Woerdense Courant, May 27th, 2015
“Whoever thinks of the events in Syria in the recent years sees  horror images speed by. In this novel, it becomes very personal. The unnamed narrator brings the reader close to the worries of his family in Aleppo, while the political situation barely lurks in the background (…). Sometimes chaotic, [the novel is] always incisive.”

Der Standaard, March 27 2015
“Khalifa’s family chronicle is straightforward and very structured. We never have enough of the recent history it covers, and the sometimes bizarre characters that filled the ancient streets of the Syrian city [of Aleppo].”

A review by Margot Djikgraaf, for NRC Handelsblad, April 22, 2015
“Characters are staged at a breakneck pace, disappear and reappear, while previously described events come along again, as if in a spiral that will make the reader lose grip of the story, and feeling the ground fall from under her feet. This is exactly Khalifa’s purpose. This is the life of Aleppo’s residents”

For those new to the reading groups, And Other Stories is a fantastic independent UK publisher, and one way they select fiction to translate and publish is through reading groups. The groups help AOS get feedback from savvy readers, by reading as-of-yet untranslated novels, discussing them online and in person, and helping AOS pick what to publish.
 
One great part about the group is that it’s open to people who read in Arabic and people who don’t.
 
 
 
The And Other Stories Arabic reading group is back for a second round this winter, …

The Syrian writer Khalid Khalifa moves inside Damascus from one neighborhood to another, moving in what he describes as “bourgeois displacement”. The writer says he doesn’t believe he is entitled to the honor of saying he shares the suffering of real displacement in refugees camps.

“We should look to ourselves as part of the world, a lot of efforts should be made to make the Arabic novel able to compete with world literature, and this could happen through translation, world prizes and many other things.”

Khalifa has a belief that this will not occur through one person’s effort or success: “I’m telling you we will not make it as individuals, but as a culture.”