Hayat Newspaper
(London): A review by Lebanese critic Ahmed Zainuddin
...Traces of a Tattoo earns one of its distinguished qualities from
its scrupulous monitoring of its characters in their silence, speech
and movements: in its scrutiny of their reactions, their deep and
ambiguous fears, their sense of guilt and anxiety; and captures the
tribulations of emotions and records the sound of pleasure as it
crawls over, spreading numbness in both body and soul. In total, the
novel becomes a spectrum that reflects the colours of life and
existence as well as that pivotal conflict - the female conflict and
all that it entails: east versus west, technology versus
backwardness, all the dualities, the gamut of antitheses that is
ever present in the Arab author's mind. More...
Sahra Newspaper (Morocco): A
review by Moroccan critic M. Aloutt
...Traces of a Tattoo is no ordinary novel. Evoking the example of
giant literary Arabic works such as Cities of Salt by Abdulrahman
Munif, The Boys of our Neighbourhood by Najib Mahfouz, Midday
Spectra by Bahoush Yassin (Morocco), it is an odyssey in time and
memory unravelling the story of two generations (fathers and sons)
over the full length of 554 pages. More...
Quds Al Arabi Newspaper (London): A review by Hussam ul-deen
Mohamed
...Traces of a Tattoo is one of the most beautiful Arab novels I
have read in recent years. It acquainted me with this surprising
solitary writer, jeweller and skilled craftsman who proved both
creative and entertaining. But this novel is not simply about
achieving the challenging balance between creativity and
entertainment. It carries several layers that need to be studied
carefully if the reader is to avoid being carried away by its
deceptive simplicity and easy reading as well as by its "exquisite"
text. More...
A Special Syndicated Review By Syrian Poet Nouri Jarrah
...Traces of a Tattoo by novelist and short-story writer, Adel
Bishtawi, invokes the unconventional novel which does not adhere to
standards that literary critics propose and attempt to impose on
writers and readers in a given time...It is a novel with something
of everything: romance, realism, imagination, innermost thoughts,
and coincidences taken as devices of utmost importance. It exercises
acute observation of the characters' behaviours and fates, summing
it all up in a skilful but lucid dramatization of the complexity
that marks the life of a human being. More...
Khaleej Newspaper (UAE): A review by Iraqi critic Fatima Al
Muhssin
...It happens that old lovers do meet by coincidence on a lost
pavement. And it happens that the meeting of old lovers may come as
a daydream, something hard to materialize in reality. And it happens
that old lovers may be forced by circumstances to stay in one place
so as to face the past of their love story. But when all such these
coincidences take place in a single book, the result may sound like
a romantic novel very much like a love song. More...
Rai Al Aam Newspaper (Jordan) A Review by Palestinian Critic S.
Huzayyen
... suddenly, an incident evolves to carry Hisham to another time
and place. As he follows the movement of the crowd, he spots a
pickpocket in the act of snatching the handbag off the arm of a lady
and disappearing. Hisham approaches the scene and, to his surprise,
finds out that the victim, who happens to be with her daughter, is
no other than his old beloved, Alia. The lady is the very same girl
he had loved back in Damascus a quarter of a century earlier. More...
