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The Necessary Beggar
Lémabantunk, the Glorious City, is a place of peace and plenty. But it is also a land of swift and severe justice. Young Darroti has been accused of the murder of a highborn woman who had chosen the life of a Mendicant, a holy beggar whose blessing brings forgiveness. Now his entire family must share his shame, and his punishment--exile to an unknown world.
Grieving for the life they have left behind, Darroti and his family find themselves in a hostile land--an all-too-familiar American future, a country under attack in a world torn by hatred and war. There, each tries to cope in their own way.
Some will surrender to despair. Some will strive to preserve the old ways. Some will be lured by the new world's temptations. And some, sustained by extraordinary love, will find a way to heal the family's grief and give them hope.
Grieving for the life they have left behind, Darroti and his family find themselves in a hostile land--an all-too-familiar American future, a country under attack in a world torn by hatred and war. There, each tries to cope in their own way.
Some will surrender to despair. Some will strive to preserve the old ways. Some will be lured by the new world's temptations. And some, sustained by extraordinary love, will find a way to heal the family's grief and give them hope.
316 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2005
About the author
Susan Palwick
80 books72 followersSusan Palwick is an Associate Professor of English at the University of Nevada, Reno, where she teaches writing and literature.
Raised in northern New Jersey, Palwick attended Princeton University, where she studied fiction writing with novelist Stephen Koch, and she holds a doctoral degree from Yale. In the 1980s, she was an editor of The Little Magazine and then helped found The New York Review of Science Fiction, to which she contributed several reviews and essays.
Palwick's work has received multiple awards, including the Rhysling Award (in 1985) for her poem "The Neighbor's Wife." She won the Crawford Award for best first novel with Flying in Place in 1993, and The Alex Award in 2006 for her second novel, The Necessary Beggar. Her third novel, Shelter, was published by Tor in 2007. Another book, The Fate of Mice (a collection of short stories), has also been published by Tachyon Publications.
Susan Palwick is a practicing Episcopalian and lay hospital chaplain.
Raised in northern New Jersey, Palwick attended Princeton University, where she studied fiction writing with novelist Stephen Koch, and she holds a doctoral degree from Yale. In the 1980s, she was an editor of The Little Magazine and then helped found The New York Review of Science Fiction, to which she contributed several reviews and essays.
Palwick's work has received multiple awards, including the Rhysling Award (in 1985) for her poem "The Neighbor's Wife." She won the Crawford Award for best first novel with Flying in Place in 1993, and The Alex Award in 2006 for her second novel, The Necessary Beggar. Her third novel, Shelter, was published by Tor in 2007. Another book, The Fate of Mice (a collection of short stories), has also been published by Tachyon Publications.
Susan Palwick is a practicing Episcopalian and lay hospital chaplain.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 133 reviews
May 30, 2019
Our stories are patterns. There's generally a beginning, a middle with rising action, a climax, a denouement and an end. Sometimes there are a smaller peaks along the way. Fairy tales have a rhythm. Romances have rules. Mysteries have steps, etc. Sometimes a book breaks the mold, and it will either be a game changer, a worthy experiment, or get molten material all over your work space. Really a toss up. This book breaks the mold. A fascinating mixture of portal fantasy, tragic romance, and slice of life immigrant story, this book tries to fit all three patterns, and I'm not sure it quite succeeded.
CONTENT WARNING (mild spoilers)
Things to love:
-The centrality of family. Blood and found family are really well developed. The bonds--messy though they often are--that make us a tribe are really well described in both hilarious and heartbreaking ways.
-The issues. The immigrant experience, making peace with different religions, domestic terrorism, the dark side of romantic love...there's a lot in here that is at once approachable and cuts right to the heart of so much pain.
-Zama, Timbor, and Lisa. By far my favorite characters, and all for the same reason. They are kind. Their kindness takes different forms, but they speak the same language, and with that become the glue that keeps everyone else a part of their community.
Things that did not work for me:
-The plot. There were so many ways this could have gone, and the route it chose was boring and frankly unhealthy.
-The religiosity of it all. It is In. Your. Face. I felt that it actually really promoted Christianity, and while there were wonderful examples of honest followers of Jesus' teachings, the moral that we all find Jesus and redemption some way or another grated a bit on me. Love your God, live your teachings, but please respect that others must follow that mandate as well.
-Romantic love. For a book that gets family love so right, the romantic loves were all disasters. Maybe not Eroloril and Harani, we don't really see them much. But everyone else, yikes! If you see your love story in this book, please talk to a friend and check in. This wouldn't have been as big a deal if the sickness of reliance on romantic love had been the takeaway, but it wasn't! This was supposed to be sweet! Real spoilers here: I love romantic love, and I have seen its strength, but this is not a testament to that sort of love, and I am super against glorifying the myth that all you need is (romantic) love.
-The story progression. Separate from the plot, the things we spend time on, the parallels, metaphors and foils drawn didn't quite work for me. We're sort of all over the place with the focus, and the way it all ties together feels hasty and forced.
-The writing. This was frustrating, because it started out so beautifully. The first third is just chock full of gorgeous prose and poignant phrases. It seems to lose its way after that, about the time the story took a hard left into a different set of story patterns.
-Gratuitous pain. I see that the author was constructing a low point so that there could be a turn in the story narrative. From a technical standpoint, I understand the decision. But from a story standpoint, it felt like we were supposed to either be reveling in how far everyone fell, or that their pain was meant to be "inspirational," the sort of awful myth about what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Now, it's possible some of my own demons are speaking here, but seeing people I had come to care about so much go through this in a manner that didn't feel entirely natural threw me out, and I went from being upset for them, to upset at the author. If we'd walked this line a bit more carefully, it could have been tense and meaningful instead of just a beatdown.
-The ending. Yeah, too neat. Too neat and also too tragic at the same time. Again I felt out of sync with the intention of the author. I think I was supposed to find it bittersweet, a release, but it felt more like the slam of the prison door. I ended feeling worried for everyone.
I'm really torn about this. I ate it up, it's a quick read with really important messages that are as relevant now as when it was written 15 years ago. It has a great glimpse at family, empathy, forgiveness, and being forced out of your own culture. But it also was frustrating and hurtful for me to read. I don't think I'd recommend it readily, and I'm conflicted on whether I'd seek this author out again. I think there's a lot of promise, but I think we also see the world so differently that I'd likely be uncomfortable and people who like her would tell me I'm really reading too far into this, which is definitely possible. Overthinking is my superpower. So, yeah. 4 stars for what it does right, 1 star for what it misses for me, and because 3 stars for me is something I'd still recommend to others, I think I have to round down.
CONTENT WARNING (mild spoilers)
Things to love:
-The centrality of family. Blood and found family are really well developed. The bonds--messy though they often are--that make us a tribe are really well described in both hilarious and heartbreaking ways.
-The issues. The immigrant experience, making peace with different religions, domestic terrorism, the dark side of romantic love...there's a lot in here that is at once approachable and cuts right to the heart of so much pain.
-Zama, Timbor, and Lisa. By far my favorite characters, and all for the same reason. They are kind. Their kindness takes different forms, but they speak the same language, and with that become the glue that keeps everyone else a part of their community.
Things that did not work for me:
-The plot. There were so many ways this could have gone, and the route it chose was boring and frankly unhealthy.
-The religiosity of it all. It is In. Your. Face. I felt that it actually really promoted Christianity, and while there were wonderful examples of honest followers of Jesus' teachings, the moral that we all find Jesus and redemption some way or another grated a bit on me. Love your God, live your teachings, but please respect that others must follow that mandate as well.
-Romantic love. For a book that gets family love so right, the romantic loves were all disasters. Maybe not Eroloril and Harani, we don't really see them much. But everyone else, yikes! If you see your love story in this book, please talk to a friend and check in. This wouldn't have been as big a deal if the sickness of reliance on romantic love had been the takeaway, but it wasn't! This was supposed to be sweet! Real spoilers here: I love romantic love, and I have seen its strength, but this is not a testament to that sort of love, and I am super against glorifying the myth that all you need is (romantic) love.
-The story progression. Separate from the plot, the things we spend time on, the parallels, metaphors and foils drawn didn't quite work for me. We're sort of all over the place with the focus, and the way it all ties together feels hasty and forced.
-The writing. This was frustrating, because it started out so beautifully. The first third is just chock full of gorgeous prose and poignant phrases. It seems to lose its way after that, about the time the story took a hard left into a different set of story patterns.
-Gratuitous pain. I see that the author was constructing a low point so that there could be a turn in the story narrative. From a technical standpoint, I understand the decision. But from a story standpoint, it felt like we were supposed to either be reveling in how far everyone fell, or that their pain was meant to be "inspirational," the sort of awful myth about what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Now, it's possible some of my own demons are speaking here, but seeing people I had come to care about so much go through this in a manner that didn't feel entirely natural threw me out, and I went from being upset for them, to upset at the author. If we'd walked this line a bit more carefully, it could have been tense and meaningful instead of just a beatdown.
-The ending. Yeah, too neat. Too neat and also too tragic at the same time. Again I felt out of sync with the intention of the author. I think I was supposed to find it bittersweet, a release, but it felt more like the slam of the prison door. I ended feeling worried for everyone.
I'm really torn about this. I ate it up, it's a quick read with really important messages that are as relevant now as when it was written 15 years ago. It has a great glimpse at family, empathy, forgiveness, and being forced out of your own culture. But it also was frustrating and hurtful for me to read. I don't think I'd recommend it readily, and I'm conflicted on whether I'd seek this author out again. I think there's a lot of promise, but I think we also see the world so differently that I'd likely be uncomfortable and people who like her would tell me I'm really reading too far into this, which is definitely possible. Overthinking is my superpower. So, yeah. 4 stars for what it does right, 1 star for what it misses for me, and because 3 stars for me is something I'd still recommend to others, I think I have to round down.
May 28, 2019
This was a buddy read, and as often happens with those, I'm kind of talked out/"thinked out" about the book by review time.
The Necessary Beggar is a kind of hybrid SF or magical realism, though leaning more toward the latter. Its central family come from another dimension and are exiled to the U.S.--near Reno, Nevada specifically. They quickly have to come to terms with its culture in whatever way they can. They also have to deal with a couple of ghosts who came with them from their home country.
The story has a lot to say about America's cold cruelty when it comes to refugees or the homeless or others who haven't "pulled themselves up by their bootstraps." The characters are a believable mix of sweethearts and people with terrible flaws who cause pain and havoc for those who love them.
The Necessary Beggar is a kind of hybrid SF or magical realism, though leaning more toward the latter. Its central family come from another dimension and are exiled to the U.S.--near Reno, Nevada specifically. They quickly have to come to terms with its culture in whatever way they can. They also have to deal with a couple of ghosts who came with them from their home country.
The story has a lot to say about America's cold cruelty when it comes to refugees or the homeless or others who haven't "pulled themselves up by their bootstraps." The characters are a believable mix of sweethearts and people with terrible flaws who cause pain and havoc for those who love them.
May 14, 2024
On the one hand, I want to be nice to this book. The writing is good, the premise unique, the characters sympathetic but still believable, and the author’s heart clearly in the right place: it’s a book about a family of “illegal aliens” (from another dimension!) making lives for themselves in the modern United States, and its perspective on American culture is entertaining and thought-provoking, while its thoughts on how we fail immigrants and the poor are timely.
On the other hand, I wound up disappointed. The plot drags, with conversations running long to illustrate the book’s themes, there’s a major plot reveal worthy only of a soap opera, the home culture is far too romanticized for its not-fully-acknowledged misogyny, and numerous elements just seem dated or unlikely. I can’t argue with the book’s obscurity.
The story follows an extended family exiled from their idyllic homeland after one of their young men is accused of murdering a holy woman. The family lands in a refugee camp in the Nevada desert (it’s meant to be a near-future setting, as seen from its publication date in 2005, but the existence of the camp is the only futuristic element). Ultimately they are able to get out, but struggle with cultural differences, secrets, and the difficulty of rebuilding under assumed identities in a foreign land. The story is told from three perspectives, one in first person and two in third: the grandfather, the ghost of the deceased son, and the high-achieving granddaughter.
Perhaps this book filled a needed gap in 2005, especially as it’s just fantastical enough to tempt genre fans who turn up their noses at realistic fiction. But there’s been such an explosion of work by and about immigrants in the intervening decades that unless you are an insular fan yourself (and even then, fantasy writing is very diverse these days), this isn’t a top-shelf pick on the topic. (For the interested, here’s three nonfiction books that resonate with the themes of this one, plus three memoirs, and three novels. That last also being partly speculative.)
Part of the problem is the idealization of the home culture. It’s highly patriarchal, which the book only barely acknowledges: it draws attention to the religion having historically distributed all its burdens and benefits to men, but women now making inroads. Okay. But the book never deals with the fact that this culture also expects women to be housewives in their husbands’ family compound; that it has a strict purity culture around women’s sexual behavior while allowing male sexual license; that its paramount importance on the family is accompanied by a “wives, cleave to thy husbands” attitude where a married woman now belongs to her husband’s family rather than her own. The thing that gets me about this is that the traditional values that a modern reader might question all magically disappear the instant the family arrives in the U.S.—no one ever questions the wives working, the granddaughters getting educated for a career, the granddaughters dating or whether marriage means they’ll be lost to the family—while all the traditional values we might admire (sticking together, giving to the homeless, respecting the earth and all living things) remain firmly in place. I’m sorry, I call bullshit.
Speaking of nonsense plot points, the big reveal about Darroti’s crime is so absolutely absurd that a moment meant to inspire tragedy and pathos just had me rolling my eyes and going “oh come on!”:
Sadly, there’s more. The family’s never developing a real cover story about where they’re from and defaulting to “you won’t have heard of it” broke my suspension of disbelief. (In the internet age? You don’t need a puppy-dog crush like that one pushy boyfriend to be curious enough to Google.) Speaking of the pushy boyfriend,
The treatment of alcoholism is dated: to be fair, in 2005 I probably also believed that the primary thing keeping addicts addicted was inability to tolerate withdrawal, but today the portrayal of “withdrawal is the worst thing ever” (seriously, two characters become functioning alcoholics and they both experience several days of delirium tremens, which the internet tells me happens to only 5% of people and usually those with the worst addictions) combined with “but once you get through withdrawal you’ll be fine!” (despite being in the same environment with the same stressors and no new coping mechanisms) seems absurd.
The author’s attack on the American medical system seems likewise uninformed: the whole plotline about the developmentally disabled homeless woman who needs surgery but can’t afford it ignores the existence of Medicaid for the Disabled, which was available at the time of writing and is never mentioned to be repealed. (There’s so much wrong with our medical system, it shouldn’t be that hard to find a problem that really exists! Also, I wasn’t sure the protagonists were really the best vehicle for this outrage: they come from a hierarchical society of nobles and commoners; do those at the bottom really get top medical care? Wouldn’t people from a society with no modern medicine have some feelings about the idea of open-heart surgery? Awe or horror probably depends on the person, but something.)
That’s a lot of complaints, I realize, for a book that was mostly pleasant reading. It does some things very well: for instance, the portrayal of the Christian couple who help the family, and their very different and evolving understandings of their religion, is a highlight. That’s all very real and heartfelt. But then too, it throws into relief how much less textured the main family’s relationship with their own religion is: because ultimately they’re just here to show us something about ourselves. With that as the goal, it’s no surprise that their own world is never fully fleshed out, and the novel is rather less than satisfying.
On the other hand, I wound up disappointed. The plot drags, with conversations running long to illustrate the book’s themes, there’s a major plot reveal worthy only of a soap opera, the home culture is far too romanticized for its not-fully-acknowledged misogyny, and numerous elements just seem dated or unlikely. I can’t argue with the book’s obscurity.
The story follows an extended family exiled from their idyllic homeland after one of their young men is accused of murdering a holy woman. The family lands in a refugee camp in the Nevada desert (it’s meant to be a near-future setting, as seen from its publication date in 2005, but the existence of the camp is the only futuristic element). Ultimately they are able to get out, but struggle with cultural differences, secrets, and the difficulty of rebuilding under assumed identities in a foreign land. The story is told from three perspectives, one in first person and two in third: the grandfather, the ghost of the deceased son, and the high-achieving granddaughter.
Perhaps this book filled a needed gap in 2005, especially as it’s just fantastical enough to tempt genre fans who turn up their noses at realistic fiction. But there’s been such an explosion of work by and about immigrants in the intervening decades that unless you are an insular fan yourself (and even then, fantasy writing is very diverse these days), this isn’t a top-shelf pick on the topic. (For the interested, here’s three nonfiction books that resonate with the themes of this one, plus three memoirs, and three novels. That last also being partly speculative.)
Part of the problem is the idealization of the home culture. It’s highly patriarchal, which the book only barely acknowledges: it draws attention to the religion having historically distributed all its burdens and benefits to men, but women now making inroads. Okay. But the book never deals with the fact that this culture also expects women to be housewives in their husbands’ family compound; that it has a strict purity culture around women’s sexual behavior while allowing male sexual license; that its paramount importance on the family is accompanied by a “wives, cleave to thy husbands” attitude where a married woman now belongs to her husband’s family rather than her own. The thing that gets me about this is that the traditional values that a modern reader might question all magically disappear the instant the family arrives in the U.S.—no one ever questions the wives working, the granddaughters getting educated for a career, the granddaughters dating or whether marriage means they’ll be lost to the family—while all the traditional values we might admire (sticking together, giving to the homeless, respecting the earth and all living things) remain firmly in place. I’m sorry, I call bullshit.
Speaking of nonsense plot points, the big reveal about Darroti’s crime is so absolutely absurd that a moment meant to inspire tragedy and pathos just had me rolling my eyes and going “oh come on!”:
Sadly, there’s more. The family’s never developing a real cover story about where they’re from and defaulting to “you won’t have heard of it” broke my suspension of disbelief. (In the internet age? You don’t need a puppy-dog crush like that one pushy boyfriend to be curious enough to Google.) Speaking of the pushy boyfriend,
The treatment of alcoholism is dated: to be fair, in 2005 I probably also believed that the primary thing keeping addicts addicted was inability to tolerate withdrawal, but today the portrayal of “withdrawal is the worst thing ever” (seriously, two characters become functioning alcoholics and they both experience several days of delirium tremens, which the internet tells me happens to only 5% of people and usually those with the worst addictions) combined with “but once you get through withdrawal you’ll be fine!” (despite being in the same environment with the same stressors and no new coping mechanisms) seems absurd.
The author’s attack on the American medical system seems likewise uninformed: the whole plotline about the developmentally disabled homeless woman who needs surgery but can’t afford it ignores the existence of Medicaid for the Disabled, which was available at the time of writing and is never mentioned to be repealed. (There’s so much wrong with our medical system, it shouldn’t be that hard to find a problem that really exists! Also, I wasn’t sure the protagonists were really the best vehicle for this outrage: they come from a hierarchical society of nobles and commoners; do those at the bottom really get top medical care? Wouldn’t people from a society with no modern medicine have some feelings about the idea of open-heart surgery? Awe or horror probably depends on the person, but something.)
That’s a lot of complaints, I realize, for a book that was mostly pleasant reading. It does some things very well: for instance, the portrayal of the Christian couple who help the family, and their very different and evolving understandings of their religion, is a highlight. That’s all very real and heartfelt. But then too, it throws into relief how much less textured the main family’s relationship with their own religion is: because ultimately they’re just here to show us something about ourselves. With that as the goal, it’s no surprise that their own world is never fully fleshed out, and the novel is rather less than satisfying.
May 17, 2019
Brilliant. Language, world-building, suspense, and charm. Engaging characters, even if just a little too simplistic. Themes not subtle - but still interesting & provocative. More like Literature than traditional SF, and yet not a difficult read at all. I would think it would be more widely enjoyed than the number of shelvings here indicates - and I will be looking for more by Palwick. I have already enjoyed her short stories in The Fate of Mice.
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September 27, 2022I'm DNF'ing this for now, but not quite permanently. A portal SFF about love, family, ghosts, and immigrants in a modern United States, there was lots of potential here. But to a large extent I thought the characters were caricatures of themselves and the themes were bludgeoning me over the head with their message. Ultimately I lost interest and started two other books, which didn't bode well with my finishing this book.
From the multitude of great reviews on this site, I'm sure this is a wonderful book for many readers. Just not for me.
From the multitude of great reviews on this site, I'm sure this is a wonderful book for many readers. Just not for me.
August 22, 2022
I found this to be a very beautiful and thoughtful book, tender in its treatment of this refugee family from a fantasy world. Everyone is a little too perfect, and the book doesn't hold up to really close scrutiny. But there's such a kindness in the treatment of the characters and their issues here that I was very caught up in how everyone was doing and whether they were going to be okay. I wanted the fantasy elements to be a little stronger (the cultural differences didn't feel different enough to me, didn't feel like these people had come from a different world with fundamental differences like what happens after you die). But what we got was wonderful. We need more fantasy books like this.
Shelved as 'owned-but-not-read'
August 14, 2019Tor.com ebook freebie, open until August 16, 11:59pm, though not sure of the timezone.
July 4, 2009
Magic! This book is magic. It's the kind of book where you just want to give the author a Nobel Prize and let her rule the world because she just gets how it's supposed to be. Her book "Flying in Place" is a riveting, heartwrenching story of a young girl in a horrifying family situation. It was the kind of really good book that's really hard to read -- and I didn't even have children when I read it.
The Necessary Beggar is quite a different book. The family in question is colourful and close-knit, and they come from a world called Lemabantunk (bit of a mouthful). Their world is primitive by many of our standards, but beautiful and enlightened -- most people spend a year as a Mendicant, a sacred beggar who lives by the kindness of strangers. Weddings include the Ritual of the Necessary Beggar, which is a reminder of civic duty and a fertility rite, reminding the couple that they must welcome their children as 'squalling strangers'. At the beginning of the story, the family has been exiled from their world through a gate which leads to other worlds, and leads them to ours. The reason for their exile is the supposed murder by Darroti of a sacred beggar woman named Gallicina.
The family comes into our world and is immediately interned in a refugee camp in a war-riven and fear-filled near future. The story revolves around the different reactions of the family members to their exile and their new life, and the people whose kindness helps them start over. There are also flashbacks to their old world and its legends and rituals, and the real story of what happened with Darroti and Gallicina. Zamatryna, one of the youngest members of the family, plays a pivotal role in the family's search for redemption.
The themes of exile and immigration, transgression and forgiveness, are sensitively treated in this book. I love the blessing of the Necessary Beggar: "For what you have given me, your errors and those of all your kin are forgiven. For charity heals shortcoming, and kindness heals carelessness, and hearts heal hurt." Okay, maybe it's a little simplistic. I was interested by the fact that the Utopian world of Lemabantunk was so far behind our world technologically as well -- is there an accepted perception in sci-fi/fantasy that technology equals some sort of fatal fall? Are we doomed to a world of war and alienation if we drive cars and use microwaves? Whatever -- the story was beautiful, and uplifting. I wanted it to be real.
October 9, 2022
Zamatryna was already eating. "Too much work," she said, around a mouthful of hot popcorn. "Uncle Max, if the popcorn were haunted, I'd know."
"How? How would you know? How can you be sure?"
"I'd know," she said, rolling her eyes. "It would be, like, scary popcorn. This isn't scary popcorn."
Macsofo looked pained. "The dead are not frightening, Zamatryna. The dead love us. You have been watching too many horror movies."
Zamatryna stuck her arms out straight in front of her and began lurching around the kitchen. "Night of the Living Popcorn," she said, in her best horror-movie voice. "Woo-woo-wooooo! Would you just chill?"
"You are not listening to me, Zamatryna. I am saying that the popcorn does not have to be scary to contain the spirits of the dead. The popcorn loves you. You should thank it.
This book was hard to rate and is even harder to review simply because it was so disappointing.
It started strong. I eagerly latched on the discussions of afterlife, ghosts and living your "next life" in a being that has the most to teach you. I loved the emphasis on respect to your food, because it might contain the souls of your ancestors. It just really spoke to some part of me... I guess (sorry, digression) that part of me believes that after people die part of them stays in things they loved. This is why I love to take care of my great-grandmother's garden, that's why I started to sew, that's why I saved such a big part of my other great-grandmother's library. Those are things that connect me to them and this book voiced some of those feelings. And I read those parts at the time when I needed to hear something like that...
The Great Breaking is why we always bless and thank our food before we eat it: for anything, fruit or flesh, may contain the spirit of some beloved person. We must believe that the dead delight to feed us, lest we starve, but we must also pay due reverence.
But... there have been issues. I wouldn't mind some of them if there were addressed in some form, but they never were. These aliens just feel like people. They go through some medical tests and it's just fine. They look like humans... how? I'm not saying it's not possible, but no explanation!
The society they come from isn't really alien either. It's easily comparable to ours/earthly cultures and I just wish Palwick went for at least one bold feature. Their society is also highly patriarchal which is never addressed. There is one female character in particular, Aliniana, who is shamed for her weakness and longing for home/their planet and overall treated as hysterical, which I thought was highly unfair. In the beginning of the book there is the whole theme of "the whole family" going into exile and the brothers "taking their wives with them". Can we stop here for a moment please? Do you realise what this means, right? It means that those wives have their (former) families too... they have parents, sibling... they had to leave those behind and it's never mentioned. As far as I'm concerned Aliniana is entitled to mourn this loss as long as she pleases.
And this only gets worse as the story progresses. The paternalistic energy with Christian morality feel to it deepens - shaming of sex work, descriptions of some of the families, the emphasis on not getting pregnant before wedding without a mention of contraceptives etc. None of these features is particularly wrong, it's just that Palwick clearly copied them from our world without considering from where these values originated, so instead of creating unique world she just created a version of our world with pantheistic religion with emphasis on the cult of ancestors? It feels like such a missed opportunity, because there were so many fascinating features.
"You are not bad, Zamatryna." Timbor's voice was gentler now. "You have been hurt. We have all been hurt. We all have different ways of healing from hurt. It is a gift to know what you need to heal, Granddaughter, and a gift to be able to ask for it. And what I need to heal is to give you what you need to heal, eh? And I'm glad I can do it."
Don't even get me started on the explanation of the central mystery of the story, because it was honestly quite stupid.
I guess I wanted the whole story to be... different. We are told part of "the present" which entices us to something that never really comes and then the whole story jumps into the past. Which was fine for a while, but... it got old quickly. I would love if we get to spend longer time in looking for the necessary beggar and... idk. Maybe some back-and-forth narration would be nice in this case. Or the story just could let the past be in the mist and focus more on the future and commentary of nowadays US, immigration policies etc. because those parts were really impactful. While also being funny thanks to the comic relief of the alien perspective...
Stan Buttle's god would have turned my sorrows into nonsense. And Stan Buttle's heaven seemed a bleak, cold place, for as he told it, the spirits of the dead were plucked forever from the world, rather than remaining in fruit and flowers, in leaves and lizards. And I needed to believe that my dead were in sight, even if I could not speak to them. I needed to believe that they were growing and learning and alive.
Did I said already that the portrayal of grief in this book is exquisite? Really... top notch. I cried a lot...
But I wanted to talk about something else!
The characters are great in this one. I especially loved Jerry, because I'm a sap for boys (or girls/whatever in case of sapphic ships) who are hopelessly in love with a girl (or a boy/whatever in case of gay ships 😂) that doesn't love them back (hello, Peeta). Jerry was extremely precious in most parts, except when .
And Zamatryna was also amazing character, as well as Timbor. And just all of the characters were interesting, even though I wish some of them were written differently.
Jerry was willing to give Betty his life savings. It occurred to her that she had to be crazy not to be in love with him. It also occurred to her that he was much too good to be true, and was probably an ax murderer wanted in fifteen states.
This review is already way too long, so I'll try to wrap it up. This is one of those frustrating reads, because you feel that the story could have been really great if only... I really enjoyed the philosophical themes, social commentaries, passages about grief and religion (though some of those eventually got a little bit obnoxious). I really loved the characters and kindness of the story, even though that sometimes wasn't quite on the spot either. Unfortunately the whole story was way to convenient and the story felt paternalistic in ways that weren't really necessary. I'm still glad I read it, but I'm not sure if I would recommend it.
BR at WotF, link to the thread: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Want to read
August 13, 2019FREE ebook for August from Tor.com
Download HERE: https://ebookclub.tor.com
Download before 11:59 PM ET, August 16th, 2019
Download HERE: https://ebookclub.tor.com
Download before 11:59 PM ET, August 16th, 2019
September 5, 2019
Down at the office had to fill out the forms
A pink one, a red one, the colours you choose,
Up to the counter to see what they think
They said 'It doesn't count man, it ain't written in ink'.
Don't trust anybody least not around here, cause
It's not fun being an illegal alien,...
~Genesis, "Illegal Alien" (1983)
Reading The Necessary Beggar, I was once again reminded of Genesis's hilarious-but-not-PC song about the immigrant experience. "Once again" because I thought of it years ago when doing background work--part of a group of "illegals" being deported--on the film Sicario. The filming took place at night and into early morning, and consisted of sitting on hard concrete for hours watching Josh Brolin, Emily Blunt and Benicio Del Toro do their thing ovah and ovah. Sitting there, the song's chorus, complete with Phil Collin's terrible Mexican accent, kept going through my head.
The Necessary Beggar's immigrant family hails from an alternate universe, but their story of adaptation and assimilation in America parallels that of any newcomers. The narration is through three voices: Timor, the family patriarch; Zamatryna, his granddaughter; and Darroti, Timor's son.
The family's hails from a pre-industrial world where extended family holds tremendous value, as does charity, the latter expressed by the practice of living as a Mendicant, a holy beggar, for a year. That year in poverty, analogous to a mission in some Christian faiths, is a key aspect of attaining adulthood in their culture. The novel's title refers to a related tradition, where an engaged couple adopts a Mendicant, declaring them The Necessary Beggar, and lavishing him/her with gifts.
Traditionally Mendicants have been male, but recently some young women, usually from wealthy families, have demanded the right to participate in the tradition. The story begins when Darroti, a young man from a merchant family, inexplicably murders a Mendicant. His crime even more baffling because the Mendicant was a woman and from a rich family. Darroti's family assumes that the woman was a stranger, particularly because of the gaping class difference. (Uh, as one might guess, Darroti has a connection to the woman.)
The punishment for murder is a walk through a magical portal and exile to another dimension. Because family is everything in this culture, Darroti's family--father, brothers, their wives and children--accompany him into exile. The family emerges, conveniently, among a group of immigrants from our dimension who have just arrived at an isolated refuge camp in the middle of the harsh Nevada desert.
From that point on, The Necessary Beggar is a straight-up immigrant story with a soupcon of magical realism. The family's ability to gain asylum status and leave the camp legally is complicated by the fact that they aren't from anywhere on Earth, and explaining their origin and reasons for coming to Earth (Uncle Darroti's a stone cold killa) isn't going to help their cause.
So, like many immigrants they need "papers" in whatever form they take.
Timor is the most lovable of the protagonists; wise, compassionate, but also pragmatic; the grandpa you wish you had. Zamatryna is the archetypal hard-driven child of immigrants, totally Type-A in her pursuit of academic and other excellence. Darroti, however...is a whiny boy man, and for the most part, I despised him. Which is unfortunate, because his backstory is relevant to the family's current situation.
The story is a slow unfolding of events, a combination coming-of-age tale woven with an interrogation of America's attitude toward immigrants, the struggles of retaining culture vs. assimilation, and faith. The latter being a very present element, but an exploration of contrasts rather than proselytizing. (I'm pretty much as un/anti-religious as one can get, but the discussions of faith didn't put me off.) Though the characters and situations didn't have the power to stay with me after I put the book aside, I very much enjoyed reading it.
The Necessary Beggar was a pleasant surprise since glacial plotting is often a "Nope," and also because the source--free Tor ebooks--doesn't reliably produce entertaining reads.
3.6 stars.
February 16, 2010
When one son is accused of murder, his entire family is exiled from their glorious city of Lémabantuk, sent to a new worldwhere they find themselves in the Nevada desert. A story of two cultures and faiths blending, The Necessary Beggar is unexpected magical realism, combining gritty but irreverent daily life with glimpses of sentimental magic. The novel has a number of faults, including out of place scifi elements and uneven pacing; nonetheless, it has thoughtful and intelligent (if overwrought) themes, and its combination of mundanity and unexpected magic make it a joy to read. Moderately recommended.
Perhaps unexpectedly, The Necessary Beggar is more magical realism than it is science fiction. It may begin with a blue doorway bridging parallel universes, but its heart is the personal, spiritual, unexpectedly magical aspects of magical realism. It's the story of two faiths blending when one is forced into the heart of the otherand the faiths come alive via magical objects and meaningful dreams. It is also the story of two cultures blending, and so this magic occurs within the gritty and often irreverent framework of an immigrant family stranded on American soil. Unfortunately, the science fiction aspects feel out of place and underexplored in this magical realist setting. In both Lémabantuk and Nevada, religion is faith-basedand so it's a surprise (and magical) when it's evidenced in small and unexpected ways. Blue portals between worlds just don't mesh, and there's never enough science or explanation to categorize the portals as some sort of non-magical technology which doesn't interfere with the progression from faith to small miracles.
That complaint aside, magical realism serves The Necessary Beggar quite wellbut still the book is not perfect. The story takes place over many years, and is told from three points of view; as such, the pacing varies widely: sometimes redundant, sometimes skipping years at a time, ending in a hurried conclusion. The pacing, compounded by an irreverent tone, does characterization few favors: characters are excessively dimensioned, full of secret histories and false faces without enough consistent detail to make them believable. Yet for all these faults, The Necessary Beggar is an unexpected pleasure. Perhaps because I was expecting science fiction and instead discovered a cousin to Gabriel García Márquez and Isabel Allende, I found this book delightful: faulted, yes, but also thoughtful and intelligent, with overwrought but meaningful themes; quietly spiritual and perfectly balanced on the blurry line between mundane and magical, making it a joy to read. It's not a book I plan to come back to, nor my favorite by Palwick, but it's a quick and thoughtful read and on that basis I recommend it.
Perhaps unexpectedly, The Necessary Beggar is more magical realism than it is science fiction. It may begin with a blue doorway bridging parallel universes, but its heart is the personal, spiritual, unexpectedly magical aspects of magical realism. It's the story of two faiths blending when one is forced into the heart of the otherand the faiths come alive via magical objects and meaningful dreams. It is also the story of two cultures blending, and so this magic occurs within the gritty and often irreverent framework of an immigrant family stranded on American soil. Unfortunately, the science fiction aspects feel out of place and underexplored in this magical realist setting. In both Lémabantuk and Nevada, religion is faith-basedand so it's a surprise (and magical) when it's evidenced in small and unexpected ways. Blue portals between worlds just don't mesh, and there's never enough science or explanation to categorize the portals as some sort of non-magical technology which doesn't interfere with the progression from faith to small miracles.
That complaint aside, magical realism serves The Necessary Beggar quite wellbut still the book is not perfect. The story takes place over many years, and is told from three points of view; as such, the pacing varies widely: sometimes redundant, sometimes skipping years at a time, ending in a hurried conclusion. The pacing, compounded by an irreverent tone, does characterization few favors: characters are excessively dimensioned, full of secret histories and false faces without enough consistent detail to make them believable. Yet for all these faults, The Necessary Beggar is an unexpected pleasure. Perhaps because I was expecting science fiction and instead discovered a cousin to Gabriel García Márquez and Isabel Allende, I found this book delightful: faulted, yes, but also thoughtful and intelligent, with overwrought but meaningful themes; quietly spiritual and perfectly balanced on the blurry line between mundane and magical, making it a joy to read. It's not a book I plan to come back to, nor my favorite by Palwick, but it's a quick and thoughtful read and on that basis I recommend it.
October 23, 2019
This was a Tor free e-book, first published in 2005, but it seems distressingly relevant today given that it's about literal aliens (or rather, dark-skinned humans from another dimension/reality/world) in a US refugee border camp. The best of science fiction (to my mind) comments on society by taking us outside of our known society and presenting it from the outside; this could have been over-the-top pointed, and maybe it is in a few places, but really, it's a solid and engaging story as well as an indictment of the way the United States dehumanizes immigrants, and the way that understanding and empathy and love are crucial for living in a society.
Shelved as 'freebies'
August 13, 2019This is Tor's ebook of the month for August & you can download your copy for free from their website here: https://ebookclub.tor.com/
It's only available until 11:59 PM ET, August 16th, 2019 though so grab it quick before it's gone!
It's only available until 11:59 PM ET, August 16th, 2019 though so grab it quick before it's gone!
June 3, 2021
Exiles from another dimension end up in a refugee camp in the Nevada desert near Gerlach (aka Burning Man with none of the fun bits). They must adjust to life in America.
Explores some interesting what ifs: What if we honored beggars? What if everyone had to spend a year dependent on the generosity of others?
An insightful feel into the refugee experience.
My favorite scene: Where the grandfather lets his granddaughter have her own room, identifying her "tantrum" as her need for healing and asking for what she needs. Teaching her that this matters.
Really appreciated this book's depiction of alcoholism.
Despite/or because of? the book's inclusion of heavy subjects--it's a great story, as well.
Writers, read this for: depth of characterization
Pairs well with: Palwick's short story collection "All Worlds Are Real," I am such a fan
Explores some interesting what ifs: What if we honored beggars? What if everyone had to spend a year dependent on the generosity of others?
An insightful feel into the refugee experience.
My favorite scene: Where the grandfather lets his granddaughter have her own room, identifying her "tantrum" as her need for healing and asking for what she needs. Teaching her that this matters.
Really appreciated this book's depiction of alcoholism.
Despite/or because of? the book's inclusion of heavy subjects--it's a great story, as well.
Writers, read this for: depth of characterization
Pairs well with: Palwick's short story collection "All Worlds Are Real," I am such a fan
October 1, 2022
This book started out promisingly with an intriguing premise and well rendered initial chapters but fell off a bit as it slipped into didactic stretches and some relationships and plot developments that just didn't feel very convincing.
April 12, 2022
I mostly really liked this.
Zama is a marvellous character and Jerry is even better during his short cameo towards the end.
The central idea is cool, and the slow reveal of the backstory is nice.
The downside, there's a pretty major sag partway through where it really overdoes the 'gee I really don't understand inequality' dynamic to an extent that would make a teenager blush.
Overall, not as good as shelter, which I loved, but still good.
Zama is a marvellous character and Jerry is even better during his short cameo towards the end.
The central idea is cool, and the slow reveal of the backstory is nice.
The downside, there's a pretty major sag partway through where it really overdoes the 'gee I really don't understand inequality' dynamic to an extent that would make a teenager blush.
Overall, not as good as shelter, which I loved, but still good.
February 25, 2020
This book wasn’t exactly my normal reading choice. It was something Tor publishing gave out for free to their email subscribers as they so generously do every month and looked interesting enough. Immigrant experience stories are interesting to me. Even the ones wrapped into a gauze of fantasy. What surprised me the most about this book is actually going to locate the book on Goodreads and realizing it’s an older work, from 2006 or so and that’s surprising because it reads so timely as if foretelling the immigrant crisis of the present day. In the book a large loving family gets exiled from their Glorious City of Lemabantunk for a crime one of their own commits and their exiles sends them into Nevada, USA. Brutal, right? They go straight into holding camps for refugees and get stuck in a legal limbo, since no one has ever heard of their land or their language. Eventually, they get taken in by a kindly woman who believes in second chances and her reluctant spouse and the family begins to assimilate and Americanize. Most of the book is about this slow halting process of adjusting one’s own system of beliefs and values to fit into a different world. Lemanbatunk can be best described as a highly romanticized version of Middle East, something out of Arabian nights maybe. They are highly spiritual people with evolved emotions and primitive (expect for the exiling into parallel universes abilities) technology. It’s fascinating to observe one’s own culture through perspectives of strangers. There’s a comic online that does this with cartoon aliens, which is much more entertaining and very funny, but anyway…so a necessary beggar is one of the traditions of Lemabantunk, someone who goes around for a year, surviving on the kindness of others. Also, a wedding ritual. The crime which deserved this exile was the killing of one, although there’s much more to that story and you’ll learn it all as the book progresses. The story is narrated by different family members, from their classic immigrant child overachiever Zama to the beleagued elder of the family to the son accused of murder. For an immigrant experience story this really worked, the culture clashes and all that were done very well. What became tiresome after a while is the overromanticized version of their native land ideals…it was almost like the noble savage against the modern brute juxtapositions at work. Plus the family was oddly pretentious for someone so completely reliant upon the kindness of others. In fact, they are downright sh*tty to the lovely kind boy who loves Zama. Jerry is apparently just too beneath them, despite being a perfectly nice young man. They accept all their charity but with a distinct pretense of superiority. And it’s questionable whether they are all that morally superior, frankly. Especially in certain aspects of their life. In a way, it very much reminded me of a play I read about an Amish community, where the family managed to forgive a man who unintentionally murder their sons, but excommunicated their own daughter for speaking up against rape. There’s just something about moral absolutes however well intentioned, they can be much too rigid for real life applications and don’t necessary foster love. Anyway, back to the book…immigrant experience fantasy, complete with odd names and a certain kind of almost naïvely positive take on the world. No, that isn’t quite right, more like certain things are glossed over in a way I’d associate with fantasy. At any rate, though the book genuinely annoyed at times with its fableistic moralities, I found the narrative to be very engaging, so kind of a mixed bag. And yes, I did put it down once, read two books in between and then finish it and it was still ok, so there’s that. Overall, interesting enough and the sort of thing that would appeal to some readers more than others. Reads relatively quickly too.
May 25, 2020
For a random freebie I got from the Tor newsletter, I was surprised how much I liked this, because freebies are always hit or miss, you download them because they're there!
But it was far from great, and while many elements in this strange sci-fi/magical realism/slice of life mashup were interesting and moving, many were too strange to fit or downright harmful.
The central "plot"--and it's pretty loose, structurally--is supposed to be this amazing love story, this recreation in human flesh of a myth, that sends a message about the power of love and forgiveness, and also provides catharsis. But notice how I didn't include "romance" in the mashup listing? Because not one of the love stories contained in the book, spread across the members of a large family, felt authentic, and one had a strong abusive dynamic (the aunt and uncle) while the young adults (the daughter and her American boyfriend) were downright creepy. I never felt like they were in love, although I know I'm not supposed to think she was in love with him because for a long time she wasn't, but his love is so obvious and forthright that at first it seems pure, but then gets twisted by the necessities of the plot into a semi-coerced marriage, and that was just ALL KINDS OF WRONG to me. It wasn't sweet, it wasn't beautiful, it didn't feel good after everything else the book had heaped on the daughter's shoulders.
So what did I like about this book? The strong emphasis on familial love and loyalty, the richness of the fictional culture the family comes from, the culture clash in the early parts of the book when the children are adapting but the adults are struggling. (Part of me feels like it's a cop-out to explore the immigrant experience in America with an entirely fictional culture when there are so many interesting ones right here in our own dimension, but at the same time, sci-fi has always been a lens through which to examine humanity, and by using a fictional culture the [white] author isn't co-opting a real culture not her own. Yes, this was written in 2005 and I shouldn't expect it to be up to today's levels of "woke" but as I was reading I really wasn't sure if this was a great idea or a lazy one. After finishing I'm still not sure. Of course, the central conceit of the story is based on a fictional myth, so I guess practically speaking it had to be a fictional culture to go with it...)
In the end, I didn't like the ending. It was obvious to me long before then what was going on, and while that's not me demanding some big twist--I'm not, I swear--I didn't feel satisfied to be right, when I got to the incredibly predictable ending. After all the emotion I had built up for (some of) these characters, it did feel like a letdown. So it's an interesting blast from the recent past that I probably never would have read if it hadn't been a freebie, simply because I probably never would have heard of it. But my thoughts on it are too mixed, my reaction too "meh" by the end, to call this a hidden gem that I should recommend to everyone.
But it was far from great, and while many elements in this strange sci-fi/magical realism/slice of life mashup were interesting and moving, many were too strange to fit or downright harmful.
The central "plot"--and it's pretty loose, structurally--is supposed to be this amazing love story, this recreation in human flesh of a myth, that sends a message about the power of love and forgiveness, and also provides catharsis. But notice how I didn't include "romance" in the mashup listing? Because not one of the love stories contained in the book, spread across the members of a large family, felt authentic, and one had a strong abusive dynamic (the aunt and uncle) while the young adults (the daughter and her American boyfriend) were downright creepy. I never felt like they were in love, although I know I'm not supposed to think she was in love with him because for a long time she wasn't, but his love is so obvious and forthright that at first it seems pure, but then gets twisted by the necessities of the plot into a semi-coerced marriage, and that was just ALL KINDS OF WRONG to me. It wasn't sweet, it wasn't beautiful, it didn't feel good after everything else the book had heaped on the daughter's shoulders.
So what did I like about this book? The strong emphasis on familial love and loyalty, the richness of the fictional culture the family comes from, the culture clash in the early parts of the book when the children are adapting but the adults are struggling. (Part of me feels like it's a cop-out to explore the immigrant experience in America with an entirely fictional culture when there are so many interesting ones right here in our own dimension, but at the same time, sci-fi has always been a lens through which to examine humanity, and by using a fictional culture the [white] author isn't co-opting a real culture not her own. Yes, this was written in 2005 and I shouldn't expect it to be up to today's levels of "woke" but as I was reading I really wasn't sure if this was a great idea or a lazy one. After finishing I'm still not sure. Of course, the central conceit of the story is based on a fictional myth, so I guess practically speaking it had to be a fictional culture to go with it...)
In the end, I didn't like the ending. It was obvious to me long before then what was going on, and while that's not me demanding some big twist--I'm not, I swear--I didn't feel satisfied to be right, when I got to the incredibly predictable ending. After all the emotion I had built up for (some of) these characters, it did feel like a letdown. So it's an interesting blast from the recent past that I probably never would have read if it hadn't been a freebie, simply because I probably never would have heard of it. But my thoughts on it are too mixed, my reaction too "meh" by the end, to call this a hidden gem that I should recommend to everyone.
February 22, 2021
10/10, highly recommend. CW for suicide. For fans of 10K Doors of January and Golem and the Djinni who enjoyed their immigrant narratives and the out-of-placeness of the non-earthlings (or nonhumans) dealing with culture shock.
This book I discovered back in 2017 when I was taking a course on immigrant narratives in literature. It was added to my Mt TBR for future examination and basically collected dust even after it was a Tor freebie. I was remiss not picking up the book for 3 years.
This narrative follows a family exiled from their world (~low fantasy North African 1300ish? I always was picturing Morocco's bazaars and architecture...) and placed via a magical door in the harsh desert of Nevada in a refugee camp sometime in near future 202X (near future for 2005). Cultural shock is a given for their experience: no one speaks English, they are attempted to convert to Christianity, and the world that they come to is strange, odd, and in many ways, wonderfully bizarre.
The protagonist is Zama, one of the children, forced into the role of perfect immigrant daughter. Good grades, immpeccible English, popular but also smart, caring for her family... that type, as she unravels the mystery of her beetle that came with her to the States, her dead uncle and his deeds, her family's issues, and what kind of person she wants to become in this new world. Sometimes the PoV changes to different relatives, mostly her grandfather or dead uncle, but the main storyline follows Zama's growth as a child into her late teens.
The plot is structured in one of my favorite manners: telling the reader the outcome of the narrative page one, but then working the way there for the rest of the narrative. The prose is nothing special, but it reads well. The characters are very, very strong and well-developed. There are two (straight) romance threads running parallel to each other, and they do overtake the story for a bit of time with some short steamy bits, if that is a concern/plus for you.
The "magic" in the story is basically nonexistent, and serves as the macguffin to move people--think the Doors in Wayward Children or 10K Doors. That's the extent. The more interesting part in the story is their beliefs and culture and how those interact in near future America, so this is pretty low on the magic scale, but really neat on worldbuilding.
There were things that didn't like, as in the romance going from zero-to-hero and the lack of communication of some characters. But overall, I devoured this in a 48-hr setting and thoroughly enjoyed it, despite its flaws.
If you want an immigrant story with well-developed characters a la 10K Doors or Golem and the Djinni except set in the near future, this book is worth checking out to see if it vibes with you!
This book I discovered back in 2017 when I was taking a course on immigrant narratives in literature. It was added to my Mt TBR for future examination and basically collected dust even after it was a Tor freebie. I was remiss not picking up the book for 3 years.
This narrative follows a family exiled from their world (~low fantasy North African 1300ish? I always was picturing Morocco's bazaars and architecture...) and placed via a magical door in the harsh desert of Nevada in a refugee camp sometime in near future 202X (near future for 2005). Cultural shock is a given for their experience: no one speaks English, they are attempted to convert to Christianity, and the world that they come to is strange, odd, and in many ways, wonderfully bizarre.
The protagonist is Zama, one of the children, forced into the role of perfect immigrant daughter. Good grades, immpeccible English, popular but also smart, caring for her family... that type, as she unravels the mystery of her beetle that came with her to the States, her dead uncle and his deeds, her family's issues, and what kind of person she wants to become in this new world. Sometimes the PoV changes to different relatives, mostly her grandfather or dead uncle, but the main storyline follows Zama's growth as a child into her late teens.
The plot is structured in one of my favorite manners: telling the reader the outcome of the narrative page one, but then working the way there for the rest of the narrative. The prose is nothing special, but it reads well. The characters are very, very strong and well-developed. There are two (straight) romance threads running parallel to each other, and they do overtake the story for a bit of time with some short steamy bits, if that is a concern/plus for you.
The "magic" in the story is basically nonexistent, and serves as the macguffin to move people--think the Doors in Wayward Children or 10K Doors. That's the extent. The more interesting part in the story is their beliefs and culture and how those interact in near future America, so this is pretty low on the magic scale, but really neat on worldbuilding.
There were things that didn't like, as in the romance going from zero-to-hero and the lack of communication of some characters. But overall, I devoured this in a 48-hr setting and thoroughly enjoyed it, despite its flaws.
If you want an immigrant story with well-developed characters a la 10K Doors or Golem and the Djinni except set in the near future, this book is worth checking out to see if it vibes with you!
November 17, 2017
This short sci-fi/magical realist novel is about an extended family who, because one of their members commits a heinous crime, is exiled from their world into more-or-less present-day America. They progress from a refugee camp to a comfortable life in suburban Reno, all the while trying to understand both the events that brought them there and the nature of their new home. While the plot does give a nod to the conventions of the successful immigrant narrative (the older generation finds artisan or low-skill work, the younger generation achieves wild academic success that will lead them to lucrative white-collar careers, etc.), it also weaves together elements of romance and ghost stories. The use of the fantastical elements allowed Palwick to make several points about the experience of immigration and assimilation without becoming heavy-handed. The prose style is on the simplistic and straightforward side, but it did give the book the feeling of a fable or folktale.
June 8, 2012
Some graphic sexual situations that still bother me months later. That was very diappointing since I appreciated the ponderous character of the grandfather and what he had to say. Did not finish reading, mainly because the passionate relationship became based solely on sex and severly lacked trust--resulting in death and exile. Was afraid the book would condone those relationships despite the consequences (saying the consequences were tragic but there was nothing wrong with the journey that led them there).
September 1, 2019
Read the blurb and this is a magical fantasy novel, perhaps with a middle-eastern slant, but you will be looking for some form of transformation. Its a trick, one of the few bits of magic in the book: the other being the blink and you'll miss it move from the world of fantasy to an uncaring USA. And so our refuges from a different universe, with different magical and theological rules, end up in a US refugee camp in the 2020's. Undocumented, at the whims of an uncaring government the book then takes a look at the refugee and then undocumented experience, occasionally mentioning that they are from a different world, but mainly making the point that the middle of nowhere in Afghanistan is as alien as their fantasy land. The book builds a decent mythology for the family, and the Necessary Beggar as part of this, and there's a secondary ghost story which is again about forgiveness rather than ghosts. I can imagine some people feeling stiffed when their fantasy novel turns out to be a family saga set around US refuge policy, but those people can just go read The Hobbit again. Rather delightful.
January 2, 2022
This was beautifully written. A lovely story, about refugees from another dimension who make a life for themselves in the United States. That setting makes it interesting, but mostly the story is about the characters, and about both family and chosen families.
I thought the death that started the whole thing off was quite silly, and didn't make any sense when you learn what actually happened. And the ending seemed a bit quick to me. But neither one of these things detracted from the sweetness of this book.
I thought the death that started the whole thing off was quite silly, and didn't make any sense when you learn what actually happened. And the ending seemed a bit quick to me. But neither one of these things detracted from the sweetness of this book.
July 18, 2021
A family steps through a magical doorway and ends up in a refugee camp in the American Southwest. They have to adapt to life as immigrants, while dealing with their own struggles and the aftermath of the tragedy that drove them from their original home.
It’s a sometimes heartbreaking book, as many of the family’s struggles are all-too believable and rooted in the real unfairnesses of contemporary America, but it’s also a story about love and about ghosts.
It’s a sometimes heartbreaking book, as many of the family’s struggles are all-too believable and rooted in the real unfairnesses of contemporary America, but it’s also a story about love and about ghosts.
Read
March 11, 2020DNF@39%
February 22, 2023
3.5 stars
September 2, 2019
When you get to that sentence that lets you know you can stop because the book you are reading is stupid:
She insisted that we call her Zama because her real name was too long; she kept pet plastic dolls and memorized insipid television jingles about underarm deodorant and automobiles; she acquired a distressing interest in watching young men in cumbersome body armor symbolically slaughter each other on fields which could have been used for more important things, like growing beets.
May 6, 2023
On one hand a loving story about a broken but caring family of refugees who comes to America for a new home, of their difficulty assimilating, their inner drama as they try to reckon with their new reality, an incisive critique on the way we (as Americans) treat the Other, and other such fantastic and poignant notes.
On the other, a little too simplified, a little too hand-holdy, a little too easy, everything pointed out and wrapped up neatly, nicely. It feels like a good match early on as you follow a young girl, but as the characters age and continue on and you still get a simplified perspective it feels like there's a deeper story there that isn't delved into. A step further and you almost have to wonder if there's an element of infantilism to these All-But-Muslim characters that'd feel a little more nasty if played straight without the magic veneer. I don't think it's meant that way or really crosses that line, but if someone leveled the critique i wouldn't argue either.
At the same time, this easier style lends itself well to the magical realism/speculative elements at play here, where portals, ghosts, and their influence over the family come into focus in a snap. Not to say that all magical realism needs to be simplistic, but in this case the forthright nature of, say, a crying ghost right along side "Hey, American Healthcare is messed up!" helps sell both as just... being true. And it's really hard not to love the touching way things are weaved in and out, the way the family comes to support each other, the (too good to be real) boyfriend, etc.
I think "YA" is a mismatch here, given the general expectations of what you'd find in a YA novel, but this could probably serve perfectly to move that expectation further - a perfect book for a young adult wanting to understand both American immigrants, and the lengths SFF can go to to enlighten you about their lives.
On the other, a little too simplified, a little too hand-holdy, a little too easy, everything pointed out and wrapped up neatly, nicely. It feels like a good match early on as you follow a young girl, but as the characters age and continue on and you still get a simplified perspective it feels like there's a deeper story there that isn't delved into. A step further and you almost have to wonder if there's an element of infantilism to these All-But-Muslim characters that'd feel a little more nasty if played straight without the magic veneer. I don't think it's meant that way or really crosses that line, but if someone leveled the critique i wouldn't argue either.
At the same time, this easier style lends itself well to the magical realism/speculative elements at play here, where portals, ghosts, and their influence over the family come into focus in a snap. Not to say that all magical realism needs to be simplistic, but in this case the forthright nature of, say, a crying ghost right along side "Hey, American Healthcare is messed up!" helps sell both as just... being true. And it's really hard not to love the touching way things are weaved in and out, the way the family comes to support each other, the (too good to be real) boyfriend, etc.
I think "YA" is a mismatch here, given the general expectations of what you'd find in a YA novel, but this could probably serve perfectly to move that expectation further - a perfect book for a young adult wanting to understand both American immigrants, and the lengths SFF can go to to enlighten you about their lives.
January 25, 2013
I like this book fine ! (Only halfway through.)
I usually consider myself more of a Fantasy guy... It's a little science-fiction--but that's fine, too.
I started reading b/c read some review: "Takes place in Nevada..." I was like "Science Fiction in Nevada? That's where I live?" and "Interesting how she blends in some religion." I was like "Really?" (I happen to be a believer.)
So: the review was completely right--it is really interesting: how she takes some people from another world, exiled to Nevada. And blends in a little religion, Christianity.
(I mean: I know people do that every now and then--fr/ Narnia to Golden Compass [anti] and the Yiddish Policeman's Union, so of course it can work.)
Partial disclosure: the writer works at UNR, where I work, too--but I don't really know her very well. Chatted with just a couple times--I mean, so I'm not that biased.)
So I was reading for a few weeks (in the background, other stuff), but it has kind of affected me. Made an appearance in my dreams. I dreamed I went to summer camp, and my friends there left two prayer rugs on my door-step (on Sturdivant Ave.).
Anyhow ! A few of the concepts are great: [not that much of a spoiler] how the person who was killed, why exiled in beginning, sort of reincarnated, taken with them into the new world--and that's good, b/c need some resolution / forgiveness of a misunderstanding.
My favorite part--when you get there: the father of the family talking to a clown on his book-shelf (almost picture Krusty the Clown)... But it's touching b/c he's a quiet man, and really--although a clown--he's really trying to talk to the ghost of his dead son. Kind of sweet.
Okay / That's enough !
I usually consider myself more of a Fantasy guy... It's a little science-fiction--but that's fine, too.
I started reading b/c read some review: "Takes place in Nevada..." I was like "Science Fiction in Nevada? That's where I live?" and "Interesting how she blends in some religion." I was like "Really?" (I happen to be a believer.)
So: the review was completely right--it is really interesting: how she takes some people from another world, exiled to Nevada. And blends in a little religion, Christianity.
(I mean: I know people do that every now and then--fr/ Narnia to Golden Compass [anti] and the Yiddish Policeman's Union, so of course it can work.)
Partial disclosure: the writer works at UNR, where I work, too--but I don't really know her very well. Chatted with just a couple times--I mean, so I'm not that biased.)
So I was reading for a few weeks (in the background, other stuff), but it has kind of affected me. Made an appearance in my dreams. I dreamed I went to summer camp, and my friends there left two prayer rugs on my door-step (on Sturdivant Ave.).
Anyhow ! A few of the concepts are great: [not that much of a spoiler] how the person who was killed, why exiled in beginning, sort of reincarnated, taken with them into the new world--and that's good, b/c need some resolution / forgiveness of a misunderstanding.
My favorite part--when you get there: the father of the family talking to a clown on his book-shelf (almost picture Krusty the Clown)... But it's touching b/c he's a quiet man, and really--although a clown--he's really trying to talk to the ghost of his dead son. Kind of sweet.
Okay / That's enough !
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