مسك الغزال

by Hanan Al-Shaykh, حنان الشيخ

اربع نساء من خلفيات ثقافية واجتماعية مختلفة يلتقين في بلد عربي صحراوي غير مجدد, كل واحدة منهن تناضل للتعامل مع مجتمع مرفع في كل شيء الا في الحرية. ويتم التعبير عن الاثارة والحسية والسأم والقسوة الموجودة في عالمهن بلغة غنائية ومرهفة

Genres: Fiction, Middle East, Feminism, Lebanon, Literature, Womens, Novels

250 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

Hanan Al-Shaykh (Arabic: حنان الشيخ) is a Lebanese journalist, novelist, short-story writer, and playwright. Born into a conservative Shia' Muslim family, she received her primary education in Beirut and later she attended the American College for Girls in Cairo. She began her journalism career in Egypt before returning to Lebanon. Her short stories and novels feature primarily female characters in the face of conservative religious traditions set against the backdrop of political tensions and instability of the Lebanese civil war.

Reviews

[Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first time he asked how to say 'good morning' in English and American and found they were the same, he exclaimed in surprise, 'Praise the Lord! They're the same as each other inside and out!'

Whenever I see a book by a woman of color with a super low rating and/or reviews littered all over with a variation on the theme of "didn't like the characters = main reason for not liking the book", I sigh and crack my fingers and pull on my gloves. More often than not this "didn't like the characters" business translates to "didn't understand the book", and since the author's neither white nor male she doesn't get the benefit of the doubt of "oh I didn't understand so the fault must be with me and the book will still get a shiny high rating", bending the sentiment of Catholic guilt into such an impressive cross-categorization of peer-pressured faith that it's as much a marvel as it is a goddamn annoyance. Seriously, though. What's not to like about the characters? What could possibly sideline that unspoken taboo of not shitting on a book cause the main character's a rapist/murderer/pedophile/accomplice of genocide/midlife crisis white boy with a penchant for boundary violation and really pitiful attempts at philosophy? You tell me.

The front cover says The Handmaid's Tale, which is associative in one sense and really insulting in a more important other. A review on this site compares this to Woolf, which I have to thank both for my moment of "Aha!" and the resulting fruitful pursuit. See, the narrative viewpoint in this is super super close first person that switches enough to keep one on one's claustrophobic toes, sidewinding through each character in such a way that jostles complicatedly enough against sociopolitical anathema for extremely complex discussion. I'm probably forgetting some main academic tenet or another, but a great deal of Modernism in the likes of Loy and co. felt akin to that same breed: solipsistic yet glancing, covert yet nakedly revealing, plotless yet so entrenched in the train of one at a time self-reflecting minds that it's nigh impossible to look away. Add in the "unnamed desert state" (most likely Saudi Arabia), characters that have no time for pandering to reader's views of "nice" when there's flesh and blood to live out, and a culture clash that the further one gets one will begin to make sense of whether they like it or not, and you get this modern psychological thing that's about as centered around feminism as The Golden Notebook.

I originally started reading this so as to counterbalance the happy-go-lucky archetypes that show up without fail in nearly every one of the The Arabian Nights. There's some of that, as well masculine romanticism succumbing to the late 20th century realities of STDs, sexual awakenings of the queer variety counterbalanced with mental stagnancy to the extreme, whatever the -phile term is for the Middle East when it comes to white US women escaping their issues with suburbia, and some really strong overtones of Rebecca in the last parts. Not the unnamed second wife, mind you. The one who wouldn't play by the rules and, here in this novel, is hellbent on staying alive and kicking for however long it takes to get what she wants. Dislike the first person pov characters all you like, but I can easily imagine all of them skateboarding in a burqa towards their intended destination. One of them may come to this conclusion by the tenets of Islam, another by memories of the land of Tony Hawk, but it's not as simple as an "Arab woman surmounts oppression" headline. It never is, of course, but this really drives it home.

I wonder if some readers didn't like this cause they've nursed fantasies of what it would be like to be female and obscenely rich in the land the pages of this book describe. Or maybe they expected a single tone of stoic endurance or Oriental escapade instead of bits of humor and pieces of overwhelming horror and a psychological immersion that never ever quits. Ah well. Whatever the case, this is very much a "modern" novel, where the Itches That Must Not Be Scratched are scratched, the results of said scratching are recoiled from in favor of social conformation, and the scratcher lives long enough to repeat ad nauseam. Thank god for politics and the Internet, amiright?

I pictured myself sitting in front of the television explaining to Batul and my aunt and my mother what was really going on in the foreign films: the woman whom Mr Rochester kept shut away in Jane Eyre was his mad wife, not his mother.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars
This novel is set in an unnamed desert state (looking suspiciously like Saudi Arabia). It examines the lives of four women, telling its tale from each of their points of view. There is Suha, a Lebanese woman, who has moved with her husband and son because of his new job. Nur has led a life of privilege. Suzanne is American and is also in the country because of her husband’s job and is discontented with her lot. Tamr wants to be independent and to get an education. The themes that are explored are fundamental and include feminism, sexual desire and sexuality, patriarchy, religious fundamentalism, materialism, culture and the complexities of power.
The reader is quickly drawn into the worlds of the four women and the narratives sort of interlink. There is a connection with these women. These are in a way household dramas, as one of the women says:
“Everyday life existed in the desert, but it was the daily routine of housewives and didn’t go beyond . . . the neighbour who only half-opened her door because she had wax on her thighs, fortune-telling in coffee grounds, food on the stove and gossip and knitting and babies’ nappies.”
The men in the book are pretty two-dimensional and limited in their vision, but they are part of the universal journey of the women. The work is presented simply, but the issues are complex. There have been some negative reviews, but I found this powerful and some of the usual western criticisms unconvincing. This felt more like the reality of lived experience than portraying Arab women as victims. Tamr in particular is an example of agency and will. Al-Shaykh 's characters are diverse, complex, empowered and real.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting trip to what for me is an exotic place: inside the minds of four “women of sand and myrrh.” Those of us in the West talk of “women in the Middle East” often enough, expressing concern over the restrictions on their lives and cheering when they claim their right to go to school or drive a car. But how well do we really know these women, let alone understand them? Because this book is written in first person from the viewpoints of four different women, it offers a small opportunity for maybe a more realistic picture of what drives, frustrates and motivates these individuals.

The author Hanan al-Shaykh is originally from Lebanon, and went to an all-girls college in Cairo (her character Nur in this novel tells of a similar experience). Given her strict patriarchal background, she has an authentic approach to the subjects of power and female sexuality.

Sex is a big focus, which gave it a soap opera feel, and I found myself wishing I could hear more about their thoughts on other topics. Out of the four viewpoint sections, I enjoyed the first and last, I think because they offered more reflection. I didn’t like the middle two, which felt like a string of actions, one after another after another, with few pauses for contemplation.

Though I didn’t get on well with the writing style, the depiction of women fighting so hard to make their own choices is my take-away from this novel, and I appreciate the insight into that experience.

[Naseeba · Rating 3 out of 5]

I cant believe they edited the English version of this book for marketing purposes, this is like when Arab translators edit Simon De Beauvoir books claiming its too hard for us to understand .
this rating is for the english version, the original book is 4.5 stars.

[Rusalka · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a while to pin down my feelings for this book. It raises so many, it was really hard to wade through them all and work out what I thought of the book as a whole.

The book is 4 intertwining stories about 4 different women within a very strict, restrictive Islamic society within the Middle East. The best I can find is Saudi Arabia is probably the closest with these restrictions. I loved that this was from the women's perspective which gave us an insight into a world half of us would never see.

The book is split into 4 parts, each part with a different woman telling their story. The women pop up in other women's stories as they are all connected but your perspective is changing throughout the book. We have Suha from Lebanon who's husband has a contract in this country and they have moved there for him to work for a while. Tamr, who is the daughter of a sheikh and his concubine from Turkey, but is a native to this 'country' and a student of Suha's at the local womens' TAFE. Suzanne, an American housewife who again's husband has a contract in this country, yet she finds all men find her exotic and desirable in this country and never wants to leave. And Nur, who is incredibly spoiled by her very wealthy husband, but there is so much more to that relationship.

Some of these women I completely empathised with. Some I was appalled with. But I understood most of them. They were all products of this restrictive society. And it made me so glad that I could drive and go where I wanted, when I wanted, without a man, I can work, I can be educated, I can leave my house without a man I'm related or married to, I can wear what I like and so much more. It was one of those books that immersed you in were you were and I think that's really important, as so many of us write off these places. We don't think about them. We know about them but we don't think about them, as they make us angry and so it's easier not to. And we forget the women within them.

It's important to remember.

For more reviews visit http://rusalkii.blogspot.com.au/

[rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many of the reviews, I believe, are unfair. The English translation was heavily edited. The name of the book, and therefore, the meaning of the story was altered. Even the order of the perspectives were swapped around! This definitely changed our idea of who was the protagonist and who's story we should really be following. If this book was read as it is told in its original form, we would have seen it as Al-Shaykh intended. This story is very important for Middle Eastern feminism, identity, and sexuality, and I hold it as a very important book to women all across the globe.

[Fanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

The weight of a feminist story line is heavy but met with a great narration through four women from different socio-cultural backgrounds clawing against gender stereotypes, stigmas, and marital expectations. Much to what I was afraid of, the translation does paint it in a saviour light but if an attempt is made to search for the underlying meanings of being a woman, especially in the regions hinted at, it works as an important read.

↣ on my tbr for reading in translation readathon ↢

[Sookie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The lives of four women intertwine in this unknown desert state somewhere in the middle-east. The author's colloquial use of language and metaphors gives the novel a post-modern feel. The author gives voices to four women from various socioeconomic classes. The issues addressed varies from what today's society would call archaic or pedantic; the contrasting nature of complexities the women face makes up the overarching arc. Understanding the clash of modernism and culture is these parts of the world is necessary for a better appreciation of the novel. The everyday stories of women isn't all that different and it somehow drastically is. Be it sexual diversity or economic freedom, women have to claw the walls to make a superficial dent let alone an everlasting one. With these struggles playing in the background, the author picks some and makes her characters face them.
I, we, need to understand; the superficiality of a narrative doesn't necessarily mean the issues don't exist. Its just that the characters have chosen not to play it in this space and time.

[Methodtomadness · Rating 3 out of 5]

So Women of Sand and Myrrh is a better book than most people are giving it credit for, albeit not a fantastic one. Read it more like a Middle Eastern Virginia Woolf novel, and it makes more sense. The news here is not that "hey, women living in unnamed generic Islamic countries can feel oppressed," but that Hanan Al-Shaykh, in 1980-something, was writing such a nuanced account of the very specific ways that female sexuality could be circumscribed and/or redirected in such a world. The internal focus of the characters mimics the inward-looking cultural mores of Al-Shaykh's setting; it's a feature, not a flaw, of her style. That said, no, there's not much plot, the pacing is painfully slow and roundabout, and the frustration one feels with the characters doesn't exactly endear them to readers.

[Naori · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don’t know if I’m comfortable with the way this depicts women and hysteria. It is working well with tropes of isolation and displacement, but there still seems this very archaic model of women who are forced to remain in domestic spaces who just descend into alternate forms of madness, self directed trauma, hysteria, dramatic actions, etc. while the men are not only completely stable but almost become two dimensional background characters to this more predominant running narrative. Just a few initial thoughts...

[Asma sherb · Rating 5 out of 5]

من أجمل ما قرأت هذا العام!

[Txell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ho sento però m’ha semblat molt avorrit.

[Rambling Raconteur · Rating 5 out of 5]

https://youtu.be/hmAo8u54qzA

[Amari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spectacular. Al-Shaykh is a powerful writer and draws the reader very quickly into the world(s) of her unhappy, unfulfilled characters. The technique of dividing the novel into four sections, each in first person and narrated by a different character, made it feel more like a collection of connected short stories, especially because of interruptions and overlap in the sequence of events.

Al-Shaykh's group of four is extremely diverse in all the important ways. They share little more than a location and a disconnection from one another and from society -- which is not to say that they are sociopaths (though actually I would say that at least one of them is) but that the society in which they are living does not permit them the sorts of lives they imagine themselves living.

[An aside: the exception to this is the sociopath, who is American and rather ordinary but for her blue eyes and pink skin. Her desire to be unusual and desirable leads to a strong attachment to the unnamed middle Eastern country in which she finds herself, and she ignores and fights her unpleasant discoveries about the men and women around her.]

Part of Al-Shaykh's genius, as I see it, is the fact that she managed to make all of her characters reflect and inspire in the reader the feeling they all share about each other. The reader experiences the process that each woman goes through: meeting a new acquaintance with excitement and hope, then arriving at disillusionment and boredom coupled with a sometimes frantic striving to connect emotionally in spite of the obvious disjuncts, finally settling into a neurotic dislike of each maladaptive, ambivalent, disappointing so-called friend. While we finish each section glad not to be stuck with such a crazy or boring or passive-aggressive or obsessed friend or lover, the book itself retains its allure to the last -- like the imaginary companion each character so unsuccessfully seeks.

[Jacob Heartstone · Rating 2 out of 5]

Such a disappointing read!

This book was not only very disjointed, there was also no plot or storyline whatsoever, and it was incredibly blandly written on top of everything else. Also, the characters were super shallow and I felt absolutely nothing for them. Frankly, this book was so boring I couldn't even hate-read it, and I don't know why I pushed through it to the end, bc it does NOT get any better.

Which is sad, bc it came highly recommended to me, as it has a lot of LGBT characters in it that would not have been all that badly represented in an Arabic context if the characters themselves hadn't been written so poorly...

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Women of Sand and Myrrh is the story of four women in an unnamed desert nation. Their stories are all separate but overlap in theme as we explore this society and how it contrasts to the rest of the world. These stories cover domestic scenarios and play on many taboos of more conservative cultures. First published in 1982, the subjects of adultery, divorce, abortion, and homosexuality were taboo not only in the Arab world but much of the Western world too.

My greatest interest in this book was the exploration of these subjects through these characters. It gives real depth to a people too often stereotyped as not valuing or acknowledging these subjects. Especially getting to see this played out from a 40 year old book it really offers such a great value of seeing people as who they are.

Split into four separate sections to cover a different character I found this to be an interesting story structure but one that I didn’t always find worked. Of the four stories, I found the first and last to me the most engaging. These were also some of the shortest. While I found value in the second and third stories, I felt their pacing didn’t always match the narrative. Likewise, I felt those shorter stories, particularly the last one, could have had more substance to them in comparison.

The writing in this work is great. Deeply vivid scenes and emotional insight into the characters. There is so much longing and desire wrapped up in each of these stories that haunts this beautiful tale. Often surreal and dreamlike, my only issue here was that much of these stories didn’t stick with me once I moved on to the next story and I was often left wondering if we’d return to some of these characters and scenarios. I’d like to reread this at some point as I feel reflection in retrospect might offer more to this story.

[Ali Omar · Rating 2 out of 5]

برده ع نفس المنوال
قصه بنتين من لبنان واحده مسيحيه والتانيه شيعيه
ورغم الاختلاف المذهبي الا ان كل واحده عانت من الظلم
وعلشان تحقق ذاتها تسافر من بلدها وتبقا حره طليقه
مش خايفه لا من الاهل ولا المجتمع وقيوده حره تنام او تصاحب اللى تحب وتعمل اللى ع مزجها
الفكره انا قابلت ناس لما سافروا ودخلوا فى علاقات وشرب او بمعني جرب الممنوع
لما فاق بعد فتره اتاكد انوا غلط وان لو فى ذره ايمان مش هتحب التجربه او انك تكمل فيها
انما لو انت بعيد عن الايمان باى كان معتقدك
هتشوف دى حريه ومتعه وان هنا تخلف واننا بنمثل ع بعض لان الفساد موجود بس مدارى
هناك الاختبار صعب انت قدام نفسك مباشره وكل شئ سهل الوصول ليه
هنا موجود بس فى صعوبات شويه غير الصحبه اللى حواليك
المهم نرجع للروايه
بتحكي كل واحده مشاكلها مع اهلها
سواء المسيحيه اللى امها كانت بتميز الاولاد عنها حتي لما هى نجحت وحققت ذاتها احسن من اخواتها امها جابت اللوم عليها فى فشل اخواتها الولاد
والتانيه اكيد الاب المتشدد الديني اللى مات بسكته قلبيه لما شافها فى حمام السباحه فى المياه اللى الحسين مات عطشان وانتى بتتمعتي بيها
.
دايما تلاقي اغلب الكتاب من النساء العرب واللى سافروا وعاشوا ومقيمين فى الخارج الكلام والروايات بتكون من المنطلق دا دايما
رغم انى فى برده رجاله مش بس ستات بتعاني من الظلم اى كان نوعه
ورغم ان برده برا موجود كل انواع الظلم والاضطهاد عادي
هم مش ملايكه
بس هنقول ايه عقده ( الغريب احلى )

[Marwa Abdullah · Rating 3 out of 5]

عن المرأة التي تعيش في مجتمع صحراوي، منغلق، تختبئ خلف برقعها خوفا لا إقتناعا.
لكنها تحاول التحرر كيفما اتّفق سرّا.
قصص جريئة جدا أحيانا، عادية أحيانا أخرى، لكنها في مجملها كئيبة وخانقة.

السرد كان مملّا أحيانا وطويلا بلا داعي.
اللغة جيدة إلى حد كبير.

• بعض الجرأة في أول قصصها قد لا تروق للكثيرين.

[Nojood Alsudairi · Rating 4 out of 5]

من الغريب أن تتشابه شخصية نورة الصحراوية وشخصية سوزان الأمريكية في الفحش مع فارق أن الأولى تكره الصحراء بينما تحبها الثانية. بينما تتشابه سهى اللبنانية وتمر الجنوبية في رفضهما للوضع الذي وجدتا أنفسهما فيه والخروج من المأزق.
أربع نجمات للأسلوب أما القصة فتشبه تلك القصص الأمريكية التي تؤلف عن العرب بحيث تأخذ كل القصص العجيبة والنادرة وتجمعها في قصة واحدة. ليتها أتقنت ولو لهجة واحدة من لهجات دول الخليج لكانت أكثر مصداقية. اللهجة المستخدمة مزيج مضحك من كلمات قد يستخدمها القصيبي في حلقات طاش ما طاش: "لاقلك شغله! مير انك رجال طيب!"

[Tia Gonzales · Rating 3 out of 5]

revelatory, 4 women who live life 'behind the veil', so much boredom, so much pain, so must thwarted desire, so much pent-up emotion....found the book very sad.

[Carmen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The desert came into view, looking as it had done the first time I saw it: sand and palm trees, a way of life that revolved around human beings without possessions or skills, who had to rely on their imagination to contrive a way of making their hearts beat faster or even to keep them at a normal pace; to search unaides for a hidden gleam of light, and to live with two seasons a year instead of four.

[Byurakn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. More coming soon.

[Reem · Rating 4 out of 5]

الرواية عبارة في الحقيقة عن قصص متصلة منفصلة لأربع سيدات جمعهن العيش في بلد صحراوي غير محدد – في إحدى دول الخليج -. تروي كل منهن قصتها مع المجتمع المحيط، فيبحر القاريء في أفكار السيدات، هواجسهن أخطائهن و قراراتهن

تناقش الكاتبة حنان الشيخ الكبت في هذا البلد و ما يسببه من ردود أفعال لدى كل سيدة مستخدمة أسلوب ما يسمى بتيار الوعي لتروي وجهة نظر كل شخصية و ما يجول في خاطرها. ليكتشف القاريء الأسباب التي قد تؤدي بزوجة و أم لطفل إلى علاقة محرمة مع امرأة أخرى و كيف ترى نفسها بعد أن تجد أنها وقعت في المحظور. و من ثم تنقله الشيخ إلى عقل المرأة التي تنغمس في الملذات نتيجة للفراغ و الترف و التفكك الأسري. ليرى من بعدها كيف تؤثر العلاقة الزوجية المنهارة على امرأة أربعينية و يبحث من خلال تجاربها الغريبة في نظرة الرجل الشرقي إلى المرأة. و يختم الرحلة بقصة زواج قاصرة وطلاقها و تأثير الأمر على حياتها

أعتقد أن الشيخ نجحت إلى حد كبير في كتابها هذا في إصال فكرتها فأسلوب تيار الوعي كان اختيارا ناجحا لجعل أصوات الشخصيات مسموعة. كما أن جرأتها على طرح موضوع المثلية الجنسية و ربطها بالكبت الجنسي و الاجتماعي في بعض المجتمعات أمر يحسب لها خاصة إذا أخذنا في الاعتبار أن الرواية نشرت لأول مرة في 1988

اللغة كانت بسيطة أنيقة و الأسلوب سلس عدا عن بعض النقلات في ذاكرة الشخصيات و التي كانت مربكة قليلا نتيجة عدم التمهيد لها جيدا من قبل الكاتبة. المشاهد الحميمة – لا أدري إن كان يصح استخدام حميمة لوصفها – كانت مختصرة و سريعة – و هذا شيء جيد – إلا مشهدا واحدا أحسست أنه طال أكثر من اللازم. هاتان النقطتان هما أكثر ما أزعجني في الرواية

:تساؤلات راودتني أثناء قرائتي للرواية

أولا: هل الأمر في ذاك البلد الصحراوي حقا بهذا السوء؟ ثانيا: كتبت هذه الرواية منذ أكثر من عشرين سنة مضت و لكن الواقع لا يبدو و كأنه تغير كثيرا هذا إن كان قد تغيرا مطلقا!؟

.كانت هذه تجربتي الأولى مع الكاتبة و شجعني كتابها هذا على القراءة لها مرة أخرى

إضافة: بعض الشخصيات بدت خيالية أكثر من اللازم و لكن أعتقد أن الفكرة وصلت على الرغم من ذلك

[Cecilia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it, though bits of it were not that interesting but the one where the spoiled princess chick is using uppers and downers to get through her day because life was that boring and at the end of the book , all that they could offer her to make her feel better was a stuff load of PUNK outfits and PUNK hairspray to color her hair ....well...that got me interested in PUNK and then I ended up doing some art gigs with the real PUNK people that inspired her allusions to the outfits in the book...so there you go!

All because while we were backpacking my friend Danuta, picked this book up in Canada and then gave it to me to read when she was done, I discovered who those people from Souxsie and Banshee, Public Image limited, Sex pistols etc....were in the course of exploring my art, so thanks...NUR.....I did remember her name from the book! btw. Met a real life Saudi Princess and had coffee with her once, she is not like that, she was not bored or unaccomplished, she had a PH.D in psychology, her own charity and wanted me to paint the royal Pet Cockatoo on her bag and laughed when I told her,"hmm...I am not a royal pet portrait type of artist!"...so maybe Princess NUR in the book should just, cultivate an "inner life" and the book though very important for feminism, should also see that Women in most cultures have great sense of humour and are not always just victims of external circumstances....there are internal stuff that are subject to individual accomplishments and spiritual maturity! :)

[Renee · Rating 1 out of 5]

Good concept: poor execution.

Four disparate Middle Eastren women -- who know or know of each other -- tell their stories about women's lives in a fundamentalist male-dominated society. Each woman's story adds another POV to what's going on with all the other characters.

I thought it would be an interesting approach to first-person narrative. The idea, I assume, was to give the reader a view of each character from internal and external POVs. Unfortunately, the writer failed to deliver. The narrative voice is the same for each woman in spite of their different socioeconomic classes, education levels and experiences. it became difficult in some places to remember which character was telling the story. Toss in one-dimensional male characters, massive doses of angst, overblown descriptions of wealth, dull and resentful descriptions of sex (primary as a means of control -- and not always by men), and the whole thing became a snooze-fest. I'm not into angst, so this did nothing for me.

I did finish the book, but it was more because I kept hoping it would redeem itself than out of any real interest.

[Krista Morris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read an article titled "Gender, Genre, and the (Missing) Gazelle: Arab Women Writers and the Politics of Translation," after I finished this book. This article was suggested by another Goodreads reviewer, and I really appreciate it.

While I rate the English translation 3 stars at most, I learned that significant changes were made from the Arabic, ranging from the title to order of the four narratives. After reading through the changes, I feel it is quite possible I would rate the original work higher, as the rearranging significantly changes the meaning and weight of the stories.

All that to say, if you read the translation, try to read the article for a better understanding of the author's purpose.

[Odai Al-Saeed · Rating 3 out of 5]

حنان لم تحدد ولكن وضحت وقصدت الرياض فالخياط الذي يخدمك من خلال شباك والكمب الذي يمكنك من اخذ الحرية لما هو ممنوع وغيره من التلميحات الصحراوية التي لم تذكر البحر كان مقصده نجد وتحديدا مدينة الرياض ...وهي ليست رواية بقدر ماهي مذكرات عاشتها مغتربة لم تالف الحياة في مدن ملحية قكان لها وقع خاص بغض النظر عن تقدير صحته من خطاه...الراوية لها اسلوب جميل يشد والرواية سبقت غيرها من فترة من خلال طرح موضوع المثلية الجنسية وتركيباتها وتاثيراتها على المجتمع والمسبب لها...جبدة

[Lina · Rating 2 out of 5]

سلبيات سلبيات سلبيات ..و لا ايجابية واحدة ذكرتها!

[Amna · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This book is so ahead of its time, I actually had no idea it was written in the 1980s until I finished it. The story follows the lives of four women (of different race and socioeconomic class) living in an unnamed desert nation. It’s comparable to Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale only in the sense that it gave me that same feeling of claustrophobia and unease while I was reading it. Overall I think it was a good read, though I struggled to get through some parts of it.

In my opinion the low ratings for this book can largely be attributed to the somewhat unlikeable main characters. A lot of people still don’t understand that unlikeable characters ≠ bad story or bad writing. I think people generally have a low tolerance for female characters anyway so it’s not all that surprising to me. But if you’re someone who wants their protagonists to be likeable then this is not the book for you lol.

[Safa · Rating 3 out of 5]

هذه هي الرواية الثانية التي اقرأها لحنان الشيخ. مع انها لم تحرك فضولي كـ"حكايتي شرح يطول" (التي تركتني ابحث عن صفحات اضافية خشية ان اكون قد نسيت قرائتها)، يجب ذكر ،وللأمانة، ان اسلوبها سلس وروايات نسائها شيقة. تروي حنان الشيخ قصصا على السن 4 نساء: سهى ونور وسوزان وتمر اخيرا. يجمعهن العيش في مساحة الصحراء وصراع البدائية والتمدن في منازلهن وفي رغباتهن.

تطرح الكاتبة الرغبة "الغير نمطية" بجرأة لا تتوافق مع كتاب نشر عام 1988. تتجلى وضوحا في المشهد الحميمي بين البطلتين سهى ونور. لا ادري ان تعمدت الكاتبة المبالغة قليلا في طرحها للعادات والتقاليد العربية في شخصيات بعض سكان الصحراء، و السلوكيات التي تنم عن الكبت في البلد الخليجي وتظهر في شراهة رجال الرواية، الا انني ومن راي بعض النقاد انها تكتب اساسا لجمهور غير عربي قد يتعاطف اولا مع شخصية سهى اللبنانية، التي تباعد بينها وبين "البدائيين" حتى تخرج اخيرا من الصحراء لتعود لتمدن بيروت والحرية التي تسبغها الحضارة.

تعليق اخير: لفتني ان سهى وسوزان (الدخيلتان على الصحراء والمتمدنتان) تسميان العلاقة الجنسية المثلية "شذوذا"، ونور الصحراوية تسميها فقط: "رغبة في الجنس نفسه".