"Arabic literature (and in particular the Arabic narrative) is, fundamentally, geometric. More than telling a story, the primitive characters of the desert intended to sketch a picture. It is not by chance that among the Arabs calligraphy is practically the only decorative art."

This passage comes fairly late in the book, which was mildly unfortunate for me as a reader because it was the first time I got how the book was meant to be read. The format of the narrative looks, at first glance, like a story all the way through, but really the chapters are disconnected, looping back and forth among characters and scenes throughout. It's appropriate though - much of the story is about hearsay, legends, and half-remembered histories. So it's an incredibly atmospheric novel about the Arabic world, one that reads more like a minimalist Arabic fairy tale than a novel. ( )