Name: I, The Divine: A Novel in First Chapters
ISBN: 9780393323566

Rabih Alameddine

Through a series of first chapters of unfinished novels and memoirs, Sarah Nour El-Din, a Lebanese-American artist, narrates the story of her life, from growing up in a hybrid family in war-torn Beirut and her own self-imposed exile in the United States to her struggle to deal with her family problems and her determination to tell her own story. Reprint. 10,000 first printing.

I, The Divine: A Novel in First Chapters

Hafsa

I don't know what to think of this book. It isn't a traditional novel in any sense, each chapter in the book is a first chapter and there's not really a progression in the plot. At its heart this is a family drama, we learn about how messed up the family is but at the same time we understand how they all got to this point. I didn't particularly like the protagonist-Sarah but I understood why she is the way she is. I wish there was some sort of resolution in this novel but I think Alameddine wasn't aiming for a conclusion. Alameddine definitely writes very well, he's quite eloquent and he's able to capture his characters' emotions quite well. I'm looking forward to reading his other books. I'd recommend this book to anyone who likes their characters to be realistic and messed up.