Middle East/North African Lit discussion

Thanks Jennifer and Kit ....hmmm, solar ovens , nice , I think I may check that :)

BTW , Don't worry Jennifer , you can find so many Arab authors in the bookshelves :D

Hi everyone, I've seen some great book recommendations here which I'll definitely add to my "to-read" list.
I've got some more books here which I haven't seen discussed in this topic yet, and which I can definitely recommend!

The Night of the Mi'raj
City of Veils
Born Under a Million Shadows
The Sultan's Seal
The Septembers of Shiraz
Jerusalem 1913: The Origins of the Arab-Israeli Conflict
Reading Lolita in Tehran
Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy, and the West
The House of the Mosque
The Consequences of Love

Than ugreat books

Philippa wrote: "Hi everyone, I've seen some great book recommendations here which I'll definitely add to my "to-read" list.
I've got some more books here which I haven't seen discussed in this topic yet, and which..."

Thanks , I will add them to the bookshelves :)

An FYI for readers, just was at Amazon and they have 100 Kindle books for $3.99 or less til 9/30. Among them I saw The Lemon Tree and Agaat. This might be helpful for any Kindle users who are considering reading either of these books.

Thanks Sue ...

I found out after that this is only for U.S. Amazon. Sorry to everyone else. Don't know why they have different sales, etc. for different markets. Must be something to do with copyright law or something.

Sue wrote: "I found out after that this is only for U.S. Amazon. Sorry to everyone else. Don't know why they have different sales, etc. for different markets. Must be something to do with copyright law or some..."

Yes , it is a problem , but I guess after kindle is becoming more popular outside USA , things may get easier .

I hope so for you and many others.

My book recommendation on my blog this week is Robin Wright "Rock The Casbah." Given to reflections on the Arab world, this was a book I had seen around for a while, but it wasn't until it really came to my attention while watching T.V. and Charlie Rose was interviewing the author Robin Wright on her book "Rock The Casbah," that I felt compelled to recommend it. And I think we have Charlie Rose to thank for bringing out the best in this author with all that is hope and light. She relates so well to what's going on in the Arab world, and I can say, I feel it has a wonderful refreshing view point- so spot on. She certainly has her finger on the pulse of the Arab world. She also speaks in simple terms that makes it all so easily understood, where others have failed to give such clarity in their feed back. I believe her book is a great stepping stone towards a clearer understanding, and it just might bring a more open re pore with the Arab world. There are so many nuggets to digest, like, "how it will take the Arabs a while as yet to arrive, and when they do, they will do it their way."


To quote here a sentence from her book,



Two of the men were smoking hubbly-bubbly water pipes, "The jihadis have lost their appeal," reflected Khaled Al Maeena, the editor of the Arab news.
"Every mother in Saudi Arabia or any other Gulf country wants her son or daughter to carry a laptop rather than a rifle or a dagger," he said. "The appeal of death and destruction doesn't carry much significance anymore because the jihadis have failed to provide anything constructive."
The transformation did not happen suddenly.


To read more from the above excerpt, click here to read it on Amazon or download a free sample.
http://www.amazon.com/Rock-the-Casbah...

Why do we need to understand?
We need to feel comforted by the positive side to an extent- don't we? With this kind of understanding many might consider taking off their own army boots now. And who better to explain this, than Robin Wright- once you get to know her. Yes, many like myself are just beginning to play catch-up.

http://www.iranian.com/main/2011/oct/...



To know more about Robin or follow her links, please click on the wikipedia link below, or simply click on the guest/view link she had with Charlie Rose on PBS (Public Broadcasting Service).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Wr...


http://www.charlierose.com/guest/view/77

or visit my blog:
http://jacquelinehowett.blogspot.com/

I've been hearing buzz about this book in the last week or so too and just marked added it to my wish list. This group tries to focus more on authors who are native to the countries being written about, so I think technically it is a bit outside the guidelines. That being said, I thought it might be interesting if enough people wanted to read it and discuss it to see how those of us from the U.S. and other Western countries thought about the book -- like did we relate to it more b/c it had a U.S. author than those in our group not from the U.S.? I know that is a question that has been posed on other books we have read. I will check out your blog Jacqueline!

Sorry I did not respond before , some how I lost the notification ! I just checked Rock the Casbah: Rage and Rebellion Across the Islamic World ,I did not hear about it before ;Thanks Jacqueline for sharing . I will check your links :)


Wendy wrote: "like did we relate to it more b/c it had a U.S. author than those in our group not from the U.S.? ..."

On the personal side ,I am still testing this area ,it is complicated for me .

For the group , Sure you can discuss it in the salon , I hope we did not give a very rigid image of our guidelines , native authors have the priority but non-native authors' books are not forbidden to enter here . Remember ; we already discussed The Lemon Tree: An Arab, a Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East and Inside the Kingdom: Kings, Clerics, Modernists, Terrorists, and the Struggle for Saudi Arabia...:)

You relate more to western authors ?

I remeber we talked about Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace ... One School at a Time before ..

So I wanted to add a Pakistani friend review about it ; Here

Also a friend posted this Link

Nile daughter wrote: "
You relate more to western authors ? ."

I've thought about this, being Western myself. I know this was meant for someone else, but I thought I'd chime in and say that for me living in the West, Western authors are more accessible in libraries, bookstores of course, but also online it seems like. You do have to watch for the Israel bias- there is a lot of that. There is not much discussion of Arab authors verbally in my circle :) so I can't get suggestions there.

Also, there is a feeling for me if I can get friends to read a book by a Westerner and say see, I'm not the only one who thinks this way, check this out, I could change some minds. I also feel others not so acquainted with the conflict as to have definitely defined and refined ideas about it may feel like something by an Arab or Israeli is biased and may not read it even though it may be excellent, balanced, factual, etc- so I don't feel so free to recommend them. Or I don't think they will be as likely to read them- I still recommend them ;)

Well Jennifer I do understand ur point and I really agree with u. It is unfortunate that Arabs r not trusted so if u recommend a book written by an Arab to someone how does not have sufficient background on the issue, the book will not really mean much to the reader. They will just assume that the author is either lying or at least exaggerating. I usually recommend some books written by westerners to people with no background on the issue then I give them other choices by Arab readers. It is sad but it is the truth

For me, I will recommend a book if I think it is good and don't really stop to consider how "credible" the person I am recommending the book to would consider the author. I do though think that Jennifer has a point -- it is sometimes easier to get someone to read the book if they perceive that it's written by someon impartial to the situation. I once shared what I thought was an excellent article by Sandy Tolen with someone and they dismissed it out of hand b/c it was published in Al-Jazeera (sp?). Sad that some people are so narrow minded, but it doesn't stop me from trying to get them to at least consider the possibility of another POV.

As for me, in terms of how do I relate to books written by Western vs. non-Western authors -- I don't know that this really enters into my reading experience, at least not consciously. I think if they do a good job telling the story and drawing me in to the book, then it doesn't matter to me. There have been instances though where I have felt that maybe b/c I was reading it in a translated version that it wasn't coming across as well as the book probably did in the author's native language. More often than not though, I think I tend to give more credence to a native author since it would seem they have the benefit of much more first-hand knowledge on the subject.

This Rock the Casbah book has me curious b/c I'm wondering if the reason it is getting so much buzz lately is b/c she is a Western author so we "we" can "trust" her to give us the "real" story. It could be interesting to try to get a reading thread set up if enough people are interested in giving it a try, maybe a few of us might read it and we could sort of read it w/ this issue in mind . . . could make for an interesting discussion.

Wow , Thanks for the feed back , lots of things to think of !

Wendy wrote: "This Rock the Casbah book has me curious b/c I'm wondering if the reason it is getting so much buzz lately is b/c she is a Western author so we "we" can "trust" her to give us the "real" story. It could be interesting to try to get a reading thread set up if enough people are interested in giving it a try, maybe a few of us might read it and we could sort of read it w/ this issue in mind . . . could make for an interesting discussion...."


When you feel you are ready to read it , just open athread for Rock the Casbah: Rage and Rebellion Across the Islamic World, and we can tell others about it and see the reactions...

Wendy wrote: "I once shared what I thought was an excellent article by Sandy Tolen with someone and they dismissed it out of hand b/c it was published in Al-Jazeera (sp?). Sad that some people are so narrow minded, but it doesn't stop me from trying to get them to at least consider the possibility of another POV..."

I thought of you while reading this article about Al Jazeera , so I thought perhaps you will be interested in reading this article or show it to your friends Robert Fisk: Al Jazeera - 15 years in the headlines

True , I am not fond of Al Jazeera all the time , but I can never underestimate her work :)

Thank you Nile Daughter. I will most definitely send a link of the article to my friend who is so dismissive of Al Jazeera as a credible news source. He is pretty stubborn though, so I won't hold my breath waiting for him to concede I might have a point :-)

Hi, i'm new to the group and I have perhaps an odd request, I hope this is the thread for it.

I'm a huge Science Fiction and Fantasy fan, and I was wondering if anyone knew of any Middle Eastern contributions the genre? If someone is aware of a proper aliens and spaceships and such scifi, all the better, but i'd be happy to find more, er, restrained examples as well. Magic realism, historical (or contemporary) fiction with ambiguous supernatural elements, ghost stories, fairy tale re-tellings, etc.

Great thanks for any suggestions, however tangenial.

Welcome Tamara ,

Well I hope others can join with more recommendations , for Magic realism , I think you can check Ibrahim al-Koni books - we read a small novel for him here , also an Iraqi novel The Last of the Angels that you can check its discussion thread . BTW , for the historical fiction ; did you think of reading The Arabian Nights: Tales from a Thousand and One Nights?

Thank you! Last of the Angels in particular sounds wonderful.

I've read bits and pieces from 1001 nights, and obviously its definitely in the fantastical tradition, but its not really a modern fantastic novel, which is what i'm more curious about.

You are welcome :) for our 2012 , I believe there will be a stop for female authors fantasy literature (not sure when) , hope you will interested in that stop .

isn't there a famous Egyptian sci-fi writer who is finally going to be translated into English? we were talking about him at the Africa group...i'll have to go check unless you remember, ND. Also, Tamara, i recently read A Canticle for Leibowitz and wondered if such books existed in an Islamic framework. A friend pointed me to this website: Islam and Science Fiction which seems to be more South Asian than Middle Eastern but still very interesting and exciting (for me).

PS...at that site they have a menu for different languages and i found Arabic Sci-Fi...not sure about translations, but have a look!

The site mentions Nabil Farouk, is that him? (I know i've heard of a well known Egyptian SF writer before, but can't for the life of me find that reference again.)

Marieke - I can think of a couple of SF books set in Islamic/ME regions, with more or less engagement with religeon but they're by Western writers, and as such outside the scope of the group. :-)

(I'll mention them anyway for completionisms sake though...Ian McDonalds The Dervish House comes immediately to mind (and it's very good) and also Jon Courtany Grimwoods Algerian set series, starting with Pashazade but I haven't read those and have heard they're not that great.)

i found the reference in my Africa group! the writer i was thinking of is Ahmed Khaled Tawfiq...but now i can't find him in the "add book/author" link. :(
a friend of mine is very excited for his book "Utopia" to be published in English. is this familiar to anyone?

Marieke , do you mean Utopia? not sure if there is any more translations for Ahmed Khaled Tawfiq or Nabil Farouk .

Nile daughter wrote: "Marieke , do you mean Utopia? not sure if there is any more translations for Ahmed Khaled Tawfiq or Nabil Farouk ."

yes! that one! woo-hoo...now i see i was not spelling his name the way it is on his book.

Thank you! Exactly what I was looking for. Its not very long...I wonder if I can try reading it in Arabic...

Tamara , are you learning Arabic ?

Yes, though it sometimes feels as though with very limited effect :-)

Tamara wrote: "Yes, though it sometimes feels as though with very limited effect :-)"

well, i'll be your comrade! :D

I'm currently reading Maslin's "Iranian Rappers and Persian Porn: A Hitchhiker's Adventures in the New Iran" but because he's British I didn't open a topic in individual reads. The book is so nice and it reads so easily. I've wanted to travel to Iran for a long time and this book really made me decide: I AM GOING. (Well, not like tomorrow, but in the future, for sure). Anyone that read the book?

Hello "um of mind" , I didn't hear of Iranian Rappers and Persian Porn: A Hitchhiker's Adventures in the New Iran before , I will check it ,thanks for the add .

You're most welcome. I've finished it last night! :)

That does look intriguing Sum of Mind. I just added it to my list and hope to get to it soon. They even have a copy at the library :-)

Great. Let me know what you think of it once you start reading it.

Sum Of Mind wrote: "Great. Let me know what you think of it once you start reading it."

I will :-) Looking forward to getting to it!

Hi, everyone.
I would like to inform you that my second book, also written by Samad behrangi, a writer from the Middle East, is now available on Kindle.

"24 Hours Between Dream & Reality" is an intriguing story for all ages, with countless underlying political messages for progressive readers. It focuses on the need for an educational system that would orient children within their own world enabling them to play a useful part to take a lead in solving their problems. It is filled with hope, stamina for life, need for education and awareness; portraying realities of life.
It is also an in-depth study of unemployment and the devastating impact of financial problems in the lives of children.
Samad Behrangi is a writer from Azerbaijan, Iran, whose works have been translated to many languages and is quite well known in the Middle East as his works show a path to freedom, equality and justice. Due to undeniable similarities of the living conditions of the majority of Middle Eastern people, I am positive this will be a great book to read and share.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007XINRWU

I would like to recommend 'The Philosophy of the Desert in Ibrahim al-Koni - The Bleeding of the Stone' by Meinrad. Very interesting. It makes you really think in what the author wanted to mean with his words. Enjoy!

Joanne wrote: "I would like to recommend 'The Philosophy of the Desert in Ibrahim al-Koni - The Bleeding of the Stone' by Meinrad. Very interesting. It makes you really think in what the author wanted to mean wit..."

Welcome Joanne :)

I can't reach the book , can you please provide a link ?

By the way we discussed The Bleeding of the Stone last year , did you check it ?

Nile daughter wrote: "Joanne wrote: "I would like to recommend 'The Philosophy of the Desert in Ibrahim al-Koni - The Bleeding of the Stone' by Meinrad. Very interesting. It makes you really think in what the author wan..."

http://www.faraxapublishing.com/book4...

Hello,
I would like to recommend a book that I finished reading last week and I think it relates to this group being North African by author and subject.

It is "Ce que le jour doit à la nuit" in French or "What the day owes the night". Written by Yasmina Khadra.

The story takes place in Algeria during the last years of colonization.

Furthermore, a movie was made this year (2012) based on the novel and has the same name.

... Very good book

Abderrahmane wrote: "Hello,
I would like to recommend a book that I finished reading last week and I think it relates to this group being North African by author and subject.

It is "Ce que le jour doit à la nuit" in ..."

Thanks , I will add What the Day Owes the Night to the bookshelves .

Abderrahmane wrote: "Hello,
I would like to recommend a book that I finished reading last week and I think it relates to this group being North African by author and subject.

It is "Ce que le jour doit à la nuit" in ..."

Are you in the group Great African Reads? We read a work of contemporary literature each month and that book is in the lead of our poll to become October's selection. If it wins, it would be great to have you in our discussion. :)

There is a small amount of overlap between the two group (I help moderate the Africa group as well).

Is anyone familiar with Islamic Imperialism by Efraim Karsh? Ran across it at work today, pub. 2006 by Yale University Press. I'm looking for something to educte myself on history of Ottoman Empire, following on Peace to end all peace by Fromkin this year.

Khaled Hosseini is the author that sparked my interest. Since then, some of my favorites include:

Swallows of Kabul and The Attack by Yasmina Khadra.

Escape From Slavery by Francis Bok
Cutting For STone by abraham verghese
Bliss by O.Z Livaneli
Snow by Orhan Pamuk
The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani
The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid
The Saffron Kitchen by Yasmin Crowther

I know this group is about authors who originate in the ME, but I'd like to mention a couple of others. Since I'm new I hope that's ok

The Lemon Tree by Sandy Tolan
Desert Queen by Janet Wallach
The Next Founders by Joshua Muravchik
Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts (Event though it is mainly about India there is a bit of time he spent in Afghanistan

I'm trying to keep with the map. I have a host of other Western authors and books that I guess is really Asian. I'm looking forward to finding more books through this group.

Regina wrote: "Khaled Hosseini is the author that sparked my interest. Since then, some of my favorites include:

Swallows of Kabul and The Attack by Yasmina Khadra.

Escape From Slavery by Francis Bok
Cutting ..."

Welcome Regina , thanks for the recommendations , I will add the ones we didn't add before to our bookshelves :)

Keep exploring Group map and hope you will find what interests you .

Ardene wrote: "Is anyone familiar with Islamic Imperialism by Efraim Karsh? Ran across it at work today, pub. 2006 by Yale University Press. I'm looking for something to educte myself on history of Ottoman Empire..."

I didn't hear about the book before , but I am trying to learn more about Ottoman Empire myself , so far I only reached some recommendations in Arabic , if I reach any I will let you know , please do the same :)

BTW , did you hear of The Arabs: A History , it is not particularly about Ottoman Empire , but the issues it covers seems wide , I want to put my hands on that book .