Sweet and Sour Milk (Variations on the Theme of an African Dictatorship)

I've never read anything like Nuruddin Farah's "Sweet and Sour Milk". This was an extraordinary reading adventure for me -- one that was beguiling, fascinating, strikingly unusual in its story telling, and complex. The story is a gripping one, yet this is no page-turner. The imagery and unique approach, along with a tidal wive of questions posed and largely left open as the story unfolds, left me not turning pages rapidly, but rather sitting back with the book folded on my lap as I contemplated the passage I had just read. This book is excellent food for reflection.Key story-line and composition elements are set forth nicely in the review posted on 19 Nov 1998, so I won't go into them.I've spent many years in Africa, but none in Somalia, and as I read this book I repeatedly felt my ignorance of that society and of the way people interact. I found the dialogues particularly intriguing; the flow of conversations, of silences, of questions and responses was something I had never experienced before. I found myself asking if Mr. Farah was giving me broadly applicable insights into the Somali mind ... or simply into the mind of a remarkable author.I look forward to rereading "Sweet and Sour Milk" one day. I'll be sure to remind myself not to be in a hurry, but rather to savor this book slowly, as it deserves.