What do you think?
Rate this book
I Think of You: Stories
Ahdaf Soueif, the bestselling author of The Map of Love , writes poignantly and beautifully about love, and about finding one’s place in the world. Achingly lyrical, resonant and richly woven, and with a spark of defiance, these stories explore areas of tension–where women and men are ensnared by cultural and social mores and prescribed notions of “love,” where the place you are is not the place you want to be. Soueif draws her characters with infinite tenderness and compassion as they inhabit a world of lost opportunities, unfulfilled love, and remembrance of times past.
182 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1996
21 people are currently reading
507 people want to read
About the author
Ahdaf Soueif
32 books1,305 followersAhdaf Soueif (Arabic: أهداف سويف) is an Egyptian short story writer, novelist and political and cultural commentator. She was educated in Egypt and England - studied for a PhD in linguistics at the University of Lancaster.
Her novel The Map of Love (1999) was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and subsequently translated into 21 languages. Soueif writes primarily in English, but her Arabic-speaking readers say they can hear the Arabic through the English. Along with in-depth and sensitive readings of Egyptian history and politics, Soueif also writes about Palestinians in her fiction and non-fiction. A shorter version of "Under the Gun: A Palestinian Journey" was originally published in The Guardian and then printed in full in Soueif's recent collection of essays, Mezzaterra: Fragments from the Common Ground (2004). Soueif has also translated Mourid Barghouti's I Saw Ramallah (with a foreword by Edward Said) from Arabic into English.
In 2007, Soueif was one of more than 100 artists and writers who signed an open letter initiated by Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism and the South West Asian, North African Bay Area Queers (SWANABAQ) and calling on the San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival "to honor calls for an international boycott of Israeli political and cultural institutions, by discontinuing Israeli consulate sponsorship of the LGBT film festival and not cosponsoring events with the Israeli consulate."
In 2008 she initiated the first Palestine Festival of Literature (PalFest). Soueif is also a cultural and political commentator for the Guardian newspaper and she has been reporting on the Egyptian revolution. In January 2012 she published Cairo: My City, Our Revolution – a personal account of the first year of the Egyptian revolution
Her novel The Map of Love (1999) was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and subsequently translated into 21 languages. Soueif writes primarily in English, but her Arabic-speaking readers say they can hear the Arabic through the English. Along with in-depth and sensitive readings of Egyptian history and politics, Soueif also writes about Palestinians in her fiction and non-fiction. A shorter version of "Under the Gun: A Palestinian Journey" was originally published in The Guardian and then printed in full in Soueif's recent collection of essays, Mezzaterra: Fragments from the Common Ground (2004). Soueif has also translated Mourid Barghouti's I Saw Ramallah (with a foreword by Edward Said) from Arabic into English.
In 2007, Soueif was one of more than 100 artists and writers who signed an open letter initiated by Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism and the South West Asian, North African Bay Area Queers (SWANABAQ) and calling on the San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival "to honor calls for an international boycott of Israeli political and cultural institutions, by discontinuing Israeli consulate sponsorship of the LGBT film festival and not cosponsoring events with the Israeli consulate."
In 2008 she initiated the first Palestine Festival of Literature (PalFest). Soueif is also a cultural and political commentator for the Guardian newspaper and she has been reporting on the Egyptian revolution. In January 2012 she published Cairo: My City, Our Revolution – a personal account of the first year of the Egyptian revolution
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
July 6, 2020
I looked out to sea and, now I realize, I was trying to work out my coordinates. I thought a lot about the water and the sand as I sat there watching them meet and flirt and touch. I tried to understand that I was on the edge, the very edge of Africa; that the vastness ahead was nothing compared to what lay behind me. But even though I’d been there and seen for myself its never-ending dusty green interior, its mountains, the big sky, my mind could not grasp a world that was not present to my senses. I could see the beach, the waves, the blue beyond, and cradling them all, my baby.
*
Time passed as I hung on, waiting for something to happen while the evening slowly crumbled away and the stars went out one by one. I knew now there was no hidden world, no secret society from which I was barred. There was just—nothing.
*
In the Meridien, all those years ago, with the Nile shining behind you, I said, “But you’ve been married nine years. Can one trust passion, romance? Can one really trust being in love?” A shadow passed across your face. “Well,” you said after a moment, “of course things change. Yes, they do. But I think now, perhaps, sympathy—yes, sympathy and tenderness and goodwill. They can last, if we’re wise. Maybe they are the lasting part of love.
*
Time passed as I hung on, waiting for something to happen while the evening slowly crumbled away and the stars went out one by one. I knew now there was no hidden world, no secret society from which I was barred. There was just—nothing.
*
In the Meridien, all those years ago, with the Nile shining behind you, I said, “But you’ve been married nine years. Can one trust passion, romance? Can one really trust being in love?” A shadow passed across your face. “Well,” you said after a moment, “of course things change. Yes, they do. But I think now, perhaps, sympathy—yes, sympathy and tenderness and goodwill. They can last, if we’re wise. Maybe they are the lasting part of love.
July 26, 2010
Actually, it is 3.5 , my rates differ as the following :
Knowing (3)
I liked the detailing of the Egyptian traditions .
1964 (3)
Returning (5)
My favorite one , the scene when Aisha found her wedding dress and forward touched me deeply
Mandy (4)
A detailed part from (in the eye of the sun) , it was interesting to see Seif in anther female eyes
Satan (5)
Anther detailed part from (in the eye of the sun) , good expression of the inability of coming back.
Chez Milou (3)
Melody (3)
I think of you (4)
Sandpiper (4)
Knowing (3)
I liked the detailing of the Egyptian traditions .
1964 (3)
Returning (5)
My favorite one , the scene when Aisha found her wedding dress and forward touched me deeply
Mandy (4)
A detailed part from (in the eye of the sun) , it was interesting to see Seif in anther female eyes
Satan (5)
Anther detailed part from (in the eye of the sun) , good expression of the inability of coming back.
Chez Milou (3)
Melody (3)
I think of you (4)
Sandpiper (4)
April 28, 2019
This collection of loosely connected and interwoven short stories, many of which are presumably charting the life of a single narrator, showcases Soueif's elegiacal style, the sense of loss and love which pervades her stories, from the reminiscence of a young girl for her Cairo childhood, to experiencing the cusp of adolescence as a stranger in a cold and distant country, where she feels more at home with Emma Bovary than people her age, or to the more mature tales of adult love, whose pain and suffering are glimpsed briefly in the childhood stories but whose kaleidoscope of colours are fully revealed as the narrator grows up.
At times, as with the cleverly told "Mandy", where the story explores the relationship between two women with a single man, both from the point of view of the individual females, resonate emotionally, however others do fall a bit flat, leading to a somewhat uneven narrative. This is perhaps to be expected, as the stories were written over a number of years, however the high points of Soueif's stories, from the dappled sunlight captured via the French sunlights of the narrator's childhood in "Knowing" , to the exploration of the disintegration of the marriage between Asya and Saif in "Satan" demonstrate an artist at the height of her powers.
At times, as with the cleverly told "Mandy", where the story explores the relationship between two women with a single man, both from the point of view of the individual females, resonate emotionally, however others do fall a bit flat, leading to a somewhat uneven narrative. This is perhaps to be expected, as the stories were written over a number of years, however the high points of Soueif's stories, from the dappled sunlight captured via the French sunlights of the narrator's childhood in "Knowing" , to the exploration of the disintegration of the marriage between Asya and Saif in "Satan" demonstrate an artist at the height of her powers.
February 28, 2011
This is a collection of old stories from 1983 - 1994, published as a collection in 2007, after the success of the author's novel, The Map of Love. However, the stories were originally published before The Map of Love, when the author was younger. The stories are told from the point of view of the narrator. The themes tend to deal with people, primarily women, from different cultures living in foreign lands and and also fading love...women no longer in love with their husbands, separation and such. There is one powerful story about a woman having a difficult pregnancy thinking about her best friend dying of cancer. There is one story that I felt really does not belong, but I will not write about what story that would be. The writing is very descriptive and lyrical. Some of the stories reminded me of Jhumpa Lahiri's stories in Unaccustomed Earth. These are also stories about expatriates living in foreign lands. However, I felt Lahiri's stories included more depth of feeling. These early stories from Ahdaf Soueif do not seem to reflect the maturity or depth of her later work.
December 12, 2010
'I Think of You' is a compilation of selected stories from Soueif's "Aisha" and "Sandpiper". Having read 'The Map of Love' several times , I must admit that Soueif manages to retain her ability of intriguing the reader. This title is a very light read,one you can complete in one sitting, because thats what you'd want to do without even realizing.
Armed with one of the best writing techniques and rich cultural background(very reminiscent of Isabel Allende) Ahdaf Soueif has managed to (yet again) create a beautiful literary masterpiece ,it's presence on your bookshelf will linger longer than you imagined.
Armed with one of the best writing techniques and rich cultural background(very reminiscent of Isabel Allende) Ahdaf Soueif has managed to (yet again) create a beautiful literary masterpiece ,it's presence on your bookshelf will linger longer than you imagined.
March 2, 2017
A beautiful and exquisite exploration of the spaces between oneself and between oneself and others. Her characters fill up these spaces with longing for something or someone lost. There's a stunning sadness that laces all these stories. I wish I could tell them the things and people you've lost, they were like Elizabeth Bishop says in her poem, 'One Art', 'intent on being lost'. So grieve not so much. This is the texture of our lives.
An amazing collection of short stories which have introduced me to Ahdaf Soueif's writing.
An amazing collection of short stories which have introduced me to Ahdaf Soueif's writing.
April 13, 2007
She has a style that elicits powerful empathy for the characters involved: the pain of loss, longing of imagined love, solitude of being an outsider, etc.
August 8, 2010
Book of short stories in my quest to read more Ahdaf Soueif. Not bad. Especially enjoyed the two that gave different perspectives from the main plot of "In the Eye of the Sun."
April 28, 2021
In these short stories, Ahdaf Soufeif writes about estrangement with a simple but semi poetic literacy that was, at times, profoundly moving. My favorites from the collection were Returning, I Think of You, and Sandpiper.
December 19, 2017
Ahdaf Soueif's all stories in this collection are like bits of life. Short in words, but intense in emotions, layered in nostalgia of losses bygone pasts travelling back and forth to Cairo. Ayisha's life, her pleasures of childhood, losses with migration, love wich faded with time, over places and return to the old-but-stranger-now homeland etc are etched as continuous but separate stories like a pieces of a broken vessel sticked together, with the contours of each bit visible and felt yet connected through the seamlessness of past, present and future. The City of Misr is inevitable, so is the Egyptian self which encounters the west, where the racial, physical, cultural and the many differences are constantly evoked, which the tales rebel against, negotiate with and also accultures and diffuses with the scents of Cairo reeking through folds of memories. The urge to belong and return home, the crave for long lost love, the search for ultimate affect are recurring themes.
July 6, 2019
"Talking of making love, I just went and looked at him as he lay sleeping. He looks so peaceful when he sleeps...turns on to his side and curls up like a baby. I've lain for hours staring at his back: the colour of light caramel candy. Sometimes I'd like to lick it but I don't know what he'd think of that. He is into...carezza: it involves him doing things to me very very slowly. Nothing weird or far-out; just stroking and things and me doing nothing at all. It's not a problem since I orgasm at least once each time but I don't always see what's in it for him."
"And I remember you
When battle raged
And as lance and scimitar
Raced for my blood
I longed to kiss
Their glinting edges
Shining like your smiling mouth"
"Yes, to everything there is an order and a pattern. And the pattern and the order are good. Time, from one birthday to the next, running gently by, overflowing with an abundance of pleasures. If there are fears or griefs, they are minor and I am always able to be confronted by the grown-ups."
📖 Reading has been one of the ways for me to survive. Whenever I have things troubling my heart causing me the need of a shelter, a place to go, I will just pick up a book and have my quiet moment. My reading escapade took me to Ahdaf Soueif's I Think of You. Such a title for a melancholic heart; a book of a pleasant and sensual journey of hopes and desires. Things that makes life colourful yet torturing at some other times. .
🎧 I'm Kissing You by Des'ree
📖 I Think of You by Ahdaf Soueif .
"And I remember you
When battle raged
And as lance and scimitar
Raced for my blood
I longed to kiss
Their glinting edges
Shining like your smiling mouth"
"Yes, to everything there is an order and a pattern. And the pattern and the order are good. Time, from one birthday to the next, running gently by, overflowing with an abundance of pleasures. If there are fears or griefs, they are minor and I am always able to be confronted by the grown-ups."
📖 Reading has been one of the ways for me to survive. Whenever I have things troubling my heart causing me the need of a shelter, a place to go, I will just pick up a book and have my quiet moment. My reading escapade took me to Ahdaf Soueif's I Think of You. Such a title for a melancholic heart; a book of a pleasant and sensual journey of hopes and desires. Things that makes life colourful yet torturing at some other times. .
🎧 I'm Kissing You by Des'ree
📖 I Think of You by Ahdaf Soueif .
March 28, 2025
este o colectie de povestiri si, desi nu ma dau in vant dupa acest gen, ahdaf reuseste sa surprinda in acestea personaje puternice, in special femei puternice, care se confrunta cu o societate conservatoare, cum e cea egipteana. mai mult, fiecare povestire este un intreg univers si pare ca se continua una pe alta, asya fiind personajul principal in multe.
tandretea si delicatetea cu care scrie au facut ca sa imi placa fievare povestire, iar "te port in gand" sa fie intr-adevar bijuteria, desi este sfasietoare
tandretea si delicatetea cu care scrie au facut ca sa imi placa fievare povestire, iar "te port in gand" sa fie intr-adevar bijuteria, desi este sfasietoare
August 25, 2025
PAIN AND PAIN AND PAIN its so sad
January 28, 2019
The writer does not only criticize the Arab society for suppressing and marginalizing women, but also for nurishing stereotypical notions about the West as well, another malady which inhabits the East- Wes
communication
communication
June 18, 2025
I read 1964 from this book only. Felt so relatable.
Read
February 26, 2017Ahdaf Soueif's first fiction offering since The Map of Love, which was shortlisted for the 1999 Man Booker Prize, is actually a repackaging of nine stories originally published between 1983 and 1996.
Set primarily in Egypt and the United Kingdom, each of the stories features a female character. Throughout the collection Soueif focuses on the interior life of her protagonists and the ordering of the stories lends some sense of a progressively maturing voice. The collection, however, does seem a bit uneven. With the first five stories developing two specific characters, the protagonists of the final stories seem comparatively inchoate.
The first three stories--"Knowing," "1964," and "Returning"--show three different epochs in the life of Aisha, an Egyptian woman who immigrated to the United Kingdom in her teens. "Mandy" and "Satan" feature Asya, a woman separated from her husband who is dealing in different ways with the repercussions of their broken marriage and his philandering.
In the title story, which is arguably the collection's strongest, the unnamed first-person narrator has been hospitalized due to a high-risk pregnancy. With her husband in London unable to get a visa, and her family in Cairo, she is alone, the only patient not observing purdah. She survives her hospitalization by invoking an elderly friend, confidante, and role model who died of cancer.
If the stories have a unifying theme it is that of estrangement; estrangement (both emotional and physical) from husbands, as well as from the homeland and the culture of one's childhood. While I think of you lacks the refinement of Soueif's later work, it is nevertheless worth reading. Her stories are touching, nostalgic, but never overly so. Soueif's prose is lyrical and this collection is buoyed by her ability to give her readers an extraordinary sense of place.
Set primarily in Egypt and the United Kingdom, each of the stories features a female character. Throughout the collection Soueif focuses on the interior life of her protagonists and the ordering of the stories lends some sense of a progressively maturing voice. The collection, however, does seem a bit uneven. With the first five stories developing two specific characters, the protagonists of the final stories seem comparatively inchoate.
The first three stories--"Knowing," "1964," and "Returning"--show three different epochs in the life of Aisha, an Egyptian woman who immigrated to the United Kingdom in her teens. "Mandy" and "Satan" feature Asya, a woman separated from her husband who is dealing in different ways with the repercussions of their broken marriage and his philandering.
In the title story, which is arguably the collection's strongest, the unnamed first-person narrator has been hospitalized due to a high-risk pregnancy. With her husband in London unable to get a visa, and her family in Cairo, she is alone, the only patient not observing purdah. She survives her hospitalization by invoking an elderly friend, confidante, and role model who died of cancer.
If the stories have a unifying theme it is that of estrangement; estrangement (both emotional and physical) from husbands, as well as from the homeland and the culture of one's childhood. While I think of you lacks the refinement of Soueif's later work, it is nevertheless worth reading. Her stories are touching, nostalgic, but never overly so. Soueif's prose is lyrical and this collection is buoyed by her ability to give her readers an extraordinary sense of place.
October 29, 2012
The three stars on this book is not a measurement of the quality of the stories therein but rather a symbol of my own prejudice towards short stories in general. It is unfair to label the prose of Ahdaf Souief as "average" since the flourishing, descriptive language here is quite beautiful at times. I struggle with short stories since I always want to know more about what happened to get a character to here and what comes next, I thought putting three stars would be better than putting none as I would prefer since I am in no way qualified to make even an educated judgement on how good these are, but if I had left it blank it may have looked as though I hated the book which is far from accurate.
May 24, 2012
Nothing is more irritating than reading a book that you can't easily follow. There should have been a warning: read books by Ahdaf Soueif before reading this so it makes sense.
Soueif's writing style is graceful as usual, but the short stories are rather bits of background stories of her other books. Didn't like it.
Soueif's writing style is graceful as usual, but the short stories are rather bits of background stories of her other books. Didn't like it.
May 1, 2014
O frumoasa incursiune in lumea lui Ahdaf, Egipt si copilarie cu migdale si miere. Intre timp relatiile peste ocean sunt diferite, un altfel de paradis, intelegeri contradictorii, necesare, familia e mai presus de toate, copiii sunt salvarea. Raman mereu amintirile si nisipul, marea si aerul cald, pielea maronie.
January 28, 2008
Grabbed this out of the borrowing bin where I work - ended up really enjoying each of the stories - reminds me a lot of Yasmin Crowther's The Saffron Kitchen. I would recommend for women looking for a simple read of characters with complicated lives.
January 21, 2012
I've come to the conclusion that I will never finish this. I usually make myself finish even if I am bored out of my mind. Now that I am a mother I have better things to do than force myself to finish a book just because I started it.
December 10, 2017
Ahdaf Soueif doesn't disappoint. There is social commentary, politics, the Egyptian dialect translated into English, varied points of view, including that of a child. What I loved the most is the mini sequels of In the Eye of the Sun.
January 3, 2018
A collection of short stories like handwoven pieces of lace. Melancholic and nostalgic, moments frozen in time, about clashing cultures and ways of thinking and about how love sometimes transforms, burning and dying out like candles.
Currently reading
September 1, 2007I'm trying to translate this book into Turkish..After finishing reading,it'll be possible to say something about this book..The only thing that I can say is it is tasty..
November 19, 2007
I much prefer her writing in Map of Love.
May 4, 2008
B Some of the stories featured characters from "In the Eye"; some decent. She is just whatever, and I won't be reading any more of her books.
April 2, 2009
ok. map of love was better. some of these stories are significantly stronger than others. after awhile they begin to all sound the same.
February 5, 2012
the book contains 9 short sad stories...
I didn't like it alot...each story is missing the end...I didn't get it..because of my responsibilities I took a long time to finish it..
I didn't like it alot...each story is missing the end...I didn't get it..because of my responsibilities I took a long time to finish it..
May 19, 2012
13-Dec-09 A pleasant, sensual sojourn of hopes and desires, and what life leaves you with...
February 22, 2013
This one didnt impress me the way "The map of love" did. Some of the selected stories are quite iconic though.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews