The Patience Stone - Atiq Rahimi (short review)

*** Tragic and senseless 

It is actually a novella rather than a novel. In Afghanistan, a woman keeps vigil at the bedside of her husband in a coma and begins to talk with him, who cannot hear her, revealing untold secrets. Very particular the idea of telling the story as if there was a camera in the room recording images and sounds. We cannot see what is happening outside it; at best we can hear noises in the distance. The topics are certainly controversial though unfortunately not surprising anymore. The author's style is undoubtedly beautiful, but this story did not satisfy me. The choice of this particular external point of view removes breath from the narrative, makes it too limited. I wondered what the protagonist really thought and I wanted to see a little out of that room.

But what threw me off and resulted in my judgment is the ending, which might be called, at the option of the reader, meaningless or poetic. I opt for the first solution, since we are talking about a book of prose not poetry and I think that taking refuge in the beauty of writing to avoid giving plausibility to the end of a book is just an easy shortcut.

Patience Stone on Amazon.com.