‘Chaos of the Senses’ by Ahlam Mosteghanemi: Questioning the meaning of dreams

Among the several books that made an impression on me, I choose to talk about Chaos of the Senses by Ahlam Mosteghanemi.

The story takes place during Algeria’s civil war in the 1990s. Hayat, constrained to live a mundane life, searches for freedom in her writings. Her novel is a love story. As she describes the passionate love that has seized her, chaos starts haunting her - Hayat takes us through romance, tragedy, mystery and bloody conflicts. Chaos is the right description of Hayat and her heroine’s life and this same chaos embraces the reader’s mind leading to a total confusion between reality and fiction.

The twist in the story was well depicted, immersing the reader into the reveries of the heroine and allowing the reader to question the meaning of dreams. It left me believing that dreams are an escape but do not give us the freedom we demand, on the contrary they make us anticipate more and hence make us captives of our own reveries.

I can name many books that have stimulated my imagination, expanded my knowledge, and changed my perspective of life. However, I choose Chaos of the Senses as this is the first book that has drawn me into the storyline so strongly to the point that I forgot myself and the world around me. Each page, each sentence, each word stimulated my mind and emotions.

Mosteghanemi’s style of writing is unique and has a certain power that has impacted the way I read. I currently try choosing books that wake up my senses, disconnect me from my world and take me to a different challenging realm.

— The reader is based in Dubai.