struggled unsuccessfully to figure that out or even keep the generations straight and it was tiring for me.
By the end I was anxious to be done, and a little let down that I didn't get enough answers to who was meant to be symbolized by what. Maybe all this would've lent itself better to an audio version.
By the end I was anxious to be done, and a little let down that I didn't get enough answers to who was meant to be symbolized by what. Maybe all this would've lent itself better to an audio version.
