3½ stars.

Lebanon goes straight to the top of my bucket list as soon as Israel stops being a whiny ass bitch

A love letter to solitude, literature, and humanity.

An Unnecessary woman is the story of an aged, divorced, childless woman, living in a flat in Beirut. With almost no connections, she spends her days translating books into Arabic. It's a quiet book, mostly the thoughts of a single woman, but it is also an interesting look at a life in Beirut at purpose in life and the importance of books.

This isn't a quick read, and it wasn't a particularly easy read. But it was a beautiful read. Alameddine's language was so vivid, elegant, and poetic it was easy to get lost in the words.

The subject matter - a woman who doesn't fit into her world, and how she chooses to put some structure around her life - is one that appeals to me a lot, since I enjoy reading about complex and nuanced female characters. While Aaliya doesn't develop as a character exactly, the way that Alameddine slowly unwraps the character was great to read.

The prose in this book.

I loved this book.
If you are a lover of literature, classical music, streams of consciousness, or just adore gorgeous writing, you should read this book. Also, if you enjoy discussions of the intricacies of translation, you should read this book. I almost never read books more than once, but this will be an exception.

Me parece un buen libro, aunque le falto un toque de acción, un momento con mas clímax. La primera parte me pareció más interesante que la ultima parte, pero el final me gusto. También me sentí identificada con el personaje, esa mujer que vivía a través de los libros, por amor a ellos, con su obsesión a la lectura y todas esas referencias de obras literarias y las reflexiones que hace, me han dado ganas de leer algunos.
Además creo que el autor hizo un trabajo muy bueno con tantas voces femeninas, los hombres tienen importancia pero no son pilares fundamentales. El libro se construye a través de mujeres y que lo haya escrito un hombre es interesante.

gave up on, felt sooo long and boring