<![CDATA[The Hakawati]]>

false <![CDATA[The Hakawati]]>

2774912

In 2003, Osama al-Kharrat returns to Beirut after many years in America to stand vigil at his father's deathbed. The city is a shell of the Beirut Osama remembers, but he and his friends and family take solace in the things that have always sustained them: gossip, laughter, and, above all, stories. Osama's grandfather was a hakawati, or storyteller, and his bewitching stories - of his arrival in Lebanon, an orphan of the Turkish wars, and of how he earned the name al-Kharrat, the fibster - are interwoven with classic tales of the Middle East, stunningly reimagined. Here are Abraham and Isaac; Ishmael, father of the Arab tribes; the ancient, fabled Fatima; and Baybars, the slave prince who vanquished the Crusaders. Here, too, are contemporary Lebanese whose stories tell a larger, heartbreaking tale of seemingly endless war - and of survival.

1994762

book

2008

The Hakawati

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5 7 false false Thu Mar 20 13:08:02 -0700 2008 Fri Mar 28 12:40:32 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sun Nov 23 16:58:02 -0800 2008 Sun Nov 23 16:59:19 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 2 false false Tue Feb 17 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Feb 18 11:53:52 -0800 2009 Wed Feb 18 11:57:09 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 2 false false Sat May 03 07:26:06 -0700 2008 Fri May 16 18:09:31 -0700 2008 5 2 false false Tue Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 30 09:57:48 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 30 10:00:22 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 1 false false Sat Sep 27 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun May 18 17:05:57 -0700 2008 Sat Sep 27 05:11:47 -0700 2008
So consequently, I hated the weather in Indiana, then loved it, then was indiffer...more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Oct 12 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 08 07:03:54 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 14 13:47:44 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Nov 10 14:26:03 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 12 16:32:47 -0800 2009 more...]]> 0 0 false false Thu Feb 05 09:56:22 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 05 09:56:22 -0800 2009 The Hakawati is more than just a good book: it's a diplomatic opportunity that invites non-Arabs to see beyond stereotypes and expose themselves to some of the nuance and complexity within the Arab world. Arab readers and others already familiar with the varied source material will find it transform...

more...]]> 5 1 false false Tue Dec 16 09:20:49 -0800 2008 Tue Dec 16 09:20:55 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Sep 10 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 04 11:42:10 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 11 19:13:01 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Aug 06 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 27 08:49:58 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 06 20:53:18 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 true false Tue Aug 04 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Apr 04 12:18:13 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 13 07:19:12 -0700 2009 1 The Hakawati. The novel begins and ends with this curious imprecation to the reader: "Listen." Not 'pay attention,' not 'read this twice,'...more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Feb 26 21:26:09 -0800 2009 Mon Jun 01 22:44:19 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Dec 09 18:29:10 -0800 2008 Wed Feb 04 21:46:09 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Oct 30 07:55:39 -0700 2008 Thu Oct 30 08:05:15 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Dec 23 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Oct 19 14:59:39 -0700 2008 Tue Dec 23 14:43:46 -0800 2008
"Uncle Jihad used to say that what happens is of little significance compared with the stories we tell ourselves about what happens. Events matter little, only stories of those events affect us. My ...more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Mar 24 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 30 05:27:23 -0700 2008 Tue Mar 24 20:45:24 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Jul 26 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun May 18 14:54:55 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 28 20:51:00 -0700 2009 A Thousand and One Nights - with story-within-story-within-story-within-story - with the tales dif...more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed May 14 21:04:58 -0700 2008 Sun Jun 29 13:42:23 -0700 2008
Now that you've done that, I am sure you're back here to agree with me that "The Hakawati" is a great book. I picked it up at a bookstore and was entranced within the first two pages. (Of course, because I'm cheap, I put it down ...more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=2774912