Customer Reviews:
Timely, Thoughtful, and often very funny!.......2003-04-28
"The Wedding of Zein" actually includes three separate stories, all set in pleasant, rural, Muslim villages of the Sudan, in Africa. The book is named after one of the stories. The other two are called "The Doum Tree of Wad Hamid," and "A Handful of Dates." Each tale has the universal feel of a fable -- the wisdom they encode in their simple language can speak to anyone, anywhere, anytime. The Muslim characters have a few traits which could seem odd to Western readers, but basically they are just like small town folks all over the world. They walk with dignity, they live in peace amidst old friends and loved ones, and they cherish their own dreams of love and happiness.
The title story is my favorite. Zein is sort of a "holy fool" in his little village. He is not exactly retarded, or crazy, but is clearly eccentric. He seems to promote laughter and good feelings wherever he goes, although sometimes this is at his own expense. Many of the villagers laugh at him. All of the villagers laugh with him. Zein seems unaware that there could be a distinction between these groups of people, and, perhaps, therein lies his potential for healing... He is betrothed to the beautiful, solemn, almond-eyed Ni'ma, before whom he has NEVER made a fool of himself. She, and she alone, holds this honor... Their courtship, and the impact it has upon the village, comprises a highly provocative, and ultimately warm, view into human nature. You won't forget this comedic, yet highly serious, love story.
Taken together, these stories really got me thinking about what it's like to live in an average Muslim village. It makes me want to know these people better, they're nice people, just like anyone else.
Book Description
In a makeshift hospital in a refugee camp on the outskirts of Beirut, Yunes, an aging Palestinian freedom fighter, lies in a coma. Keeping vigil at the old mans bedside is his spiritual son, Khalil, who nurses Yunes, refusing to admit that his hero may never regain consciousness. Like a modern-day Scheherazade, Khalil relates the story of Palestinian exile, while also recalling Yuness own extraordinary life, and his love for his wife, whom he meets secretly over the years at Bab al-Shams, the Gate of the Sun.
Customer Reviews:
Gate of the Sun.......2007-01-05
This is a sadly moving, if not depressing book. It is very well-written and tells the saddest of stories, the rip-off and expulsion of a people from their homes and their lands. I found it fascinating and learned from it although I am an Arabist long familiar with the subject matter. I would consider this a must reading for any American who truly wants to understand and come to his/her own conclusions about the on-going crisis in the Middle East. It is for any interested person who is unwilling to swallow the party line as put forward by the zionist entity and its lackeys.
Astonishing and revealing story of beauty in the midst of oppression and suffering.......2006-05-15
This is an extraordinary story, essentially a personalized account of the history of the Palestinians of Galilee since the Zionist immigrations -- certainly, after the genocide of the Jews in the 1940s, the cruelest assault on a people in the 20th century (though the Armenian genocide too is right up there if one is counting), and it continues today in all its horror. The story is hung on an initially irritating conceit, one man's monologue as he cares for a mentor who has suffered a stroke and is brain dead. The protagonist imagines that his charge can hear and comprehend him. But as the story progresses, the immediacy of the reality of the intertwining biographies and the awful -- and often beautiful -- story they tell is so engaging that the irritation passes. But what also makes this novel extraordinary is that it is told without rancor -- not that hatred wasn't swirling around and everpresent. The people are real, that world is real, the suffering and death are real. It is this, and the opening of a window on that world heretofore glimpsed only on the news, that is the beauty of this book. There were occasional and brief what seemed to me trite pop-philosophical digressions, but they did not seriously affect the power of the reading. Some episodes seem to be present to emphasize that the author is not anti-Jewish, but they feel contrived. In this feverish situation it is no doubt a good thing to emphasize an author's rejection of anti-Semitic prejudice, but one would hope the author could find a way that feels as real as the rest of the book. Well, truth to tell, there was one subplot that stretched credulity in the interest of creating an artful story. Nonetheless, this is a truly powerful book, and the reality of that world comes through despite the occasional novelistic artifice. How to right the wrongs and avoid further horrors for either peoples! But Gate of the Sun is a resolutely non-political novel about individuals -- largely unheard from individuals caught up in the maelstrom of the 20th century's awful story.
Deserves Nobel prize for literature.......2006-03-22
Elias Khoury weaves a multitude of stories of people, some good, some less so, all flawed in their various ways, into a narrative that makes up the story of a people. One can recognize and identify with the human condition and struggles of each of those individuals, and yet through Khoury's eyes one can also see the whole of the society as it suffers the destruction from being uprooted and exiled by outside forces.
Not just about Palestinians - but about humanity everywhere.
Magnificent epic of the Palestinian tragedy.......2006-03-19
If was there one epic,one literary saga and masterpiece deserving of the tragedy, brutality, betrayal, strength and also beauty that is the Palestinian cause, it is this book. Every page is filled with humanity,regret,passion and the myth that ordinary people fashion for their cause, the myth they need to fashion in order to survive in a world that doesn't care. It is a story of men and women, of love that exists only unfulfilled, of death and self betrayal and the answers that will never be told, that can not be told. There is cruelty and injustice, yet among all the people who have lost their masks, victims and perpetrators, there is no true evil. There is love, yet no one enjoying its bliss without being eluded by its fragility. It is a world of massacres, of lime stained nameless corpses, of heroes turned mad and hair turned white early, but also of beauty, strength and hope that can not die, even in the filth and sorrow stained alleys of a refugee camp. In other words, it is our world.
Yunes, an unflinching hero of the Palestinian resistance,man of countless sacrifices and mentor to forty year old Dr. Khalil,a warm thoughtful man who was among the fedayeen in Lebanon and refused to leave Beirut in 1982, has fallen into a coma. In the almost empty corridors of the neglected Galilee Hospital of the Shatila camp,it is up Khalil to care for him when everyone else has in one way or the other surrendered.They can not understand why Khalil would care so tenderly for what they call a corpse. In a world turned up side down by endless war, they have learned to leave it to God. Not so Dr. Khalil. His refusal to let Yunes be taken home in order to die is his way of paying back his debts and showing his respect and devotion to the man. At the side of Yunes bed he holds a long inner monologue with his friend, who in many ways is still a riddle to him. His admiration for the sacrifices that Yunes has given to the cause that is Palestine does not betray Khalils thirst for answers, for truth in a world of countless conflicting stories. "Tell me- you know better than I do- do we all lie like that? Did you lie to me to?" he asks his silent friend without expecting an answer. Khalils thirst for truth is also personal; the uncertainty of his former lover Shams feelings toward him is torturing. He does not understand why this passionate, yet haunted woman, slept with him. He does not know why she betrayed him and can not understand why she had to die, yet he can forgive her. "I waited, not to understand what she had done, but because I loved her. It no longer made any difference to me whether she had been unfaithful or not. She was what mattered not, me." His long stays in the hospital are also an escape from the feared revenge of Shams family and especially from Shams ghost haunting his unfulfilled longing.
In the centre of the mosaic of tragic, humorous and horrifying stories, such as the story of the Palestinian midwife Umm Hassan, a refugee from 1948, who after years returns to her village of Al-Kweikat to find her house untouched and occupied by a Lebanese Jewish woman, who is herself heartbroken in longing for her country Lebanon and the tragic everyday story of the shampoo seller and con man Salim Assad,stories ranging from pre-Israeli Palestine and the catastrophe and chaos that was the Palestinian Nakba up to the Lebanese civil war and Israeli invasion of Lebanon and its horrifying aftermath,is the story of Yunes and Nahilah, his beautiful and long suffering wife and their secret meetings in the caves of Bab al Shams in Galilee. They can only be man and wife in this cave, in those rare moments of love and passion, both divided by circumstances they can not control. Yunes is a fedayee in Lebanon and can only pass into Galilee by secret. He is not there to support his wife, raise his children, be a father and he is absent when his first born Ibrahim dies tragically. Yet Khalil is uncertain about many aspects of his friend's life, he can not understand why Yunes never tried to give up the life of a fighter and be a husband to Nahilah and father to his children, nor is he certain about the circumstances of Ibrahims death. "Tell me, Yunes, why didn't you go back for good? Why didn't you ever try? Were you afraid of dying? If you say you were afraid they would liquidate you, Ill understand, but then don't talk to me about the struggle or the revolution or any of that." Khalil is even uncertain where the love story of ever patient Nahilah and Yunes ends. Was is it on that fateful night under the Roman olive tree when Nahilah opened herself to Yunes, revealing the full extent of her sacrifice to him and telling him she could not bear this life any longer, or was it in 1982 when all passing into Galilee became impossible because of the Israeli invasion of South Lebanon? There are no answers to all these questions. It is their memory that Khalil wants to keep alive, the memory of ordinary men and the memory of extraordinary women, in a world of confusion and happiness that can not be."I didn't weep for Shams as I have wept for you and for this woman.I didn't weep for my father as I have wept for you and for her.I didn't weep for my mother as I have wept for you and for her,Khalil tells Yunes at the end of their path together, realizing that in this human tragedy the conclusion of every story can only be heartbreak.
The entire novel is told without chronology and jumps from event to event, often without giving dates and detailing the political happenings mentioned,such as the many sieges of the Shatila camp,the pre-1967 history and subsequent occupation of Gaza and the West Bank.Readers of this beautiful epic need atleast a rudimentary knowledge of the conflict and its historical outline, in order not to get lost and fully immerse themselves in the stories,events and people presented in Bab al Shams. Nonetheless,the scope, brilliance and humanity of Elias Khourys acclaimed epic is almost beyond words.It is a story,or hundredths of them, ripped straight out life. There are no villains, only human beings. There are heroes, yet they are almost too quiet to be heard. The prove that Elias Khourys novel is fully set in the world we inhabit, is that we are ultimately left without answers, wishing with all of our hearts that things could have been different for Yunes and Nahilah, for the abused Shams and the gentle Dr.Khalil,including the mother and father he barely knew. We, like Dr.Khalil, and all human beings must never stop searching. It is the ultimate goal and drive of our humanity. We must never stop asking and never stop admiring, despite all weakness we might encounter. The truth is not always in need of a definite answer. The story never ends and should never end, as we learn in this magnificent book.
A Must Read Novel .......2006-01-15
The following review in the NY Times is a good review of the novel. I strongly recommend. Whether you are Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Arab or American, a must read.
New York Times
Review by LORRAINE ADAMS
Published: January 15, 2006
TO Americans, the novel in Arabic remains on the margins. Nonfiction devoted to the Arab world may be in demand, but interest in Arab literature, even after Naguib Mahfouz's Nobel Prize in 1988, hasn't moved too far past Aladdin and Sinbad.
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Maria Söderberg
Elias Khoury
GATE OF THE SUN
Elias Khoury is one of a handful of contemporary Arab novelists to have gained a measure of Western attention. He is also one of the few to write about the Palestinian experience, albeit from the perspective of an outsider. As a Christian born in Beirut in 1948, at the moment of Israel's inception, Khoury was too young to know firsthand the events that "Gate of the Sun" encompasses. Unlike the Palestinian novelists Emile Habibi and Ghassan Kanafani, who were born earlier in the century, Khoury could not rely on his own memory. To write this novel, he spent considerable time in the camps - more accurately, concrete exurban slums - throughout the Middle East, interviewing Palestinian refugees.
Narrated by a peasant doctor talking to a comatose, aging fighter, "Gate of the Sun" relates a swirl of stories: of grandmothers and grandfathers, midwives and children, wives and lovers - the lucky and the hapless, the mad and the hopeful. Employing a strategy that's an inversion of "A Thousand and One Nights" (whose narrator, Scheherazade, tells stories to save herself), Khalil half believes that these stories are keeping his dying friend Yunes alive.
Between November 1947 and October 1950, some 700,000 Palestinians fled or were forced to flee their homes as the British departed and the Israelis took control. Disputed and complicated, the refugee problem has been a sticking point in more than five decades of war, terrorism and failed peace talks.
But while Khoury's narrator explores Palestinian privation and Israeli cruelty, this is not a predictable novel of despair and accusation. It contains, for example, a story about the madwoman of Al Kabri, a reputed bone collector who actually searches for wild chicory. There is a wedding-night farce involving a cotton swab. And a dark story of infanticide - and pita bread.
Khalil assembles these vignettes with a clumsy talent, digressing as often as he gets to the point. His moods are many. One minute, he's swooning about a French actress, the next he's saddened by the antics of a shampoo seller. He crows about Yunes's wife telling Israeli interrogators she's a whore in order to hide Yunes's whereabouts. And he gives another man's wife the last word on what happened to his prized buffaloes: "I'm certain the Jews didn't kill them. . . . Why would they kill them? They'd take them. And how could they have killed the buffalo and not him with them? No, the Jews didn't kill the buffalo. I'm certain his cousin stole them. Took them and disappeared. The man must have waited a month at the border, then despaired and had no choice but to make up the story of the buffalo massacre. Everything foolish we do, we blame on the Jews."
Interspersed with Khalil's stories is his one-sided conversation with Yunes, which gradually reveals the history of a friendship where nothing is withheld. The two men "discuss" everything and nothing, but always they return, with respect and wonder, to the women in their lives. Early on, Khalil recalls that the novelist Kanafani interviewed Yunes but decided not to write about him because "he was looking for mythic stories, and yours was just the story of a man in love. Where would be the symbolism in this love that had no place to root itself? How did you expect he would believe the story of your love for your wife? Is a man's love for his wife really worth writing about?"
This love roots itself in Bab al-Shams, the cave where Yunes and his wife, Nahilah, met secretly over the decades of their marriage. Bab al-Shams (Arabic for "gate of the sun") is where they made love, shared meals and discussed their children. It is also the scene of Nahilah's loving exposure of Yunes's self-delusion, an inspired monologue that chastens and enlightens him. The cave is the novel. At one point, Khalil explains this to Yunes: "We've made a shelter out of words, a country out of words, and women out of words."
All of which is not to say that historical events are absent from Khoury's fiction. But he confines them to the conversation between Khalil and Yunes. Speaking about the Holocaust, Khalil tells his friend: "You and I and every human being on the face of the planet should have known and not stood by in silence, should have prevented that beast from destroying its victims in that barbaric, unprecedented manner. Not because the victims were Jews but because their death meant the death of humanity within us."
On the murder of Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics, Khalil tells Yunes: "I know what you think of that kind of operation, and I know you were one of the few who dared take a stand against the hijacking of airplanes, the operations abroad and the killing of civilians."
On Palestinian identity before 1948, Khalil admits to Yunes: "Palestine was the cities - Haifa, Jaffa, Jerusalem and Acre. In them we could feel something called Palestine. The villages were like all villages. . . . The truth is that those who occupied Palestine made us discover the country as we were losing it."
Asking why the Palestinians fled their land, Khalil demands: "Tell me about that blackness. I don't want the usual song about the betrayal by the Arab armies in the '48 war - I've had enough of armies. What did you do? Why are you here and they're there?"
There has been powerful fiction about Palestinians and by Palestinians, but few have held to the light the myths, tales and rumors of both Israel and the Arabs with such discerning compassion. In Humphrey Davies's sparely poetic translation, "Gate of the Sun" is an imposingly rich and realistic novel, a genuine masterwork.
Book Description
The Arabian Nights: A Companion guides the reader into this celebrated labyrinth of storytelling. It traces the development of the stories from prehistoric India and Pharaonic Egypt to modern times. It also explores the history of the translation, and explains the ways its contents have been added to, plagiarized and imitated. Above all, the book uses the stories as a guide to the social history and the counterculture of the medieval Near East and the world of the story-teller, the snake charmer, the burglar, the sorcerer, the drug addict, the treasure hunter and the adulterer.
Customer Reviews:
A MUST!.......2007-07-11
The best companion to one of the most fascinating collection of tales in history. Irwin's work is also a great socio-political study of both the times that The Arabian Nights was written in and the times that it was finally translated into the west. If you have the The Arabian Nights and this book then I highly recommend Irwin's other book, Night & Horses & the Desert: An Anthology of Classical Arabic Literature, and Edward Said's Orientalism.
A Facinating Read.......2006-04-10
This is one of the more interesting companion books I have read. It goes into great detail of the history and the formation of the 1001 Nights collection, and provides an interesting window into Arabic culture. However, one thing I found to be really interesting is that the 1001 tales of Arabic culture were primarily oral tales. The professional storytellers who would tell these books would have manuscript versions which they would use as notes, so there were no official versions--each telling would be elaborated and expanded on depending on the audience. The version that we are familiar with in the west was formalized in France in the 17th century, and may have more relevance to the European expectations of Arabic culture than to Arabic culture itself. In fact, several tales which appear in the European version do not appear in any Arabic manuscripts and may have been written by Europeans to fill the demand for fantastic tales. Overall, this book is quite interesting and I really recommend this to those who would like to see how a lose collection of oral tales becomes a work of literature.
A very useful companion........2005-09-24
The history of the Arabian Nights (1001 Nights) is often appended to the various translations available. They tend to be brief and often reflect the focus of the editor and/or translator. The Arabian Nights: A Companion by Robert Irwin is very substantial. The author often makes conclusions but always includes the thoughts of those with whom he disagrees. This is a must for anyone who really enjoys this collection of stories and will be rewarded by its fascinating history and the history of its translation...almost as enjoyable as the stories themselves.
Good companion.......2000-05-03
As someone who loved the "Arabian Nights" since childhood, I eagerly read this book as well. For the most part, I wasn't disapointed. It does a wonderful job of setting the scene, discussing its origins, its distortions, and showing how the stories relate to medieval Arabian life. I was particularly impressed with the section discussing the connections between various story collections in both Asia and Europe. In short, this book helps the reader better understand this complex (and often confusing)work. The chapters are all clearly laid out and well argued, and the book as a whole is easy to read. He has complex ideas, but is able to communicate them fluidly.
One idea I would challenge, however. I believe the scholars who argue that the more "complete" manuscripts probably arose from increased European interest in it. It makes sense that writers would add filler to reach 1001 nights in response to consumer demand.
An interesting read for fans of "Arabian Nights."
Book Description
The 1947 Partition of India is the backdrop for this powerful novel, narrated by a precocious child who describes the brutal transition with chilling veracity. Young Lenny Sethi is kept out of school because she suffers from polio. She spends her days with Ayah, her beautiful nanny, visiting with the large group of admirers that Ayah draws. It is in the company of these working class characters that Lenny learns about religious differences, religious intolerance, and the blossoming genocidal strife on the eve of Partition. As she matures, Lenny begins to identify the differences between the Hindus, Moslems, and Sikhs engaging in political arguments all around her. Lenny enjoys a happy, privileged life in Lahore, but the kidnapping of her beloved Ayah signals a dramatic change. Soon Lenny’s world erupts in religious, ethnic, and racial violence. By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, the domestic drama serves as a microcosm for a profound political upheaval.
Customer Reviews:
Beautiful and tragic, Cracking India.......2006-06-10
This tragic story is very personal, as told by a young girl, Lenny Sethi (possibly autobiographical?) living in the Punjab region of northwest India during the few years prior to and after the partition of India. History is full of such terrible stories and horrible truths, but Cracking India has a very familial impact, and completely feminine perspective. We are allowed to become part of the extended family that comprises Lenny's young life. There is a comfortable mix of Sikhs, Muslims, Hindus, Parsees, and Christians prior to the partition, and Bapsi Sidhwa immerses us completely in that unique and unusual world. What a fragile, terrible facade it turned out to be.
Sidhwa does not try to inform us why people are so often so terrible to each other. Is she suggesting that no such understanding is possible? She shows that people live through, but often not beyond, such events. Cracking India is very compelling and unique, completely engaging, and excruciatingly real. I found this story to be completely believable, as the story of a young girl told through her adult perspectives. A completely different world was mine for a brief time in reading Cracking India, and for all its terrors, I am glad I was there. Highest recommendation.
Cracking India?.......2006-05-08
Why did Bapsi Sidhwa change the name of the novel from "Ice Candy Man" to "Cracking India"? Maybe because it is more catchy and sells better. And does the cracking refers to the partition? If so it should have been Cracked India? Or is it a snide reference to separatist movements in India. Anyway its a tasteless title and although I liked the novel I do not like her sales tactics!
Beautiful........2004-08-12
A beautifully written novel. Sidhwa's lilting writing style makes one wonder what lies ahead in the novel. It's joyous and captivating, but also chilling at the same time. "Cracking India" is one of those books that you should just read at night time while curled up in your blankets, sipping a latte or coffee. It cozies up the mind and it is absorbing. Because of the way it flows, I thoroughly enjoyed my read.
However, a flaw that I detected was that Sidhwa's book does not have a glossary of terms with English translations of some Indian/Pakistani words and phrases in the book. And also around Chapter 12, the novel starts dragging in redundancy a little bit. It does pick up some speed on Chapter 18, as you approach the climax. Nonetheless, "Cracking India" is still an enjoyable fiction. It is wonderful to witness many occurrences of the splitting of India through Lenny's eyes and experiences. There are, of course, many other goings-on that make the novel even more interesting. I particularly found the story of Ayah (and Hamida too) a haunting example of human betrayal.
What more can be said? I enjoyed the book.
Loss of innocence and national chaos.......2002-04-13
Wrenched from the security of the familiar, a young girl gleans intimate knowledge of the nature of betrayal. As a cosseted child, Lenny's short life is defined by the affection of family, friends and her beloved Ayah. As most children who have the blessing of regularity in their lives and know the indulgence of boredom, Lenny is on an intimate terms with mundane household affairs and neighborhood gossip, her extended family ever available for entertainment and amusing peccadilloes. The family's simple life changes forever with the Partition of India in 1947 and the creation of Pakistan for Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs remaining in the state of India. As citizens of the newly formed Pakistan, this family's everyday reality begins to shift with the changing times, threatening to destroy a child's security and trust forever.
In Lahore, a city that has welcomed differences and encouraged variety, Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus have mixed without incident. After the Partition, the dangers of alliance permanently stamp the mark of change and entire families begin to disappear overnight. In agonizing stages, Sidwha relates this tragic account through Lenny's eyes. And it is that vision, with glimpses of violence flashing around the periphery, that ultimately alerts Lenny to the shape of the future. The juxtaposition of family life and national chaos outlines an insider's interpretation of daily routine and a whole country spinning out of control. Peopled with eccentric characters and quirky personalities, one of the most romantic and beloved is Lenny's beautiful and desirable Ayah. Ultimately, the abrupt disappearance of that Ayah, who has been kidnapped by nefarious characters, is central to the theme of this carefully wrought tale. All sense of harmony and continuity is abruptly shattered by the miasma of violence that seeps under closed doors at night like a poisonous invisible fog. This book is a stunning reminder of the nature of impermanence, "collateral damage" in the form of a loving Ayah, whose lovely spirit is virtually destroyed along with Lenny's innocence.
wonderful book.......2002-01-11
I was assigned this book for my english class, and wasn't looking forward to reading it. Although I chose the book myself, I wasn't really sure if I had made the right choice. However, once I started really getting into the book, I discovered that i couldn't put the book down-it was incredibly engaging! It showed me how cruel people could be, and the devastating concequences that came from their cruel actions. I found myself feeling happy when the character was happy, sad when the character was sad..etc..this book really opened my eyes to the world around me. This book is very moving and incredibly sad-it is rather graphic at times though. Nevertheless, this will forever be a favorite of mine and I definately recommend it.
Book Description
Drawing on an intimate knowledge of modern Arabic writing, Denys Johnson-Davies brings together in this collection a colorful mosaic of life as lived and portrayed by Arabs from Morocco to Iraq. From a diverse area of the world with the common factor of a written language, these thirty stories tell of an old Moroccan peasant woman who kills snakes; an Iraqi soldier who returns home as a stranger after years as a prisoner-of-war; a repairer of lost virginities in a Tunisian village; a typically Mahfouzian start to a train journey; the steamy meeting of two women and a cat at the height of an Iraqi summer; the ill-fated attraction of a boy to a magical bird in the Tuareg deserts of Libya; and a novel way of hunting ducks in the Nile Delta. The purveyors of this strange and delightful cornucopia of fictions include Naguib Mahfouz, Yusuf Idris, Gamal al-Ghitani, and Mohamed El-Bisatie from Egypt; Fuad al-Takarli and Mohamed Khudayyir from Iraq; Zakaria Tamer from Syria; Hanan al-Shaykh from Lebanon; and Ibrahim al-Kouni from Libya.
Book Description
A collection of stories by some writers already known in translation to Western reader--Tewfik el Hakim, Naguib Mahfouz, Youssef Idris--and others less well known outside the Arab world, this book offers a sampling of a literary form which showed a particularly interesting and vigorous development during the two decades after the Second World War.
Customer Reviews:
Recommended If You're Interested in Work from This Period.......2007-03-01
This book was published in Cairo in 1968. It contains 33 short stories by 30 writers, of whom 24 are Egyptian. The stories date from the mid-1940s to the mid-1960s, which according to the introduction was the time when the short story was the dominant genre in Arabic literature. Two-thirds of the stories come from the 1960s, and only one's identified as published in the 1940s.
The major Egyptian writers include al-Hakim, Mahmoud Taymour, Hakki, Mahfouz, Idris, Suhayr al-Qalamawi, Quddous, and el-Kharrat. Writers from elsewhere include Zakaria Tamer and Ghada el-Samman from Syria, Ghalib Halassa from Jordan and Samira Azzam from Palestine.
Most of the stories are grounded in realism and concern social problems such as poverty and overpopulation, love of the countryside and problems within it, more personal issues such as the relations between husband and wife and parent and child, or problems in both spheres, such as conflicts between tradition and modernity. Several of the works deal, for example, with the subject of honor killings.
Other stories, which are experimental in style and focus on the "predicament of the individual," isolation and so on, were of less interest. One blended grotesque fantasy and reality in a manner the author claimed was inspired by Czech cartoon films.
I enjoyed this collection for providing some stories from the 1940s and 1950s, a time for which I haven't seen many other anthologies of Arabic short stories in translation. And for works from the 1960s from some of the major Egyptian writers.
Memorable stories included "The Brass Four-Poster" by Hakki, which shows the changes over the years in the lives of a mother and daughter, and the relations between them, by means of a bed bought for the daughter's marriage. "Hanzal and the Policeman" by Mahfouz, in which a jobless drug addict is astounded at receiving understanding and help from the police, instead of their usual behavior. And "Peace with Honour" by Idris, which shows what happens to a beautiful, trusting girl and the people around her when she's accused of improper behavior with a man. This story especially was full of compassion and irony, as in a tale by Chekhov.
In one of the more interesting stories by one of the older writers, in which the Devil's wish to repent is refused by Heaven and worldly religious authorities because virtue has no meaning without sin, it was a mild surprise to find a few slighting, gratuitous references to a certain non-Arabic people.
Book Description
Feroza Ginwalla, a pampered, protected 16-year-old Pakistani girl, is sent to America by her parents, who are alarmed by the fundamentalism overtaking Pakistan — and their daughter. Hoping that a few months with her uncle, an MIT grad student, will soften the girl’s rigid thinking, they get more than they bargained for: Feroza, enthralled by American culture and her new freedom, insists on staying. A bargain is struck, allowing Feroza to attend college with the understanding that she will return home and marry well. As a student in a small western town, Feroza’s perceptions of America, her homeland, and herself begin to alter. When she falls in love with and wants to marry a Jewish American, her family is aghast. Feroza realizes just how far she has come — and wonders how much further she can go. This delightful coming-of-age novel is both remarkably funny and a remarkably acute portrayal of America as seen through the eyes of a perceptive young immigrant.
Customer Reviews:
Not great.......2007-06-15
I picked up this book while I was travelling in Delhi, being interested in the culture clash when young South-Asian discover the Western culture firsthand. I thought this book started really slow, and the writing doesn't flow very well. Feroza doesn't seem to have a mind of her own and seems to be made up of a lot of preconceptions instead of being a person true to herself throughout the book. I thought this made her a little annoying, but then maybe it just shows how narrow-minded she was to start with when she left Pakistan. There are some parts of the story that are completely useless (such as the locked-in-the-staircase incident, or the time Marek loses her). The story does pick up after the first half, but it's a long way to get there.
Cultural shock and awe.......2005-10-21
Sidhwa's story opens in the author's birthplace, Pakistan, where Muslim fundamentalism has swayed 16-year-old Feroza Ginwalla, a lively, headstrong child who berates her mother for showing her arms and refuses to answer the telephone - even though the Ginwalla family is Zoroastrian, or Parsee, not Muslim.
Her mother, Zareen, decides to remove Feroza from these influences and sends her to visit her young uncle, Manek, a student in America.
Feroza's arrival in New York, from her humiliating ordeal at Customs, to the whirlwind tour of museums, towering buildings and glittering Fifth Avenue shop windows, to the bag ladies, derelicts and predatory young men, is a starkly humorous study of extremes.
Before leaving New York Feroza ventures out alone. The reader's sense of danger to this ebullient neophyte diminishes as she successfully negotiates the streets and shops and returns to the YMCA building where she and her uncle are staying. Only to be trapped in the fire stairs 22 stories up. As she loses her bearings, finds every door locked and begins to hear stealthy noises, Feroza succumbs to abject panic.
Chastened by this experience, Feroza wastes most of her visa watching television and eating delicacies like Vienna sausages out of cans. It's Manek who decides she, too, should study in America. To escape his bossiness, Feroza decides on Twin Falls, Idaho.
Feroza's initiation into things American accelerates under the tutelage of Jo, her roomate, who Feroza categorizes as "a 'juvenile delinquent,' a Western, and more specifically, American phenomenon." Jo drinks, curses, shoplifts and picks up men.
Slowly Feroza sorts through American customs, adopting those that suit her, and recognizing Jo's self-destructive behavior and becoming protective of her.
Then she falls in love with an American. At home in Pakistan all hell breaks loose. A Parsee girl who marries out of her religion is ex-communicated (not so, a Parsee man). Although determined not to, it seems Feroza must choose.
Sidwha's ("Cracking India") style is humorous and turbulent. While sometimes the story seems to digress from its focus - delving more deeply than necessary into Jo's and Manek's lives - vivid details illuminate an appealing heroine's unusual coming of age.
Starts strong but then dies flat.......2002-10-04
The book starts out very well with vivid portrayals of the family life of the "old country," but as soon as the main character lands in the United States, everything becomes a dull stereotype. The story arc and character development stop dead in favor of a series of "lessons" that the protagonist learns about American culture. The style of the storytelling also changes from a natural flow to one of pure exposition. Feroza ceases to be a fully realized character and transforms instantly into a MacGuffin being led around from scene to scene. One gets the impression that Sidhwa was trying to portray "typical" Americans; however, much like Anurag Mathur ("The Inscrutable Americans") and Anita Desai ("Fasting, Feasting") she fails miserably in creating convincing American characters and is clearly out of her depth in her superficial attempts to recreate American speech and manners. The protagonist and her relatives also transform into stereotypes.
Overall enjoyable, but lackadaisical at times.......2002-02-20
An overall enjoyable read, but I found it to be lackadaisical and undeveloped at times. The twist at the end did come to my surprise and I was impressed by it. The end certainly tied the whole theme of the novel tightly together; that is, a pampered young Pakistani woman maturing into a an independent Pakistani-American in the US, allowing her to choose the best of both worlds, the mother-land and the new-land. She also learns that she will fly only when her wings strengthen, as they do throughout the novel.
In response to the earlier review, Manek's character allowed a bird's eye view narrative of what may be in store for Feroza, perhaps a male's account of being a Pakistani immigrant. Also, with Pakistani culture, Feroza couldn't have been sent off alone to America by herself. Manek, her uncle was young enough to provide comic relief through their sarcastic banter, yet he also somewhat of an authority figure for her. Any other relation such as a cousin or family friend may have not provided both aspects of character.
An American Brat - Fast Moving and Gripping, Worth Applaud!.......2001-07-23
Bapsi Sidhwa has now become one of the best writers in English language from Pakitsan. Her books have been loved in Great Britain and United States. "An American Brat" is just another one of her classics. Starting in Lahore: One of the most historic and beautiful cities of South Asia the book moves to United States. The story revolves around a Parsee religion girl and her life. The story highlights the political instability in Pakistan and takes place in the time when Bhutto govt. was overthrown by martial law that imposed Islam on every citizen. To avoid another religion's effects on the girl she was sent to America... and as its said "Someone somewhere is made for you," the girl finds her soulmate in America and gets married to a non-parsee boy and the news becomes a shock for the family in Pakistan because unlike America, religion is an issue in South Asia... The book is just stunning and i highly recomend you to read it... to see, how a simple girl moves to "gimme coke" from "May I have a Coca-Cola?"
Average customer rating:
- A classic
- The Helen Keller of Egypt
- A Classic
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THE DAYS (H) (Modern Arabic Writing)
Taha Hussein
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ASIN: 9774244354 |
Book Description
For the first time ever, the three-part autobiography of one of modern Egypt's greatest writers and thinkers is available in a single volume. The collection includes An Egyptian Childhood (1929), The Stream of Days: A Student at the Azhar (1939) and A Passage to France (1973).
Customer Reviews:
A classic.......2007-09-13
A must for those who like arab literature. It is an autobiographical text of one of the most important Egyptian writers of the 20th century, who was blind and managed to succeed in his studies and his carreer. He was the first Egyptian to be granted a PhD from France and the founder of the Faculty of Greek and Latin Philosophy at the University of Cairo. The text itself is at some parts sad, at others funny, at others full of agony for the future... All these written with the unique style of Taha Hussein. I recommend it!
The Helen Keller of Egypt.......2002-06-04
Like Helen Keller, Taha Hussain overcame the challenges of his blindness to be an inspiration to everyone who knew him. Born in 1889 in a small village in Egypt, the 7th of 13 children, and blinded in his early childhood by a mistake of the local barber (and village surgeon!), one would expect Taha Hussein to become just another statistic. Instead, his brilliant mind led him to receive the highest levels of education in Egypt, followed by a PhD from the Sorbonne University in France, and achieve wide recognition and honors as a writer, faculty member, dean, minister of education, and a Nobel prize nominee in literature. There are few human beings who overcome adversity of such magnitude. Taha Hussein's autobiography is unique and sometimes controversial, but certainly an inspiration to anyone who reads it. This edition, which includes all 3 parts of his biography now joined in one book, is well worth it and a must read.
A Classic.......2000-04-30
This is a must read for those interested in Egypt and Egyptian culture. It is an absolute classic, wonderfully written and well translated. The story of a poor blind boy with incomparable talent and motivation, It is also a beautiful love story, cross cultural marriage, conflict between civilizations and the push and pull between the sacred and the secular. Taha Hussien rose from very poor and humble origin to the heights of Egyptian society.
Each of the three parts of this book was translated by a different person, as a result it takes a bit of time to get adjusted to the new style as well as a new phase of the life of Taha Hussien.
The first part of the book, specially with the third person style can get a bit tedious but if you perceiver through that you will get the double reward of enjoying the book and learning more about this truly unique man.
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