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55th out of 175 books
—
185 voters
Women of Sand and Myrrh
A powerful and moving novel, by the Arab worldsleading woman novelist, about four women copingwith the insular, oppressive society of an unnameddesert state....more
Paperback, 288 pages
Published
July 1st 1992
by Anchor
(first published 1982)
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من السهل التسرع في الحكم على الرواية لو انتظرنا حبكة وأحداث متسلسلة في صورة قصة. والمؤلفة تستخدم التكنيك الانطباعي المعروف لدى فيرجينيا ولف حيث يتم تسجيل الانطباعات وكما تدور في داخل النفس وبالتالي حبكة الأحداث غير متوقعة بل "تيار الوعي". وباستخدام هذا التكنيك والذي يتبع منهج "قول يا بوزيد قول واحنا معاك للصبح" تقوم ٤ ستات قمرات بسرد حكايتهن وكل واحدة تقول حكايتها وتشكو هم الحياة في الصحراء وكم أنها تحلم بالحرية وقد ملت وقرفت من كل هذا الكبت والكبح والقمع.. الكتاب يعجبني في جرأته وعرض الميول الس...more
1 like · like · see review
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May 22, 2009
Nojood Alsudairi
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
arabic-books,
fiction
من الغريب أن تتشابه شخصية نورة الصحراوية وشخصية سوزان الأمريكية في الفحش مع فارق أن الأولى تكره الصحراء بينما تحبها الثانية. بينما تتشابه سهى اللبنانية وتمر الجنوبية في رفضهما للوضع الذي وجدتا أنفسهما فيه والخروج من المأزق.
أربع نجمات للأسلوب أما القصة فتشبه تلك القصص الأمريكية التي تؤلف عن العرب بحيث تأخذ كل القصص العجيبة والنادرة وتجمعها في قصة واحدة. ليتها أتقنت ولو لهجة واحدة من لهجات دول الخليج لكانت أكثر مصداقية. اللهجة المستخدمة مزيج مضحك من كلمات قد يستخدمها القصيبي في حلقات طاش ما طاش: "...more
أربع نجمات للأسلوب أما القصة فتشبه تلك القصص الأمريكية التي تؤلف عن العرب بحيث تأخذ كل القصص العجيبة والنادرة وتجمعها في قصة واحدة. ليتها أتقنت ولو لهجة واحدة من لهجات دول الخليج لكانت أكثر مصداقية. اللهجة المستخدمة مزيج مضحك من كلمات قد يستخدمها القصيبي في حلقات طاش ما طاش: "...more
3 likes · like · see review
So Women of Sand and Myrrh is a better book than most people are giving it credit for, albeit not a fantastic one. Read it more like a Middle Eastern Virginia Woolf novel, and it makes more sense. The news here is not that "hey, women living in unnamed generic Islamic countries can feel oppressed," but that Hanan Al-Shaykh, in 1980-something, was writing such a nuanced account of the very specific ways that female sexuality could be circumscribed and/or redirected in such a world. The internal f...more
1 like · like · see review
أنا مافي أقدر أخلص هذا الكتاب صديق أنا مافي أفهم المطلوب مازا؟
"A definitely powerful book...I needed to stop reading several times to give myself a break from all the physical and psychological violence the four women (the story of whom the book is telling) are subject to...this book is a must-read though at certain points the reader just needs to stop to swallow all that's going on in the novel.
This book is about four women from different social, religious and cultural backgrounds who meet in a Golf country in its first stages of modernization and how bei...more
This book is about four women from different social, religious and cultural backgrounds who meet in a Golf country in its first stages of modernization and how bei...more
صادقة لدرجة مؤلمة
1 like · like · see review
Four women live in an unnamed Arabic desert-country, reacting differently to the enclosed world they inhabit:
Suha: a "foreigner" who is suffocating under the weight of the heavy fabric she must inhabit, the small lot she is allowed in life. Cannot wait to leave the desert.
Tamr: desires to open her own store and must risk infuriating her family and shaming her male relations.
Suzanne: a voluptuous American woman who is thrilled to live in the desert, as she stands out and can command respect wit...more
Suha: a "foreigner" who is suffocating under the weight of the heavy fabric she must inhabit, the small lot she is allowed in life. Cannot wait to leave the desert.
Tamr: desires to open her own store and must risk infuriating her family and shaming her male relations.
Suzanne: a voluptuous American woman who is thrilled to live in the desert, as she stands out and can command respect wit...more
Feb 02, 2008
Renee
rated it
1 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
people who like angsty "women's stories"
Good concept: poor execution.
Four disparate Middle Eastren women -- who know or know of each other -- tell their stories about women's lives in a fundamentalist male-dominated society. Each woman's story adds another POV to what's going on with all the other characters.
I thought it would be an interesting approach to first-person narrative. The idea, I assume, was to give the reader a view of each character from internal and external POVs. Unfortunately, the writer failed to deliver. The narra...more
Four disparate Middle Eastren women -- who know or know of each other -- tell their stories about women's lives in a fundamentalist male-dominated society. Each woman's story adds another POV to what's going on with all the other characters.
I thought it would be an interesting approach to first-person narrative. The idea, I assume, was to give the reader a view of each character from internal and external POVs. Unfortunately, the writer failed to deliver. The narra...more
Jan 12, 2010
Audra (Unabridged Chick)
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Shelves:
womens-writing,
place-middle-east
Set in an unnamed country in the Mid East, this novel follows the lives of four women: Suha, Nur, Suzanne, and Tamr. Each woman is affected by the conservative Muslim culture they live in, but react in four distinctly different ways. Suha--Lebanese born and educated--chafes at the restrictions she faces and acts out by entering into a dangerous sexual relationship with Nur. Wealthy and pampered Nur uses sex to break up the boredom of her life as does American Suzanne. Unsurprising, both women do...more
I was disappointed in this book. I had hoped for a glimpse into middle east culture but instead found the book too generic. Some references to general life in some middle east country (never named) and characters who mostly seemed to whine about their lot in life. It did cause quite a lot of discussion in our book group though, mostly trying to decide which character was the most annoying. I might have been less critical if I had not had such high hopes going into it.
l must admit l expected a lot more from this book, especially after reading reviews on the cover when l was buying it..
it's composed in an interesting way, divided into 4 parts, each telling a story of one woman, while all four are connected in some way..
the writing style didn't impress me one bit though, and sometimes l struggled with following the story since it jumps from past to present without giving a clear impression of the time..
it's composed in an interesting way, divided into 4 parts, each telling a story of one woman, while all four are connected in some way..
the writing style didn't impress me one bit though, and sometimes l struggled with following the story since it jumps from past to present without giving a clear impression of the time..
I would have given this book three stars - two of the women profiled in this book were quite interesting. Both of them were the women native to the unnamed country (Yeman? Saudi?). But I had to bump it to two stars because of the two expat women - one was American and the other from Lebanon. I had a hard time feeling very empathetic to either of them. The American was just flat out crazy and the Lebanese women was a bit irritating. But the stories of the other two women were interesting.
حنان لم تحدد ولكن وضحت وقصدت الرياض فالخياط الذي يخدمك من خلال شباك والكمب الذي يمكنك من اخذ الحرية لما هو ممنوع وغيره من التلميحات الصحراوية التي لم تذكر البحر كان مقصده نجد وتحديدا مدينة الرياض ...وهي ليست رواية بقدر ماهي مذكرات عاشتها مغتربة لم تالف الحياة في مدن ملحية قكان لها وقع خاص بغض النظر عن تقدير صحته من خطاه...الراوية لها اسلوب جميل يشد والرواية سبقت غيرها من فترة من خلال طرح موضوع المثلية الجنسية وتركيباتها وتاثيراتها على المجتمع والمسبب لها...جبدة
I was really disappointed with the characters in the four perspectives. The synopsis of the book advertises it as a look at modern life for women in the desert world, but the situations were so specific and the women themselves so shallow that the fiction lost any credibility. I understand that fiction means not real, but it's misleading to say this novel is a look into how it really is in the Middle East. The restriction of freedoms for women was only hinted at - the author focused more on mate...more
Jul 12, 2007
Hafsa
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
those interested in women and gender in the middle east
I loved Hanan al-Shaykh's book, The Story of Zahra, so thought that this would be excellent as well. Unfortunately, it did not meet my expectations.
The book centers around the lives of four ex pat women living in an "unnamed" Gulf country. The women all come from wealthy backgrounds and are able to enjoy the material luxuries of living in an oil-state, but they're unable to exercise their freedom and have very limited agency.
I didn't think this book would fit into the category of "the secret li...more
The book centers around the lives of four ex pat women living in an "unnamed" Gulf country. The women all come from wealthy backgrounds and are able to enjoy the material luxuries of living in an oil-state, but they're unable to exercise their freedom and have very limited agency.
I didn't think this book would fit into the category of "the secret li...more
I just finished this book-- It took me a month to read, but Ithink that's becasue I really let this book penetrate my sensibilities, impressions, biases and feminisms. This is the second book I've read by the author and had it been the first, I dont think i would have appreciated Beirut Blues as much. This book is not so subtle. The characters are fierce. The writing poetic and personal. I assume someone would make a film out of it, and that would be a terrible thing. As each woman has a section...more
Was disappointed. The author conveyed the clastrophobic atmosphere of being a woman in an Islamic country rather well but I just didn't like the characters. I understand how stunted their lives were and how that molded their personalities, but it went on and on and on.
I expected to really love this book that gives a glimpse into the lives of Arab women in an unidentified, repressive country. I didn't finish it because although I empathized with their plight living behind closed doors, I didn't really connect with the characters.
I found the most interesting part of this book to be the section narrated by the American woman, Suzanne. As an American reader, I feel like I have ample opportunity to read American author's takes on foreign characters, but less so the other way around.
Started off very promising. Seemed to be the good beginnings of well drawn characters and a decent enough plot Howe er the writing was at times so confusing I just didn't understand what point in time the author was talking about. Disappointing.
Really intresting to read the thoughts and feelings as well as the daily life of what it may be like to live in a land so different from what we're used to, the story line was great and I really was invested in the women's lives.
Brilliant. An insightful and respectful examination of the hidden lives of a population still vastly misunderstood in the West. Beautiful prose and haunting atmosphere throughout.
Nov 12, 2009
Tomie
added it
This book certainly offers a peek into the lives of women living in the Middle East. I wonder how much of it can be applied to the lives of all Muslim women.
Stories of four women in "an unnamed desert state" in the Middle East, two of which I found fascinating, two about unsympathetic characters.
Jun 27, 2011
Ravie
added it
Interesting stories interwoven in 4 different parts. The writing was difficult to follow, but the story opened my eyes about women living in Lebanon.
A bit too postmodern for my taste. Perhaps it's the translation from Arabic, but I found this one plodding and overwrought.
A sumptuous feast of the senses. You must read with dates, honey and rose-petal tea at hand.
سلبيات سلبيات سلبيات ..و لا ايجابية واحدة ذكرتها!
The cover of this book had a blurb that said it was reminiscent of the Handmaid's Tale. Perhaps that was true when the book was first published, but since that time we have learned a lot more about the plight of women in Islamic countries and I didn't feel Women of Sand and Myrrh provided a new angle. I found Suha's story, the first (and longest) vignette, not very compelling and hard to plow through. I would recommend A Thousand Splendid Suns if you are looking for a more personal story about t...more
Unnamed Arab country, living conditions for women. Other books are better.
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Hanan Al-Shaykh (Arabic: حنان الشيخ) is a Lebanese journalist, novelist, short-story writer, and playwright.
Al-Shaykh was born into a conservative Shia' Muslim family. She received her primary education in Beirut, and later she attended the American College for Girls in Cairo.
Al-Shaykh began her journalism career in Egypt before returning to Lebanon. She has also lived in Saudi Arabia and is curr...more
More about Hanan Al-Shaykh...
Al-Shaykh was born into a conservative Shia' Muslim family. She received her primary education in Beirut, and later she attended the American College for Girls in Cairo.
Al-Shaykh began her journalism career in Egypt before returning to Lebanon. She has also lived in Saudi Arabia and is curr...more
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