Crescent

Crescent by Diane Abu-Jaber is a warm, lyrical love story that has been infused with the scents of Middle Eastern food, and stories both of actual history and fables from the Middle East. Set in an Arab-American community in Los Angeles this is the story of the romance between Sirine, an Iraqi-American and Hanif, a haunted, handsome Eastern Literature professor who has come to America to escape his war torn country of Iraq.

Thirty nine year old Sirine has never married, lives with her uncle who is also a university professor, and born story teller along with their dog, King Babar. She works as a chef in a Lebanese restaurant. Her passion has been all about food and it’s preparation until she meets the handsome Arabic literature show more professor who comes to her restaurant originally for the food, but ultimately for her. Sirine struggles with the Arabic side of her identity and wonders if she is too American for Hanif, while Hanif struggles to feel grounded in America so far from Baghdad and the family he had to leave behind.

A good love story, peopled with lots of interesting secondary characters, with a backdrop of real history about Saddam Hussein and the atrocities that occurred under his reign made this book a very interesting read. The author captures the poignant contemplation of refugees while at the same time celebrates the food, poetry, politics and the daily life of the Arabic-American community and gives the reader a ringside seat. show less

Yum, yum, yum. Beautifully written, some of the most sensuous scenes I've ever read. Who knew making baklava could be so erotic??

A tender, sensitive love story. Rich, sensuous, dreamlike, joyful, and sometimes tearingly sad, the novel beautifully evokes Sirene's sense of being overwhelmed by her unexpected attraction to an exiled Arab literature professor, and her very physical sense of loss when she thinks she has lost him. The story is narrated entirely in the present tense, which gives it a particularly timeless feeling, but can be hard to sustain. It is done so skillfully here that I didn't notice until I went back to re-read parts of the novel.

The author apparently originally intended this as a reworking of Othello; this was not obvious to me while reading the story, but helps in retrospect to make sense of a number of plot elements which had puzzled me. The show more closure of the book was not entirely satisfactory, but the lack of closure -- while still offering hope -- seems a better solution than an artificial happy ending. show less

Read this before we moved, and somehow never got to writing my review. I like this author's works, and I like the way she weaves food, flavors, sensations into her works. This was no disappointment in that regard, in fact, there are a few recipes in the back worth investigating.

The story was gentle, filled with longing, love, heartache, and wonderful stories. There were some holes, but for the most part, there is a stark reality that Abu-Jaber has in her books, infused with honey, and wrapped in a delicious flaky crust, multi-layered, multi-flavored, interesting with each bite.

But what was the name of Sirene's uncle? I don't think it appears at all in the book; he's just "Sirene's uncle."

This is an ambitious novel, and there are some lovely images, as well as a lot of potential in the work as a whole. In the end, though, I can't say that I see it achieving much of anything it aims at, aside from bringing up various interesting (if already known) questions.....and failing to follow through.

Writing-wise, the book is heavy handed and predictable. Framing the major portion of the book into a traditional love story is not only unbelievable and cheesy, but ends up undermining the more serious issues brought up. I can appreciate a good romance, literary or not, but the truth is that this is missing the elements of romance that my friends and I actually enjoy--the relatable characters, the mystery, the risque situations and show more dialogues. Thus, it often comes across as a censored-down soap opera, and the closing forty pages or so are sadly laughable.

What IS done well is an integration of food & taste sensory----I can't imagine reading this and Not becoming hungry; and, I'm rather curious to try the recipes that show up in the book club section at the back of the book. I hate to say it, but I think they may be the valuable part of the text.

The book does attempt an exploration of complicated issues: immigrants, refugees, and exiles; politics; US relations with the middle east; the place of the artist in society and in revolution; love; community; and the nature/place of oral cultures in a world that often seems to have grown out of them. It is, only, an exploration, however---and that's likely too clear a word for it. Yes, the book tells a story, and yes, it brings up issues, but I can't give it more credit then that.

Obviously, I can't recommend the book. It's nicely written and ambitious, but I think seeing more requires doing more reading Between the lines than anything else, and giving far more credit than deserved. show less

A forty-year old chef, half American-half Iraqi falls in love with an Iraqi-exiled professor. The book is set in the Arab-American community in Los Angeles, and dances around some very complex family dynamics, love, and Arab culture. I found the book to be very slow at times, but liked the focus on Arab food/recipes and the differences highlighted among various Arab cultures. Chef Sirine and Professor Hanif made some poor decisions. Also, I found the Arab fable at the beginning of each chapter to be more annoying than interesting despite its mysticism.

I preferred Pauls Toutonghi's Evil Knievel Days, which had similar themes.

Favorite irreverent quote: In reality, dogs are only reincarnated monks who didn't say their prayers right."

You can feel the peach in Sirine's hand, heavy and lush. You can smell the spices she cooks with at Nadia's Cafe in L.A. And when her heart is broken, well, that's the way some love affairs go. But this story of an Iranian-American has twists and turns, betrayal and redemption. The intertwined tale of Abdulrahman Salahadin, told by Sirine's immigrant uncle, can only make you smile, especially once you learn to pronounce the name and let it roll over and around your tongue.