Woman At Point Zero in Reading 1001

Mar 08, 2020 John Dishwasher rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: theme-authenticity-selftruth, short-novels, non-western, theme-society-as-oppressive, theme-extreme-circumstancese, theme-hypocrisy, theme-narratively-distinct, theme-alienation, theme-hero-defined, theme-arbitrariness-of-morals

All of us are prostitutes. We take money for doing things we don’t really want to do to please society. A vanishingly small number of us have the courage of the protagonist of this novel: To face this ugly fact head-on, and find a way to use that very ugliness to free ourselves of our slavery.

This book flays away the self-delusion of society. Through the life of a young Egyptian woman born into poverty it exposes the hypocrisies and oppressions that surround humans constantly. Since this work c ...more

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Jul 23, 2022 Marie Chiarizia rated it really liked it · review of another edition

“ I only arrived at the savage, primitive truths of life after years of struggle. For it is only very rarely that people can arrive at the simple, but awesome and powerful truths of life after only a few years. And to have arrived at the truth means that one no longer fears death. For death and truth are similar in that they both require a great courage if one wishes to face them. And truth is like death in that it kills. When I killed I did it with truth not with a knife”

Stunning writing, such ...more

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Mar 08, 2021 Sammi rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classic-literature, boxalls-1001-books-list

3.5

“They said, “You are a savage and dangerous woman.”
I am speaking the truth. And the truth is savage and dangerous.”

While I rate it 3.5 I'm feeling a little bad because it's really good and probably deserves a higher rating but I'm still feeling compelled to keep it at 3.5

Translated fiction - Arabic: Egypt. Read for Boxall's 1001 books to read before you die list.

This story follows Firdaus a peasant woman, who after a series of unfortunate events, ends up as a prostitute. She is telling her t ...more

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Jun 21, 2016 Kaycie rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: 1001_read

The two stars is for the stark portrayal of women in Egyptian culture. The prose, however, was poor and amateurish at best, the characters were mere shadows, and the whole book seemed like an unending rant against men. Yes, I can see how this life is hard and how it would be impossible to be a woman in this life, but a better written story would pack a much greater punch.

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