اسمي ثورة

by Mona Prince, منى برنس

شهادة شخصية أدبية من على الأرض لتجربة الـ18 يوم بالتحريرأقف على الرصيف ألتقط نفسي، يمر من أمامي البلطجية، أفتح فمي كي أفضحهم، صوتي لا يخرج، يلمحني أحدهم، فيضع إصبعه على فمه، إشارة أن أسكت، الجميع يجري باتجاه التحرير، فقط العساكر والضباط وبلطجيتهم يهرولون في الاتجاه العكسي، وقد سلبوا من أقنعتهم، ودروعهم، وعصيانهم، وبنادقهم، وخوذاتهم، لا أصدق ما أرى، الشرطة تتقهقر مطأطأة الرأس خالية اليدين، دون أن يصيبهم المتظاهرون بأي أذى، أشكرك يا رب

Genres: Egypt, Memoir, Nonfiction, Politics

247 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Zainab · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful and immersive book. What a gem!

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finished Revolution Is My Name: An Egyptian Woman’s Diary from Eighteen Days in Tahrir by Mona Prince and I loved it. I know Mona and all her honesty, humour and frankness comes through in this account of events in Tahrir Square in 2011.
Mona pulls no punches and it is a very personal account. She doesn’t try to make it a journalistic or historical account but rather goes for capturing the atmosphere and the human interactions that she experienced. The sometimes tense and evolving interactions between Mona and her family are unflinchingly recorded and echo conversations that would have been held across Cairo. Equally enlightening and entertaining are the asides that the author or her fellow protesters make during various political announcements.
There is a map to help anyone unfamiliar with downtown Cairo that shows the key locations mentioned in the text. It would have been a bonus if there could have been some photographs to illustrate the events in the book but overall this is a wonderful read.

[Karlie B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had to read for a class. I appreciate her writing style. Because of her academic background, I feel it was more easily digested than some of the other autobiographies we read for the class. I love the personality she gives in this. Her moral convictions against those of Egyptian society mixed with the brewing conflict worked together well

[Zuzana · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really did not enjoy reading this book. I found it repetitive and naive, however, it does raise some interesting questions about the relevance of revolutions in todays world.

[Abdalla Nasef · Rating 5 out of 5]

Worth reading.

[Aijaz]

I want to read this

[nideen · Rating 4 out of 5]

(4.5)

[Carla (literary.infatuation) · Rating 3 out of 5]

“If I can't dance to it, it's not my revolution.” - Emma Goldman.


Emma Goldman would have loved the Egyptian Revolution, if we take her quote to heart. It was witty, it was funny, creative, personal and oh so very Egyptian. It was a show and it was dead serious. It was tragic and comedic. Overall, it was hopeful. Mona Prince captures all of that in her telling of it titled “Revolution Is My Name”. It’s educational and personal. It really opens a window into the Egyptian character. But, she is as an engaging narrator as was my grandpa. Great stories, but they could have been told better. The narrative is so repetitive it makes you want to skip pages. But overall, it’s a very interesting read.

[Bella · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75

Content wise this book is essential reading for the Egyptian revolution, and I recommend all around. Recommended to me by my Middle Eastern studies Professor, this was worth a read.

As for the writing it can get a little repetitive and lack a strong narrative structure, but if you don't approach it like a novel or solely on the book's literary merits, these things can, and should, be ignored.

Fantastic look at the revolution from the ground level.