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Middle East/North African Lit discussion
Let us get to know each other :)

Created by Niledaughter, Dec 10, 2010 1125 views
Niledaughter Welcome Ruwa :)
As a group weread the books you mentioned ...Great reads ! :)
hopefully we will read soon for Radwa Ashour , did you check this thread ?
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Bianca Welcome Ruwa!
Amgad Muhammad Hello :o)
I'm puzzled, goodreads should work a little more on their groups
Niledaughter Amgad wrote: "Hello :o)
I'm puzzled, goodreads should work a little more on their groups"

Welcome Amgad :) What is the problem ?
Linda Hi I'm from Ontario Canada and joined to become more aware by reading of other cultures /
Niledaughter Welcome Linda ! :)
Steve Middendorf Over the last 10 years or so, I've had the time to re-educate myself, to undo some of my conditioning. I was born and raised in the US, in the Catholic school system. Thus I was subjected to the two best propaganda machines that the world has ever known. I guess we're all brainwashed, growing up. I wonder how many escape that early conditioning – or if it's even possible. For me, by year 12 I knew that the Catholic Church was all about control, not about God, and certainly not about spirituality. During Vietnam War I realised that my government didn't tell the truth and that there were motivations other than freedom, democracy, or justice. However, it took emigrating to a different country 15 years ago to get a perspective on my upbringing; and it took retirement to have the time to begin to re-educate myself through reading.

On to the subject of Middle East/ North African Literature, I've been interested in the conflict between Islam and the West; or should I say between terrorists and the West; or is it the downtrodden of the mideast and the imperialists of west? It really does take linguistic guidance to avoid narratives that prejudice the conversation. Searching the internet for 'conflict between Islam and Christianity,' I found Fields of Blood: the History of Violence in Religion which traced the history of violence within each of the five major religions. (Hint: it's mankind, not religion.) This book pointed me to the politics affecting the mideast since World War I: the politics of oil. So now, I want to get the other side of that story.

History is good but historical fiction is better. Having been immersed in the internet since its inception, I am enured to opinion masquerading as fact. And regardless of the internet, every country writes and rewrites its own history anyway! I believe that learning is good but learning infused with great emotional experience is seared into the consciousness. To overcome my early programming, I'm only going only get so much from reading footnotes. So I choose to read historical fiction for my re-education on the Middle East. It gives me passion and emotion and humanizing stories for my soul set in a hopefully neutral historical context.

So I bought two books from Amazon, Mornings in Jenin and The Time of White Horses. The latter was my first choice but they didn't have it in Kindle so I have to wait for the post. So I am reading Mornings in Jenin now on my Kindle while I wait for Horses. I look forward to sharing your thoughts on these and other books.
Niledaughter welcome Stevemid , thank you for this generous introduction and I hope you will like it here with us :)

We read and discussed Mornings in Jenin in here :
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

And Time of White Horses in here :
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Feel free to post comments any time :)
Nora Hi everyone,

I live in Canada and I'm excited to hear about more books covering MENA :)
Niledaughter Welcome Niini , I hope you will like it here with us :)
Steve Middendorf Nile daughter wrote: "welcome Stevemid , thank you for this generous introduction and I hope you will like it here with us :)

We read and discussed Mornings in Jenin in here :
https://www.goodreads.com/..."
Thank you for your welcome. I'll be posting to these threads.
deleted user Hello Stevemid, I think we come from the same era and background. I live in the Mideast now and appreciate (I.e. LIke) -darn iPad, many aspects of this culture. I've been reading Arab lit almost exclusively for over 3 years. I have both of the books you just bought. Thought Time of White Horses was beautiful -but put it down without finishing for another. I think I might be the only one in the universe who cannot read Mornings in Jenin. I've tried twice. Anyway, There's a lot of good lit here and too little time.
deleted user Hello Stevemid, I think we come from the same era and background. I live in the Mideast now and appreciate (I.e. LIke) -darn iPad, many aspects of this culture. I've been reading Arab lit almost exclusively for over 3 years. I have both of the books you just bought. Thought Time of White Horses was beautiful -but put it down without finishing for another. I think I might be the only one in the universe who cannot read Mornings in Jenin. I've tried twice. Anyway, There's a lot of good lit here and too little time.
deleted user Sorry about the message duplication -darn iPad
Melanie Stevemid, have you heard of the novel Cities of Salt? I think you might like it. It's a literary exploration of an Arab, Gulf country, and the process of becoming an oil producing country. It's told from the perspective of residents before, during, and after the discovery of oil.
Steve Middendorf Kate wrote: "Hello Stevemid, I think we come from the same era and background. I live in the Mideast now and appreciate (I.e. LIke) -darn iPad, many aspects of this culture. I've been reading Arab lit almost ex..."

Hi Kate,
I too had to push through the first chapter or two of Mornings in Jenin but then I was hooked. I have have the same love hate relationship with the iPad. I have the original version 1 and it just cant keep up anymore. Thank you for the contact; like you I'll be staying with Arabian literature for a while so I'd appreciate any referrals.
Steve Middendorf Melanie wrote: "Stevemid, have you heard of the novel Cities of Salt? I think you might like it. It's a literary exploration of an Arab, Gulf country, and the process of becoming an oil producing count..."

Hi Melanie, Thank you for the referral, I'll put the book in my to-be-read shelf. Thankfully with the help of https://translate.google.com/ I am able to somewhat read the comments of our Arabic writing friends. This books sounds very interesting given the prominence of oil in the geopolitics but seeing it through the cultural impact vs the strategic speak of the think tanks. Thanks again.
Marieke Cities of Salt is such a great book! It's the first of a trilogy but i have yet to read the next book. Melanie, have you read all of them?
Melanie Marieke, I think that it's 5 books in Arabic, and that only the first 3 are translated into English. I have only read the first in any case, but there is another book entirely by the same author that I would like to read some day: Story Of A City: A Childhood In Amman.
Michael O'Brien Greetings, I'm a new arrival here. I joined the group because I'd like to learn more about Middle Eastern cultures, I desire to read more literature from the region, and realize that my previous reading of works from its authors is woefully inadequate. I'm hoping to read more books by Arab and other Middle Easter authors this year, and look to hearing the other members' opinions and reviews on books that they've read!
Steve Middendorf Hi Michael. Welcome from another newcomer.
Niledaughter Welcome Michael ! :)
Niledaughter Welcome Poingu :)
You are right translations sometimes fail to deliver the whole meaning as it should , but since here we discuss books that some read in the original languages while others read translations ,this can be helpful sometimes.

I don't know where you should start , i hope others can suggest , but may be you can check our reads this year or our previous reads and see if any would interest you ?
ReemK10 (Paper Pills) Quick question. I just ordered The Conference of the Birds and was wondering if you have a thread for this, or if any of you are interested in reading it as a group?

And if there isn't one, would it be possible to open a new thread? :)
Niledaughter Hello Reem , sorry I'm on my phone , you can open the thread yourself in the medieval texts section .
Christine Hi everyone, I just joined. (Thanks Jalilah!). I live in the US. I have read Conference of the Birds, btw. I don't know if I'll have time to read Sept's book, but I have Oct's on my TBR.
ReemK10 (Paper Pills) Chris wrote: "Hi everyone, I just joined. (Thanks Jalilah!). I live in the US. I have read Conference of the Birds, btw. I don't know if I'll have time to read Sept's book, but I have Oct's on my TBR."

Welcome Chris! I'm still reading it. Drop by and visit the thread . (Under medieval texts)
Niledaughter welcome Chris and Andea ! glad to have you with us .:)
قارئ قديم Hello I am Mansour from Qatar I'm new here and looking for some good reads!
Robert Sharples Hi everyone,

I live and work in Cairo and I'm keen to read lots more Arabic literature and less well-known writers.
Looking forward to learning, and reading plenty!
Rob
Niledaughter Welcome قارئ and Robert ! I hope you will like it here with us :)
Ina Cawl hi everyone am abdi i live in somalia i enjoy reading books about mena region because most peoples in the world have great misconceptions about this region and its people
i hope this group at least unveil the mystery of this region
Niledaughter Welcome Ina ! I hope you will like it here with us , also please share your recommendations about Somalia with us .
M.A. Hi everyone, my name is Hana. I joined this group to see what's going on (if anything new is going on) regarding Middle Eastern literature. I lived for 6 years in Baghdad and I'm fluent in Arabic. During that time, I came across Middle Eastern fiction. I have to say that I'm not in love with Arabic prose; I think it's still in it's infancy. I prefer Arabic poetry, especially the works of Nizzar Qabani. I also recently published my first novel which is set in Baghdad. I'll start doing book reviews on my blog very soon so recommendations are welcome but I would prefer them in Arabic, not translated to English.

Looking forward to this cultural exchange.
Melanie Welcome Hana, we are set to read poetry by مريد البرغوثي in January. You can see our other upcoming reads in my post from Nov. 23 here. اهلا وسهلا فيك
M.A. Thank you! I'll try to get one of his books in time.
Maia Hello-

My name is Maia. I'm Syrian but born and raised in the United States. I've recently become interested in mena authors & poets after feeling a disconnect with my roots. I used to travel to Syria every year, but haven't been able to for the past few years (since 2010 I believe) because of the current conflicts in the region. I'm interested in everything from cultural to political. I look forward to all the reading, and would love some recommendations on books from the Levant; more specifically, books on Syria or by Syrian authors/poets.

Thank you!
Melanie Welcome, Maia! You can see our upcoming reads here. I'm particularly looking forward to القنفذ / The Hedgehog, a book of charming and thoughtful short stories by Syrian author Zakariyya Tamer.
Niledaughter Welcome Maia , it seems you joined the group in the perfect timing , we are about to read from Syria :)
Rosalinda Hello,

I just joined this group; I discovered it when I did a search for literature from Turkey. I've heard it's a beautiful country and wish to visit there some day. I'm looking forward to reading the January selection. I normally do not read much poetry but I read an excerpt and am very intrigued.
Jessie K. Hi Rosa, welcome aboard :)
Niledaughter welcome on-board Rosa :) !
Niledaughter Welcome Asaad , sorry for the late reply , I hope you will like it here with us, we were reading A Woman in the Crossfire: Diaries of the Syrian Revolutionfrom Syria , also The Hedgehog is going to be read in April , I hope you will find our discussions interesting .
You are welcome to talk about your book in the authors corner - (news or a totally new topic)
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/group...
Jessie K. Lilya wrote: "Hi Everyone,
I'm from the UK, born in Algeria . When I first got into reading I was reading mostly Young Adult. However considering everything that is going on in the world at the moment, I am bec..."

Hi Lilya, Ahlan w Sahlan :)
One of the books that immediately cross my mind while thinking of Algerian literature is Laissées pour mortes : Le lynchage des femmes de Hassi Messaoud I'm not sure if it has an English translation though. It's a very very confronting book. Other than that, I have a couple of books by Assia Djebar on my to read list.
Hope you'll enjoy this group as much as many others do :)
Jessie K. Lilya wrote: "Jessie wrote: "Lilya wrote: "Hi Everyone,
I'm from the UK, born in Algeria . When I first got into reading I was reading mostly Young Adult. However considering everything that is going on in the ..."

Maybe others can help with that. Either people from the UK or people who are used to buy books online. I'm afraid I've collected my ebooks through the last decade on a *little less* legal way, hehe...
Jalilah Lilya wrote: "Hi Everyone,
I'm from the UK, born in Algeria . When I first got into reading I was reading mostly Young Adult. However considering everything that is going on in the world at the moment, I am bec..."

Welcome Lilya! Yes, you will discover many fantastic MENA writers in this group! I know that I have!
Niledaughter welcome Lilya , I hope you will like it here with us :)
Marieke Welcome Lilya!

I'm in the States, so not sure if my sources of books will help you, but I live in a large metropolitan area and have access to three different library systems, two academic and one public. I can usually borrow books from one of those libraries but sometimes I have trouble or I just want to own a certain book so I will order it online. Oddly, I'm not near any bookstores anymore except used bookstores, which typically don't have the titles I am looking for. I'm not sure what your options are but I know we have members in the UK so hopefully they will have suggestions for you.
Jalilah Lilya wrote: "Could I kindly ask, if there is a place that you get your books? i find MENA books to be a little expensive. If you have any recommendations please let me know. Thank you <3"

My bookshelves are overflowing and because I've moved multiple times in my life, I've also had to get rid of lots of books. For this reason I try to get most of my books from the library now. I'm in Canada and have had good luck finding almost all the books we've read here. What my city's library did not have, I was able to find through an inter-library loan.
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