Review: The Thirty Names of Night
The Thirty Names of Night by Zeyn Joukhadar
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Trying to summarize this novel would be futile because any attempt wouldn't capture the lyrical nature of Joukhadar's writing, or his seemingly effortless ability, as in his first novel, A Map of Salt and Stars to find connections or mirrors between past and present, but I'll give it a shot.
With The Thirty Names of Night, Zeyn Joukhadar confirms his standing as a powerful Arab American writer. In a layered and luminous novel, Joukhadar gives voice to multiple generations living the Arab immigrant experience, to queer voices, and the power of names. Equal parts historical fiction, ghost story, and an account of the obsessive search for rare birds that only birders can fully appreciate, The Thirty Names of Night gives us a protagonist on the cusp of transformation. Five years after the untimely death of his ornithologist mother, a closeted transboy, an artist who is visited nightly by his mother's ghost, follows an owl and comes across the diary of Laila Z., a painter whose images of birds were his mother's favorite. The treasured diary sends him on a journey that ultimately helps him express his authentic self, and pursue the mystery of Laila Z., a woman who lived a secret life as well.
This is a rich and multi-faceted story woven with a thread of folklore. The rare bird that is central to this story is linked by its name Geronticus simurghus to the Simurgh, a mythical bird mentioned in Sufi poetry. The Simurgh is used as a metaphor for God in Sufi writings and is also akin to a phoenix in Iranian folklore. Here signified by an ibis-like bird, both the protagonist's mother and Laila Z. saw the same rare creatures. As a metaphor for seeing God, seeing the truth, this is a beautiful way of bringing about one's own truth, of Nadir's choosing his name.
This novel is just filled with lyricism, life, and the undying nature of love.
~ ~ ~
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Trying to summarize this novel would be futile because any attempt wouldn't capture the lyrical nature of Joukhadar's writing, or his seemingly effortless ability, as in his first novel, A Map of Salt and Stars to find connections or mirrors between past and present, but I'll give it a shot.
With The Thirty Names of Night, Zeyn Joukhadar confirms his standing as a powerful Arab American writer. In a layered and luminous novel, Joukhadar gives voice to multiple generations living the Arab immigrant experience, to queer voices, and the power of names. Equal parts historical fiction, ghost story, and an account of the obsessive search for rare birds that only birders can fully appreciate, The Thirty Names of Night gives us a protagonist on the cusp of transformation. Five years after the untimely death of his ornithologist mother, a closeted transboy, an artist who is visited nightly by his mother's ghost, follows an owl and comes across the diary of Laila Z., a painter whose images of birds were his mother's favorite. The treasured diary sends him on a journey that ultimately helps him express his authentic self, and pursue the mystery of Laila Z., a woman who lived a secret life as well.
This is a rich and multi-faceted story woven with a thread of folklore. The rare bird that is central to this story is linked by its name Geronticus simurghus to the Simurgh, a mythical bird mentioned in Sufi poetry. The Simurgh is used as a metaphor for God in Sufi writings and is also akin to a phoenix in Iranian folklore. Here signified by an ibis-like bird, both the protagonist's mother and Laila Z. saw the same rare creatures. As a metaphor for seeing God, seeing the truth, this is a beautiful way of bringing about one's own truth, of Nadir's choosing his name.
This novel is just filled with lyricism, life, and the undying nature of love.
~ ~ ~
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