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Mar 14, 2008

Aeisele rated it:

This is an interesting book, if just because Edward Said became such a towering figure in the postcolonialist academic world. His family - which was Christian (his mother in fact was a Baptist from Nazereth, his father an Anglican from Jerusalem who became an American citizen when he volunteer for the American Expeditionary Force during WWI), from Palastine, while he grew up between Cairo, Jerusalem, and Lebanon. Of course, after 1948 his family never went back to Palastine, while he went to the More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 30, 2009

Salma rated it:

لغة الكتاب قوية جدا مثل كتابه الاستشراق و دقيقة و طافحة بالمشاعر و غنية مع اختلاف بين الكتابين طبعا في مستوى التعقيد و المعالجة لاختلاف الموضوع...
لو أن شخصا آخر هو من كتب عن حياة إدوارد لكتب عن حياة مترفة و سعيدة و سهلة... بيد أن الكاتب هو إدوارد نفسه و كان يرينا العالم بعينيه هو، بعيني شخص مفرط الحساسية، فبدا عالمه متعبا و ثقيلا... More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 23, 2011

Dania rated it:

إدوارد سعيد
شخصية مليئة بالمعاني
تأثرت بها بصورة ملحوظة

تفاعلت مع مذكراته الدقيقة و الملئية بالتفاصيل بسبب تأثري بفكره قبلا

تروي مذكراته حياته في طفولته مبينا فيها تفاصيل دقيقة
و أكثر ما برز فيها قضية الهوية و الشعور بالانتماء الذي افتقده لأسباب كثيرة كالجنسية و التنقلات الكثيرة في حياته من بيئة إلى أخرى و من مجتمع إلى غيره

صاحب حس مرهف، يظهر من اهتمامه البالغ في الموسيقى ء
و تمتعه بحس عال في تذوقها و انتقاء الموسيقيين المفضلين لديه
More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 09, 2011

Clif rated it:

If only everyone had the parents they deserve! It's an unfortunate fact of life that the physical requirements to produce offspring have very little to do with the ability to raise a child to be a self assured, responsible and socially productive adult. There are plenty of psychological children in adult bodies who are overseeing the development of children.

Perhaps our expectations of child rearing are way beyond what nature intended - that small two footed animals unable to protect th More...

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Jun 27, 2008

G rated it:

Said was a spectre over much of my college education (and probably a lot of other lit majors too) and thus this memoir is far more conversational in tone than I would have expected. It's sort of like listening to a older relative tell his life story, and it's also interesting for its understand perspective on conflicts in the Middle East in the mid-20th century (esp. regarding the formation of Israel). I imagine it would be a good companion to Andre Aciman's Out of Egypt...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jul 30, 2011

Sam added it

Not extremely interesting. Not too bad though. I found myself going back and forth between two emotions.

First, I would find myself frustrated with Said's whining about all that made him the person he became. He seems to dwell on every single thing that could possibly affect a person, and comes off as super-sensitive. This was the frustrating part.

Then, I would find myself sympathizing with Said, given the treatment of his parents throughout much of his life. I wonder how much of an impact they More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 26, 2011

Shaherzad rated it:

I wish I could give a good review of this book because I like Edward Said's work a lot and his prose was absolutely beautiful. But it was a matter of content. This book is all about his childhood and toward the very, very end when he starts to introduce us to someone other than his mother he shies away and gives us brief, impersonal summaries - for example, his only comment regarding his first wife is that they were married and then divorced quickly, almost as though he feels required to mention More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 14, 2012

أسامة rated it:

منذ الصفحات الأولى بدا ملمحان في شخصية ادوارد سعيد .. ملمحان بارزان , ويشبهانني جدا , لدرجة شعرت أن هذا الكتاب يمكن ان يقدم تصورا عني , وكيف سيتحرك هذان الخطان عبر وجودي .. الملمح الأول : هو تلك الهشاشة الطفولية , القلق المريب , شكه المستمر في نفسه وفي تهاوي العلاقات حوله .. واخص مرحلة الطفولة بذلك .. والملمح الثاني : هو تناقض الهوية الصارخ بين (ادوارد ) الاسم الذي ينتمي إلى عالم غير (سعيد ) .. الشرق والغرب , اللهجات المتضاربة داخله .. وبقي هذا الملمحان حاضرين على امتداد سيرته .. وإلى عباراته ال More...

1 comment like

Sep 03, 2010

Ed rated it:

The comment conversation below sheds some light on my low rating. I would really much rather read his political, social and historical analysis and literary criticism than these rather limp and self-pitying memoirs. And forgive me for deriding an otherwise eloquent terminal cancer patient for self-pity. But's it's not the cancer that is the source of his moping. Nor is it principally his feelings of dislocation related to being from a place that doesn't exist anymore, though when he discusse More...

3 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 02, 2010

Fatema rated it:

إلى أي حد تأخرتُ في قراءة هذا الكتاب الجميل؟ هذا هو الانطباع الأول الذي خرجتُ به بعد رحلة 360 صفحة، وهو انطباع امتزج بالإعجاب والتأثر ومشاعر الامتنان للكاتب على فرصة "القراءة اللذيذة". وجدت في الكتاب أكثر من عنصرٍ "جاذب" ويمكنني الإشارة بشكل سريع إلى
- الإمكانات السردية لـ سعيد التي بقدر ما أذهلتني بقدر ما تأسفت أنها لن تتكرر أبدا في منتج آخر
- الإشارات الذكية واللماحة للأوضاع السياسية وبشكل "مدسوس" بين السطور، وعلى الرغم من الاهتمامات السياسية الواضحة More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 09, 2008

Ali rated it:

In some ways, this book was eerily relevant to my experiences growing up as an Arab-American, and in others it was completely opposite. He is one of the smartest people I've ever read, and as a result his thoughts seem to run around almost incoherently until all of a sudden they come together and make sense.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 27, 2008

Alexandra rated it:

This book was a disappointment. It was very introspective and contained a lot of minutia about Said's childhood (who his favorite composers were, etc.). I had hoped for more on Palestine and Said's personal connection to historical moments in the Middle East.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 16, 2007

Helen added it

Fascinating autobiography of Palestinian refugee who grew up to be a controversial scholar at Columbia. Worst mother ever!

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 03, 2010

Mashael rated it:

سيرة المفكر أدوارد سعيد يرويها في أغلب الفترات الطفل داخله الذي كان يقتعد كرسيّاً ” خارج المكان ” تحديداً و يسير بطريقة آلية خلف توجيهات القائد\والده ,, أستطاع أن يوصل للقارئ معنى أن يكون الإنسان فلسطيني مشرد بين عواصم ومدن العالم حتى لو كان يعيش حياة ” ترف ” أو خارج حدود الحاجة , ماذا تعني فلسطين لمواطنيها الخارجين منها الذين يعيشون حولها تشكل في حياتهم القدس رمزاً و مركز الدائرة التي يدورون حولها بحجم قطر إبتعداهم غير قادرين على اللإقتراب منها , القدس اللغز والسر الذي يعيش مطمئناً داخل قلب ” إ More...

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May 26, 2008

Ivan rated it:

Edward Said emphasized his private journal about the experience on a 'lost world': A world called 'forgotten' childhood. Feeling stranded, left behind, and 'unfitted' wherever he was, Said tried hard to reveal his other identity; not the 'Edward' created by his father, with all the strict rules put upon him; nor the 'Said' created by America when he was pursuing his academic title there. He wanted to be himself, not the inferior, weak, and timid artificial creature.

Out of Place is a More...

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Feb 28, 2010

Hafsa rated it:

Initially, Edward Said's memoir was a bit slow-moving. I guess I expected him to speed through the major events in his life up until the time he started writing it--but he focused mainly on his childhood and school days. It's fascinating to me that he still remembered such marked details--names of teachers, other students, etc.

His narrative jumped around a bit and was repetitive at times, but just reading about his life, his thoughts, his analysis on his relationship with his family More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 03, 2009

Libby rated it:

Insightful book; a bit rambling at times. Living and working in an international school in a Muslim country, I kept relating Said's experiences to those of our students. (By the way, our students can and in fact are encouraged to speak their native languages on the playground - not just English!) He captured the deep emotions and intertwined relationships that seem to characterize a lot of the families I've known in this part of the world.

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Mar 01, 2009

Ayu marked it as to-read

I bought this otobiography a couple of years ago when I had no idea about Edward Said. So the book was kinda abandoned. But after knowing Said's sensational book, Orientalism, I decided to read it again. Yet I could not find it. It was somewhere in my bookshelf (my bookshelf is like a forest you need to roam. It was messy hahaha). Yesterday I found it again though. So will read it soon!

4 comments like

Mar 15, 2011

Amina rated it:

I read it in french. What I liked the most are Said's depth, auto-critique, transparency and admirable style of writing. I identified myself very much with his feeling of being "out of place", although I fortunately don't experience it as frequently as he used to do ;)

It however sometimes goes to details that the reader is not necessarily interested in, yet these details make the biography more intimate and impress the reader by Said's memory about minute things that happened to him de More...

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May 19, 2010

Marwan added it

A book to remember and a personal, emotional reflection of Edward Said as he grew up in Jerusalem, was forced to Egypt and then migrated to the United States to continue his study, gaining his Phd and then joining the force of academia as a English professor and deeply respected intellectual. An activist with a cause his was an intellectual and political fight for the Palestinian concept.

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Nov 30, 2008

Lindsey rated it:

Fantastic book. Whiel I read it two years ago, I remember that i felt it applied to me even as I was not one with so-called "identity issues", who has fairly clear roots, whose family has lived in the same place and are of very similar backgrounds, but it could be applied to various changes in identity or conflicting identities beyond ethnic, religious, race political or geographic.

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Apr 06, 2011

Sahar rated it:

Loquacious Said is a delight to read. Although the book's topics are very heavy and at times hard to get through, it is evident why he emerged to be one of the greatest sociologists the world has yet to see. A remarkable read and I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone who admired the man and was curious about his upbringing.

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Dec 11, 2009

Jakes rated it:

My favorite of Said's books so afr. For once he doesn't intellectualize, grandstand or pontificate; the story of his family and education is absorbing and informative, but never mere light hearted fun. He makes profound comments on what it's like to raised in an exceptional Middle Eastern family and educated in the "best" schools.

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Feb 12, 2009

rina added it

Ini adalah buku Biografinya Edward Said. Seorang cendekiawan Palestina.
Dengan membacanya saya jadi tahu dan mengerti, kenapa rakyat Palestina tidak rela setiap jengkal tanahnya di ambil Israel. Negara-tanah air, layaknya sebuah rumah. Tempat kembali dan merajut mimpi masa depan.

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Aug 25, 2009

Zainab rated it:

Said has succeeded in capturing the ups and downs of his life in way that enables his reader to connect with him on many level. As an arab-american, I think this book is a must read for all people who have different cultural backgrounds and those who want to know who is Edward Said. Brilliant book.

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Aug 18, 2009

Suzanne rated it:

I have been reading this off and on for several weeks as my interest ebbs and flows. It's a memoir of Edward Said, the scholar. I really want to finish this and know his story but it is very very dry in spots.

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Mar 14, 2008

Librarian rated it:

This damn thing made me emotional. I would read a few pages, well up, and put it down. Rinse and repeat. Over and over. If you're a "transcultural" person with a recent migratory family history, this book captures the emotions and psychological aspects of that experience so well it gets you in your gut. It does such a great job of expressing what it is to be a part of more than one culture- feelings of lonliness at never being wholly part of something, feelings of loss as you grow More...

1 comment like

Sep 28, 2011

Lori rated it:

Frankly, there was a lot of TMI in this book, which I wasn't really expecting. I guess i was more interested in his political influences. His later books will probably be more interesting for me.

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Dec 30, 2009

Lina Aude rated it:

سيرة ذاتية سلسة و سهلة و عميقة ،يتدرج ادوارد في وصف تفاصيل رحلة حياته وغربته، سيرة تعبر بصيغة ما عن حالة كل مغترب عن وطنه و عن بلده و عن كل شيء يحبه
وصفه للغربة و بعده عن بيته رغم إقامة دامت سبعة و ثلاثين عاما في نيويورك
أحاسيسه التي كان يحملها حين قدومه
غربته التي كانت مغامرة كبيرة منه
ادوارد سعيد الذي كان دائما
" ليس في مكانه"
وضع صورة الغربة خارج الإطار تماماً

More...

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Dec 09, 2009

Saleem rated it:

I didnt finish it that is true but a wonderful book with a lot of story telling elements that is entertaining and informing.

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