Middle East/North African Lit discussion

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..."

Hi Ardene,

I haven't heard about the book before, or anything about the author, but I can wager a bet (judging from the book's description here on GR) that this work is a polemic rather than a historical survey of the Ottoman era.
Personally, I'd hesitate to read it unless I was already familiar with the historical background, in order to be able to better navigate through his arguments.
I fear he's making an over-generalization (connecting the Ottoman era to 9/11, according to the GR description), such as someone might make about "Shinto Imperialism" to discuss Japan's forays into mainland Asia & the Pacific, and then the bombing of Pearl Harbor, or using "Catholic Imperialism" for a book on the Fourth Crusade and the pillaging of Constantinople.

Thank you okyrhoe for the feed back !

I will post a copy of your post in Readings in the history of the middle east that I am trying to gather related posts in one place .

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 ..."

Speaking of "Escape from Slavery: The True Story of My Ten Years in Captivity and My Journey to Freedom in America" , I didn't read any books regarding this conflict . I was thinking of starting by reading for Francis Deng , did anyone read War of Visions: Conflict of Identities in the Sudan ? or did anyone read about John Garang , I found John Garang: And the Vision of New Sudan any one heard of it ? , also The Root Causes of Sudan's Civil Wars ?

-For Desert Queen: The Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell: Adventurer, Adviser to Kings, Ally of Lawrence of Arabia , I haven't finish A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East yet but reading about Gertrude Bell seems interesting .

Nile, I would love to hear your feedback about 'A Peace to End All Peace:...'.

I'd like very much to read this period of history, but also I would like to make sure that the author is well trusted for that. Writing history is very much affected by the author's/historian's opinion, and the history of the Ottoman Empire especifically is controversial..

Aya wrote: "Nile, I would love to hear your feedback about 'A Peace to End All Peace:...'.

I'd like very much to read this period of history, but also I would like to make sure that the author is well trusted..."

I finished more than half of it, it is very interesting, but it needs concentration and that was the problem. Hope to be able to finish it soon.

I think you may find this link useful:
http://www.diwanalarab.com/spip.php?a...


it made me want to read more about this period of history , I totally agree with you about the history of the Ottoman Empire specially her fall .

Nile daughter wrote: "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 Franc..."

Desert Queen ranks up there with one of my all time favorite reads. What a fascinating life and story. I have A Peace to End All Peace, but haven't delved into it yet

Has anyone here read any books by Kader Abdolah? I've read a few of his books in Dutch, but they've been translated into English as well. My favourites are The House of the Mosque and My Father's Notebook: A Novel of Iran. I really love his poetic style of writing, but I haven't read any of his books in English so I don't know how well his style seeps through in translation.

Philippa wrote: "Has anyone here read any books by Kader Abdolah? I've read a few of his books in Dutch, but they've been translated into English as well. My favourites are The House of the Mosque and My Father's N..."

I remember adding "The house of the mosque" to the bookshelves here before (can't remember the occasion!)
Thanks for bringing them up .

Regina wrote: "Desert Queen ranks up there with one of my all time favorite reads. What a fascinating life and story. I have A Peace to End All Peace, but haven't delved into it yet e..."

when you ever start reading "A Peace to End All Peace" , you are welcome to join its discussion .

Regina wrote: "Desert Queen ranks up there with one of my all time favorite reads. What a fascinating life and story. I have A Peace to End All Peace, but haven't delved into it yet "

Desert Queen is one of my favourites as well! Gertrude Bell's life is so fascinating and intriguing. I absolutely adored reading it and I'm looking into more books that have been written about her life. Can you recommend any good ones?

Adding Kader Abdoleh to my list of authors to be read.

Ardene wrote: "Adding Kader Abdoleh to my list of authors to be read."

I hope you'll enjoy reading his books Ardene! He's definitely one of my favourite authors :)

Okyrhoe - thanks for your comment on Islamic Imperialism - I suspect you're correct. I started the book, but somewhere in the first or second chapter he used "Iraqi" to describe people in the 7th century (I assume people from the region we know as the country of Iraq.)Since I know Iraq wasn't a country in the 7th century, I stopped reading.

Philippa wrote: "Regina wrote: "Desert Queen ranks up there with one of my all time favorite reads. What a fascinating life and story. I have A Peace to End All Peace, but haven't delved into it yet "

Desert Queen..."

This is the only book I've read on her, but would love to read more. If I find any good ones I will let you know. Do the same for me please:)

Nile daughter wrote: "Regina wrote: "Desert Queen ranks up there with one of my all time favorite reads. What a fascinating life and story. I have A Peace to End All Peace, but haven't delved into it yet e..."

when you..."

Thank you!

Regina wrote: "Philippa wrote: "Regina wrote: "Desert Queen ranks up there with one of my all time favorite reads. What a fascinating life and story. I have A Peace to End All Peace, but haven't delved into it ye..."

Thanks! And I definitely will :)

I just read such an inspiring book in just a few hours which made me sad it was so short. THE RED SILK ROBE by Julia Cynthia Kent is an amazing true story of an English woman who finds her true love in Beirut, loses him tragically, and fights to protect and escape with her two young children. I had to recommend it. It being such a love story its perfect for Valentine's day. You can get it on Amazon. It inspire me to know that if she could do that, I can face anything life hits me and I am recuperating from a neear eath car accident so it was perfect timing to not give up.

Wow! Thank you, Crystal, for letting us know about it. Another really nice and short love story for Valentine season inspiration is The Story of Layla and Majnun. It's legendary and foundational for many cultures (Arab, Persian, and neighboring societies). I highly recommend this edition: The Story of Layla and Majnun

Thanks Melanie! Its always nice to get in the mood for love with or without a holiday coming up!!!!

Let us know if you end up reading it some day :)

I will if I can get it in Mexico...sometimes its a challenge

One of my favourite books, a modern, moving short novel based in the deserts of Iran, seeped in Persian history:



Thoroughly recommend!

Philippa (eat, read, explore) wrote: "Has anyone here read any books by Kader Abdolah? I've read a few of his books in Dutch, but they've been translated into English as well. My favourites are The House of the Mosque and My Father's N..."

I have his books in Dutch. I've put them on my e-reader to be read this year but I haven't gotten to them yet.

I finished this week 2 of Betty Mahmoody's books. She's the woman of the movie "Not without my daughter".

This year I also have read following books that some of you might like:

- Ayad Akhtar - American Dervish
- Ghada Abdel Aal - Ayza atgawaz (forgot the English title)
- Anita Amirrezvani - Blood of Flowers
- Halima Bashir - Tears of the Desert
- Hafisa Naji - Sweetness of Tears
- Nujood Ali - I am Nujood, 10 years and divorced.

I've enjoyed every single one of them.

BTW did you hear that Khaled Hosseini's new book is coming out in May? I can't wait!

I forgot to mention one book:
Origins by Diana Abu Jaber.
Last year I've read "The Language of Baklava" by her, because I thought I should read at least one Jordanian author. I didn't dislike it but I find it average. Origins is a great fictional book though!

James wrote: "One of my favourite books, a modern, moving short novel based in the deserts of Iran, seeped in Persian history:



Thoroughly recommend!"

Thanks James, it looks very interesting! Definitely on my to-read list (which seems to get longer and longer by minute!!)

Reading a book called which I am finding very interesting and the writing is wonderful.

Thanks all , I will come back and get the group bookshelves richer :)

I just finished A House in the Sky and want to give it my hightest recommendation. It's the amazing and true story of Amanda Lindhout who was kidnapped and held for over a year in Somalia. I couldn't put it down.

Happy reading all!

Looking for a non-fiction work. I just completed The Pearl That Broke Its shell by Nadia Hashimi. There was some interesting information about King Amanulah Khan and Queen Soraya. I've been unable to locate any non-fiction work on them. Does anyone know of a non-fiction piece on them?

Regina wrote: "Looking for a non-fiction work. I just completed The Pearl That Broke Its shell by Nadia Hashimi. There was some interesting information about King Amanulah Khan and Queen Soraya. I've been unab..."

Sorry....I should have noted they were king and queen in Afghanistan.

No, I don't know of a non-fiction work on the monarchy of Afghanistan. There is information online, especially in the Encyclopaedia Iranica.

Marnie, thank you. I've read through quite a bit of the information on line. I was hoping for more information . Thanjs

Does William Dalrymple's Return of a King include the couple you are interested in? I cant remember - but WD book is great non-fiction info on Afghanistan. Great background, even if it doesnt extend that recently.

Thanks! I will take a look

This is a new topic for me , Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan seems interesting . a friend of mine recommended City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi for the same author before ...it seems I need to read for him at some point.

Thanks for the recommendation!

City of Djinns is quite different - and a great great read! Try it, you'll surely like it!

Take a look at Tehran Moonlight by Azin Sametipour, given a starred review by Publishers Weekly! A compelling novel set in the streets of contemporary Tehran, Iran. Happy reading!

I’ve followed your reading recommendations for a little while now, but haven’t participated in any discussions (yet). Since you all seem to know quite a lot of authors from the Middle East, I have a question for you. I’m learning Arabic and have run into the same problem I had when I started learning French: that I don’t know any authors who write in Arabic for children or young adults. I have a handful of children/YA books written in English that I’ve found Arabic translations for, and a bilingual collection of folk tales, but that’s all so far. I probably don’t want to attempt the North African dialects for now, but I’d be very interested in authors from Egypt, Iraq, the Levant, or the Arabian Peninsula who write for kids. I know I won’t be able to access them all in Canada, but I have had some success with Egyptian booksellers on Ebay, so I’d love suggestions. Thanks!

Nicole, do you want books in Arabic? And you want them to help you learn Arabic? If that is the case, then you might want to reconsider because books for children in Arabic are not usually easy to read! Unfortunately the vocabulary and style can be far more advanced in children's books than they are in newspaper columns or in short stories or novels. That said, I'm a fan of YA fiction in general (in multiple languages) and I also specialize in Arabic literature. If you want to read a book with a group, we could read something together and invite anyone else to join us. If you want to read alone, then here are some ideas for you (although I have no idea what your reading level is):
Faten فاتن (available in both Arabic and English translation, beginning intermediate reading level);
أجوان (available in Arabic only, advanced),
التميمة (Arabic only, intermediate-advanced)
حبة هوا... (poetry available in Egyptian Arabic-English parallel translation)
Let us know if you want to read something together...

Melanie wrote: "Nicole, do you want books in Arabic? And you want them to help you learn Arabic? If that is the case, then you might want to reconsider because books for children in Arabic are not usually easy to ..."

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm still very much a beginner for now, but don't mind having 'goal books' that I could read when I get to a more advanced level. Maybe once I get to that higher level of comprehension I'd considered reading a book with a group but for now, I think I'll putter away by myself. I'm a spectacularly slow reader in Arabic at the moment. Thanks again.

I wanted to add some links :)

A list of some Arabic books for kids if you want to check them at some point :

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

From this website you can buy Arabic eBooks ,I am not sure how it is working abroad (out of Egypt ) but you can check:

https://kotobi.com/shop/ar/


Also here is a link to our Arabic section in case you didn't notice .

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...

I had looked around your past threads but had missed the Arabic section somehow. Thanks very much for all this!

I've read and highly recommend anything by N. Mahfouz. The writing is absolute genius.

If you're looking for something more fantasy, I'd recommend The Ankhs: Red Marks The Child by A. Awaad. I enjoy a lot of her work both written and artistic.

Hi, I hope that I am posting to the right place.
I am looking for recommendation on novels that take place in contemporary Dubai (and are availabile in English). I've never read anything from this area so I have no clue how to make my way through. My main motivation is to learn more about the city and get a taste of the life before travelling there. Any tips will be highly appreciated. Thank you:)

Lyn wrote: "Hi, I hope that I am posting to the right place.
I am looking for recommendation on novels that take place in contemporary Dubai (and are availabile in English). I've never read anything from this..."

Welcome Lyn :)
This is a difficult task for me , hope others can help , but here are the books I know even though they may not be exactly what you want :

The Sand Fish: A Novel from Dubai
From Rags to Riches: A Story of Abu Dhabi

Thank you! I think I will try the Sand Fish :)

-My Father's Paradise: A Son's Search for His Jewish Past in Kurdish Iraq by Ariel Sabar
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...

-The Dove Flyer by Eli Amir
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

- Yasmine by Eli Amir
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

I hear great things about Youssef Rakha, work described as "sheer brilliance", anyone up for a group read of one of his books?

A CONVERSATION WITH YOUSSEF RAKHA

http://www.musicandliterature.org/fea...

JOE LINKER: NOTES ON YOUSSEF RAKHA’S “THE CROCODILES”

http://yrakha.com/2015/08/07/joe-link...