Not a great book....
From Amazon
I agree with the more neutral to negative reviewers, I was not a big fan of this book and felt it could have been better written and better edited.
Good book, wrong genre
From Amazon
Chicago presents an interesting riff on the immigrant experience. A quick read, it creates a living breathing universe of Egyptian histologists living in Chicago. Few of the characters are sympathetic, though all are human and believable. Expect a lot of unresolved family tragedy. Prepare yourself for depictions of torture and perfidy. I knew little about Egypt and was left with an impression of a fundamentally corrupt and dysfunctional country. I don't know how accurate this is. I personally found the sex a bit prurient but not offensive. The biggest flaw of the novel, I think, is that it really is a series of short stories woven together. I think Aswany's gift as a writer may be best suited to the short story rather than a novel.
Did Not Complete
From Amazon
I have had this book for months and for whatever reason have been unable to complete it. The average rating my be considered not fair, but, at a minimum I want to become engaged with the characters and that did not occur for me with Chicago.
Angelia Menchan
Lots of sex, no plot -- what was this book about??
From Amazon
I was very disappointed by this book. The Egyptian men all had serious problems with women and the American man was a dredged up 60s radical stereotype. I was pretty appalled with all the graphic sexuality, especially since it seemed to have to no connection to the plot (not that there was one, but more on that later). I really stray away from books with graphic sexual content because they generally detract from the rest of the book, which was the case here. I would even go so far as to say that most of the male characters were misogynistic and that bothered me a great deal.
I was also confused by the plight of the young woman who could not get a job (in Chicago of all places) because she was black. I have not lived in Chicago, but I cannot believe that this is the case (to the extreme degree it was portrayed in the book). Also, I agree with the previous review about the anti-semitism. I cannot imagine Jewish students in America taunting Arab students, but maybe I am being naive. However, I have never heard of such an instance.
However, what bothered me most is that there was no plot. I wanted to read this book because I thought it would give me insight into Egyptian culture, but what I took from it was that Egyptian men have major issues with women and pretty stereotypical ideas about America. Maybe I was reaching too high and hoping for something along the lines of "A Thousand Splendid Suns" which was one of the best books I have read. I really wish I knew what this book was trying to be about, there are a lot of themes: sex, oppressive government, male/female relationships, but none of it tied together for me.
Tanks Faster Than You Can Say "Hieroglyphics"
From Amazon
This book starts off OK, but turns into a wretched mass of bad editing, poor writing, confused storytelling and stereotypes. There are only two likable characters out of dozens. I blame the editors as much as the author on this mess.