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There are currently 24 member reviews
for Fencing with the King
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Kathrin C. (Corona, CA)
Fencing with the King
Diana Abu-Jaber is certainly an accomplished writer who uses strong descriptive prose, good pacing and continually elevates the tension that drives the underlying family mystery. I enjoyed learning more about Middle East history, politics, and their effects on women's roles throughout Jordanian society in current times. The story also explores immigrants' elusive ties to their heritage and homeland long after they've left their original place of birth in interesting ways. The novel is very readable, but I did not find the plot or Amani, the central character, believable - especially in the second half of the book. That said, I would still be willing to give another one of Abu-Jaber's novels a try.
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Bette K. (Beverly, FL)
Middle Eastern Semi Historical Search
My ancestry steeped in Middle Eastern history, culture and stories led me to select this book to review. If you are interested or connected to the area you will probably be likely to find much of this book strikes a chord with you also. I found many of the vocabulary words and titles of address to be like the words we used in my family— words like SITTEE- grandmother. Also foods like Zatar and traditions such as attitudes toward women are typical in my American/ Middle Eastern family.
Historically, I found that I would have to be a lot more savvy to keep up with the historical, political affairs going on in the novel. That is not to say the
Novel can't be understood without this information because it really isn't necessary to the regular reader.
The regular reader might be more interested In the romance and intrigue going on within the family- these things pretty much are like any family's problems but with a middle Eastern twist.
This is not a fast moving novel but slowly develops through extensive description of scenery, culture, and psychological examination. Description of the desert and metaphorical insights through this description are prominent. Also a detailed description of the sword fight, which is the point of the the title,is primary.
This is a pretty typical story of an American poet drawn to investigate her heritage and family in the Middle East. Following some not too mysterious clues, some of which never made sense to this reader, she is also led to find out much about herself. Don't look for any surprises or twists. It is straight forward and fairly predictable.
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Margot P. (Mandeville, LA)
A crowded jigsaw puzzle
I have enjoyed some of of Diana Abu-Jabar's other novels but this one is terribly disappointing. She tosses out lots of modern Jordanian and Middle East political info but much of it is lost on the reader. The "mystery" is about as obvious as it can get. The only truly interesting storyline is the conflict between the two brothers and it never really comes to a satisfying conclusion. I suppose the main character is Amani (a struggling poet) yet she is completely underdeveloped and I felt I did not know her any better at novel's end than I did at the start. To avoid a spoiler, I will just say that the romance element in the book felt childish and unrealistic. And don't think you are going to learn much about the ancient art of fencing.
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