I cannot even
explain or describe how much I like Rubina’s language, her style, her metaphors
and the way she plays with words… How she blends them, mixes, tosses them around…
How she weaves the gossamer fabric of her narrative. It’s obvious that she is
not afraid to use the most unlikely combinations of words and she does so
masterfully.
While reading “The
White Dove of Cordova”, I kept remembering J. K. Rowling’s “Casual Vacancy”,
because both books had such strength and power of words. Both authors made me want to reread passages and smile at their absolute beauty. However!... while “Casual Vacancy” was also a masterpiece as a story - “White Dove” lost me
in the end. Not that I didn’t understand it, but rather it lost me as its fan. Up
until the last 8-10 pages the book had me in its claws, I couldn’t wait to see
how the story plays out, couldn’t put the book down, but the ending was so
incongruent with the rest of the book’s mood, was so botched and rushed… I love
being surprised and taken in a different direction, than the one I anticipated,
but I wasn’t surprised, only annoyed. I can see how the author wanted to make a
loop and conclude the “inner story” where it began, but she didn’t think it
through. Like in Jack London’s “Martin
Eden”s case, I thought the protagonist went out of its character without any precedent, as if he was forced into certain
actions, because he had to fit some already-made-up storyline.
Still… I don’t want
to take away a star for the last 10 pages, and since I truly enjoyed the
beautiful, superb language – a wobbly 5 star rating.
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