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    Crescent
    Crescent
    Crescent
    Audiobook (abridged)8 hours

    Crescent

    Written by Diana Abu-Jaber

    Narrated by Nike Doukas and Marcelo Tubert

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    An Arab-American Chocolat-a sensual blend of food, love and longing.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHighbridge Company
    Release dateApr 14, 2003
    ISBN9781598871562
    Crescent

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    Reviews for Crescent

    4/5

    177 ratings11 reviews

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    • 4/5
      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 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.
    • 4/5
      Timely read with all that is currently going on in the US. I'm looking forward to meeting with D. Abu-Jaber next week for a book club on her recent memoir!
    • 3/5
      I don't know what I was expecting, but I wasn't expecting... a romance novel.

      It's an exaggeration to call it that. However, there was too much love, too much sex, too many dreams in this novel for my personal liking.

      That said - the language was beautiful.

      Moreover, it was not a good time for me to be reading a (relatively) happy love story.

      I would still definitely recommend this book. I love Diana Abu-Jaber's writing, and still plan to read Birds of Paradise. I preferred Arabian Jazz, though.
    • 4/5
      I didn't think I was going to like this one, given that I just read and disliked another novel about Muslims living in an Anglo land. I'm happy to report that I was wrong.

      The novel tells the story of Sirine, who lives with her cranky-but-lovable uncle in "Teherangeles" and who works as a chef in a Lebanese-Middle Eastern restaurant. She meets and falls in love with a Han, a professor who is a wanted man in Iraq (because of his former association with Americans there before Saddam's revolution). Han's family is still there, but for him to return to his country might prove fatal. The evolution of the couple's story is interspersed with the uncle's fantastical tale of a young Arab man who might or might not have grown up to be Omar Sharif (!) and the mother who searches for him with the help of a dog, an old mermaid, a jinn, and assorted other characters.

      The book's structure reminds me of the film version of The Princess Bride--the grandfather's storytelling alternating with the events concerning Buttercup and Westley. Note, though, that the fable told in Crescent has no moral--the uncle says so specifically. :-)

      I really liked the writing. The tastes, smells, sounds, touches all come through loud and clear, but somehow they're all rolled up in a gauzy veil. I can completely believe there is a Mideast enclave just like this in Los Angeles. Very well done. Minor nitpicks: someone should correct the copy on the book jacket--it contradicts the text in a few places. There are also a few typos in the text itself, but not enough to irritate.

      Some of the characters are realized more fully than others, but I didn't mind so much. Sirine seems realistic, and it was refreshing to have an older female protagonist who wasn't desperate to get married or have kids. The only drawback to her character was that she seemed a bit passive for most of the story. This may be a cultural difference, though.

      I wish we had read this for the book club instead of the other novel.
    • 3/5
      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."
    • 5/5
      Wow. Beautiful, remarkable novel. Read it. (and Vanity Fair, it's not a "deliciously romantic romp"). (I mean, a romp? really?)
    • 1/5
      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 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.
    • 4/5
      Very enjoyable - made me want to read other books by Abu-Jaber.
    • 4/5
      Primarily a love story between Sirine, an Arab American, and Hanif, an Iraqui, in L.A., but it is also an interesting look at the differences between those Arabs who are born and raised in the U.S. and those who are living in the U.S. as exiles and cannot go home. There is tragedy in Hanif's story about why he cannot go back to Iraq but, on the other hand, feels he must go back to his native country, and the author does a good job of building the suspense. She also does an excellent job of fleshing out all of the characters in the book, even the minor ones. Highly recommended for all fiction lovers.
    • 5/5
      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.
    • 3/5
      Engaging story of an Iraqi immigrant trying to find a home in Los Angeles. The main plot line is a love story between him and the main character Sirine, but other themes include Han's pain of exile and his feeling that he is responsible for what happened to his family.