The Locust and the Bird: My Mother's Story

by Hanan Al-Shaykh, حنان الشيخ, Roger Allen (Translator)

In a masterly act of literary transformation, celebrated novelist Hanan al-Shaykh re-creates the dramatic life and times of her mother, Kamila.

Married at a young age against her will, Kamila soon fell head-over-heels in love with another man—and was thus forced to choose between her children and her lover. As the narrative unfolds through the years—from the bazaars, cinemas and apartments of 1930s Beirut to its war-torn streets decades later—we follow this passionate woman as she survives the tragedies and celebrates the triumphs of a life lived to the very fullest.

Genres: Nonfiction, Lebanon, Middle East, Biography, Memoir, Book Club, Biography Memoir

302 pages, Paperback

First published August 25, 2009

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

[Tahani Shihab · Rating 4 out of 5]

قد لا يتقبل المجتمع العربي هذه السيرة أو قد يُصدم من محتويات الرواية، إلا أن الكاتبة خطّت بقلمٍ عذبٍ صادق وجميل سيرة حياة والدتها بكلِّ أحزانها وأفراحها وأتراحها، بكل مآسيها ومساوئها دون حذفٍ أو تجميلٍ أو تنميق، غير آبهة بالانتقادِ أو الامتعاضِ الذي سيبديه من يقرأ هذه السيرة المفعمة بالتراجيديا والكوميديا والمرح وحبّ الحياة.


اقتباس من كلام كاملة


“لا تقسي على ماضٍ تولّى، إنه كان حلوًا لأنّي تحدَّيت الجلّاد، وتحدَّيت القيود في معصمي، واسترجعت حريتي من الجواري المباعة بلا ثمن. القدر كان أقوى مني وحطَّمني، وأخذ كل شيء منِّي، كل. شيء، وأصبحتُ شجرةًَ عاريةً بلا أوراق، أوراقها تقفز من رصيف إلى رصيف مع رفاقها الريح والهواء، وأصبحتُ شراعاً بلا شاطئ… والشجرة العارية تنبت من جديد أوراقًا لامعة، ستبقى لامعة مدى القدر والحياة”.

[Jalilah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most beautiful love stories I've ever read, and it is not at all a romance novel! In fact it's not even fiction it is a biography!
The Locust and the Bird is non-fiction, the telling of author Hana Al-Shayhk's own mothers life. Nevertheless it reads like a novel. Interestingly enough, a complaint I've often read about Al-Shaykh's novels is that her characters are not likeable, but that is not at all the case here! When her mother Kamila was a little girl growing up in the south of Lebanon, so poor that she had to gather left over wheat from the fields for her meals, I just wanted to adopt her!
After moving to Beirut with her mother and brother she is not allowed to go to school, rather sent to work with a seamstress. It is here that she meets a young student named Mohammed who will become the love of her life. After her older sister dies, she is forced at age 14 to marry her decades older brother in law. As a reader I just wanted to rescue her! I laughed at her mischievous and rebellious antics to get away from her controlling family. As a young women I applauded her bravery to leave her husband to be with her true love.
As she matures into witty, clever and resourceful woman she becomes the type of person that everyone would want to have for a friend. A large part of this story takes place in pre-civil war Lebanon. One gets a good feeling what the Beirut, once named " the Paris of the Middle East" must have been like. Reading this book took me on a voyage back in time to a different place leaving me with the feeling that Kamila is someone I've known very well. Highly recommended for everyone interested in reading something different!

[youmnaa teleb · Rating 5 out of 5]

ريفيوهات متأخرة بسبب الكسل*

"وكان الحب يترك كلانا فى صحراء، كلما ازداد قربنا وشربنا من ماء سعادتنا، اشتد ظمأ أحدنا للآخر. أعاتبه ويعاتبني، أحاسبه ويحاسبني، لأننا لا نستطيع أن يخترق أحدنا الآخر، ويختفي داخله. كان الواقع يسد أمامنا أي فتحة نحاول أن ننفذ منها.."

حكايتنا شرح يطول يا كاملة، كلانا ذاق الألم والمرَّ، تتقاطع حياتنا _أنا وأنتِ_ في طريق الألم فقط، لا غيره.
سمعت حكايتك أيتها الشجاعة كاملة، فتأثرت كثيرًا وبكيت أكثر.
سيرة ذاتية رائعة.

[Ismail Elshareef · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book--so much so that I read it in one sitting, that's how good it was.

Kamila, the protagonist, grows up poor in a Southern Lebanese village. Her mother, desperate to make ends meet, picks up and moves to Beirut to stay with her kin--a move that proves pivotal in Kamila's story. Ricocheting from one heartbreaking tragedy to another, Kamila finds solace in a forbidden love and Egyptian films starring Mohammed Abdel Wahab. She is, in effect, Juliet who is separated from her Romeo by traditions and duty, learning how to behave and think from the deceptive realities of movies. She has a keen sense of survival that renders her at times unsympathetic, but most importantly, a self-preservationist. Defying religion, society and expectations, Kamila lived out her choices only to find regret tormenting her in her autumn years.

What breaks my heart and what makes this story relevant and universal is that Kamila's story is the reality of so many women and some men living today in patriarchal, religious societies. In some respect, Lebanon of 1934 is eerily similar to Saudi Arabia of 2009. Kamila's story, told beautifully by her daughter, is a window into the world of those tormented souls who carry on happily yet their hearts are heavy with despair and their spirits are acquiescent to defeat.

It's a fascinating and a depressing world, all in the same measure. Peak in, it's guaranteed to move you one way or another.

[Amina Khalil · Rating 4 out of 5]

جميل جدًا وممتع ❤️😍 بداية أحب أن أحيي الكاتبة "حنان الشيخ" بشدة على قوتها وشجاعتها وكتابتها لسيرة والدتها بهذا الصدق 👏👏

أحببت جدًا جدًا خفة دم كاملة الممزوجة بألمها الشديد وعنادها، وعمق تجربتها وما مرت به بالرغم من أن الأسلوب يوحي ببساطة الأحداث..

هنا تحكي الكاتبة "حنان الشيخ" سيرة والدتها كاملة بصدق وبدون مثالية.. حكاية فتاة تنتمي لعائلة فقيرة جاءت من النبطية في جنوب لبنان إلى بيروت في العشرينات من القرن الماضي مليئة بأحلام الطفولة والبراءة، ولكنها تُجبر على الزواج من زوج أختها الكبيرة حماية لأولاد أختها ولأسباب أخرى، ثم أنجبت طفلتها الأولى وهي صغيرة وما تزال تحلم بالحلوى وأساور الشمع الملونة.

ومنذ ذاك الحين وهي تتأرجح بين أمواج الحياة، تعلو مع الموجة السعيدة وتهبط مع الموجة المؤلمة، فيصبح عالمها أكثر غرابة من عوالم القصص والروايات.

أجمل ما في هذا الكتاب هو مدى صدق حنان الشيخ في نقل أفكار وممارسات وطريقة حياة والدتها بدون تجميل، فنقلت لنا بكل شفافية كيف لم تستسلم أمها لحكم العائلة بتزويجها القسري وتمرّدت ورفضت كل أعراف المجتمع.

اجتهدت حنان أن يكون السرد تلقائيًا وعفويًا وساعد هذا الأسلوب في الحفاظ على شخصية الأم وهي شخصية المرأة المرحة العنيدة التي احتالت على كل الظروف بكل ما أوتيت من ذكاء وعناد..

وتختم حنان الشيخ سيرة والدتها قائلة: "هاهي حكايتي كتبتها لي ابنتي حنان حتى إذا رويتها لها توقفت عن لوم نفسي".

[Wissam Mattar · Rating 4 out of 5]

اُسلوب جمل وكأنه حكواتي عصري يروي لك قصة جميلة مليئة بالشجن والامل والحزن للأسف ما زالت المرأة تعاني من هذه السلوكيات في الشرق

جميلة وانصح بها لمن يقرا حنان لأول مرة

[Marwa Zeitoun · Rating 3 out of 5]

سيرة جميلة، قراءة جيدة، لا يمكنك ان لا تتعاطف مع كاملة ولا تقدر جرئتها، ربما لو ان الكاتبة لم تدخل في تفاصيل اليوميات الدقيقة المتكررة ذاتها والاعادة المتتالية، كانت الرواية اتت اقل مللاً

[Paulina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This memoir spoke to me in so many ways! Let's explore them:

I was never to read and write as I am now, if for no other reason but to write my story.
Let me tell you how it hurts when a piece of wood and a piece of lead defeat me. -Kamila,
Hanan's mother

Literacy: I have the privilege to be able to write these words, and you have the same privilege in being able to read them and understand them. I can communicate with people who are thousands of miles away just through a piece of paper and pen or electronic means. There are people in this world who don't have those privileges and who don't have ways to tell their stories other than by narrating them. This memoir is basically a daughter giving her mother a voice through her ability to write. It's a beautiful memoir because it encompasses everything that her mother wanted to tell to the world, her story of hardship but also of deep and unbreakable love.

Mother & Daughter Relationships: As I said above, it's a story where the daughter tells her mother's story, and she does so at the insistence of her mother. Hanan has always thought that she knew her mother's story of how she divorced her father and gave up both Hanan and her sister Fatima. What Hanan doesn't know is the rest of the story, the parts that show her mother's reasons for leaving her behind. We sometimes assume that we know what happened, and that might be true, we might know a fact or two, but the context can make all the difference. In this memoir, that context is everything.

The power of women: Even when at their lowest, the women in this memoir found ways to get what they needed and wanted. It wasn't always the best way to go about things, lying, stealing, blackmailing, but they found a way. I found myself judging these women for doing these things but then I thought "what other way was there?" and I couldn't find an answer. It's an incredibly difficult situation they lived in, one where they had no power, where men dictated everything that they got to do in their lives, and where only other men could save them (in most situations).

Lebanon: I had never before read a book set in Lebanon, through this book I got to know a bit about the culture and history of Beirut and what happened there from the 1930s to the 1970s. History is usually focused on the "big" players, the United States, Germany, the UK, etc., but the histories of other countries is just as important, as well as the perspectives of the people who lived during those times and who were not exactly in the middle of the action.

This book really got me thinking, it's a story of hardship yes, but also of overcoming every obstacle and hanging on to love as best as you can.

I highly recommend it to everyone.

[Kamila Kunda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes reading books in translation, especially in Polish, I feel I miss out on a lot. This was the case with Hanan Al-Shaykh’s “The Locust and the Bird: My Mother’s Story”, which I read in Polish as I got the Polish edition of the book from my Polish friend. Fragments of songs, exchanges between lovers from films and poems are originally, as it is often mentioned, in Egyptian Arabic, and in Polish they sound overly sentimental, pompous and exalted. Where there should be lyricism and passion there is cringe-worthy silly loftiness. The book was originally written in English and I wonder how Arabic was handled in it.
As for the story, it reads very well. Certainly, the author’s mother was a charismatic and strong woman, a unique personality, though not a very likeable one. Others often considered her to be frivolous and selfish and having read the book I tend to somewhat agree with those who knew her well. She was also a woman of a certain time and upbringing, having grown up in Lebanon of the 1930 and lacking formal education, remaining illiterate until her death, therefore I don’t judge her decisions and choices. I was looking in the book for the ambiance of the 20th century Beirut and in that respect Al-Shaykh’s memoir disappointed me but at the same time showed what emancipation of Lebanese women looked like then.
I must also mention the shocking cultural ignorance of the Polish publisher. The title, as one can see on the cover, as well as the titles of all chapters, though written in Polish, are supposed to imitate hindi script, whereas the cover shows a photograph (taken by famous Polish journalist and writer Konrad Piskała) from the Moroccan city Chefchaouen. Both have no relation to the story and its location whatsoever I cannot find any explanation for why a reputable Polish publisher would decide to use them. This is a good example of Polish orientalism, “Let’s put something vaguely oriental on the cover and make the font look ‘exotic’ to give a reader a feeling of reading a book from a foreign culture”, which I despise.

[Kristin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm pretty sure this is the only book I've read that has made me a little afraid that I would actually die from the emotional upheaval it made me feel. Would some important vein burst in my brain from the physical pressure of my sympathetic co-experiencing of engulfing sorrow? However, it is not depressing. It's heart-wrenching--there's a vast difference. I cannot adequately summarize or review this book. In fact, it's such a personal biography that I would even say it's private-- I feel that I've violated someone's privacy. I will conclude only with the fact that the photo at the end of Kamila and Muhammad, beautiful and in love, clandestinely taken in some hideaway surrounded no doubt by the terrible forces bent on separating them, will be engraved in my memory forever. I am traumatized.

[Noor · Rating 5 out of 5]

وُفقت حنان الشيخ في كتابة السيرة الذاتيه لأمها كاملة فضحكنا لظرافتها وبكينا لألمها وعشنا قصة حب جميلة وصادقة على الرغم من كل شئ

[Majd Hamad · Rating 5 out of 5]

واحدة من أجمل وأفضل السير الذاتية التي قرأتها في حياتي

[Mandy Partridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Child marriage is Paedophilia. There I said it. The uncomfortable feeling you get when you read a book about a 14 year old girl married to her 32 year old brother-in-law is the disgust of a culture which sells little girls to adult men, against her wishes, and she has no escape. Hanan Al-Shaykh tells her mother's story of being a child bride in Lebanon in 1934, and her own story in the USA some 60 years later. We still live in a sexist world where rape is barely seen as a crime and most rapists get away with it repeatedly for their whole lives, but at least Paedophilia is against the law now.
As one reads this sad story, one sees how the entire society is structured around Ignorance and Child Abuse, from the laws, to the religion, to people's everyday social interactions, enabling Paedophilia to thrive. Hanan's mother Kamila runs away from her Paedo 'fiance', leaves Beirut for her country home, but her father has already received the ten pieces of gold which he sold her for, so there is no escape from the Paedo she must marry.
The world is still full of rapists and sexism, but at least the disgusting practice of child marriage is mostly outlawed, except for in the countries which still practice legal Paedophilia, like Saudi and the USA. The age of consent should be 16 and 18 for marriage, everywhere. Read this book if you want to understand what it's like for a little girl to be forced into sexual service to a Paedophile and made an illiterate house slave, for life.
It turned my stomach. Many times.
Educate girls and women. No child marriage. Stamp out Paedophilia and rape and sexual abuse. The educated men in this book , like the doctors in the hospital who delivered this child's baby, knew that Paedophilia was wrong, and the paedo husband was too frightened to attend the hospital, because he knew it was wrong too. Ugh.
So glad that the protagonist got away to the racist and sexist USA, where women's lives are slightly better than in the Middle East.
Feminist sisters and brothers, we still have so much work to do before we reach Equality.

[Tamara Agha-Jaffar · Rating 2 out of 5]

In The Locust and the Bird: My Mother's Story, the contemporary Arab author Hanan Al-Shaykh writes the biography of Kamila, her mother. Al-Shaykh tells the story of her mother’s childhood in 1930s Lebanon, her forced marriage at the age of 14, her illicit love affair with the man who later became her second husband, her divorce from her first husband, her second marriage, her widowhood and its aftermath. The narrative construction is unusual in that Al-Shaykh tells her mother’s story from her mother’s point of view, through her mother’s voice.

We experience the Arab world through Kamila’s lens. She is a child forced into a marriage with her much older brother-in-law after the death of his first wife. Although she is defiant and resourceful, she is also immature. She never seems to grow up or to assume the responsibilities of an adult—even after giving birth to seven children. Denied access to schooling, she remains illiterate all her life. Her knowledge of the world and how it operates is influenced by what she sees on the movie screen. She confuses the real world with the glitz of Egyptian movies and the lives of Egyptian movie stars. Struggling with debt after the death of her second husband, Kamila does what she has been doing all her life: she relies on her good looks and charm to get her through her difficulties.

In her later years, Kamila comes to regret the choices she made in life, including abandoning her two oldest daughters in order to be with the man she loves. But in spite of her remorse, she does not come across as a sympathetic or endearing character. She is self-absorbed, selfish, and has no qualms about using people—especially her children—to achieve her goals.

Because Kamila is illiterate, she has to rely on those around her to shape her worldview. As a consequence, she espouses a narrow worldview with very limited options. It is not surprising she is incompetent when it comes to managing a budget, running a household, or raising children. She has never been taught. And what female role models she does have were denied the same opportunities, rendering them equally incompetent.

Kamila’s tragedy lies in the fact she is never allowed to reach her potential. She has a romantic spirit that longs to soar. She loves the language of poetry, composing poems and committing them to memory but unable to write them down. Her family insists on keeping her illiterate, a situation she regrets all of her life. Forced into an unwanted marriage to a man nearly two decades her senior, castigated as a fallen women when she finally divorces him and marries the man she loves, she spends most of her adult years pregnant with one child after another. There is little room for individual growth or development under such challenging circumstances. But Kamila has the last word when she convinces her daughter to put pen to paper and write her life story.

Unfortunately, Al-Shaykh’s biography of her mother rambles, its prose simplistic and choppy. It reads like a diary—a series of unfocused, disconnected, episodic events that lack coherence or an organizational plan. But the book does have value in that it illustrates the deleterious impact on women when society denies them choice and opportunity for growth and development.

Throughout history, different cultures have oppressed girls and severely constrained their mobility and intellectual development. Whether they were kept barefoot, ignorant, or pregnant; subjected to the horrors of female infanticide, foot binding, or genital mutilation; bartered or sold off to an early marriage or prostitution, girls and women have historically been treated as pawns to be used and abused for the economic benefit of their families.

Kamila is no exception. Her childhood, upbringing, and experience severely hamper the range of possibilities available to her as a young girl growing up in that environment at that time and in that place. Unfortunately, many young girls throughout the world continue to experience the same harsh restraints—restraints that deprive them of the ability to thrive and flourish. As such, The Locust and the Bird: My Mother's Story serves as a cautionary tale of wasted potential and thwarted aspirations.

[Anood Alsuwaity · Rating 4 out of 5]

في حكايتي شرح يطول تحكي لنا حنان الشيخ سيرة والدتها "كاملة" بحساسية وصدق رائعين.. حكاية فتاة من "النبطية" تنتمي لعائلة شيعية فقيرة في الثلاثينات من القرن الماضي مليئة بأحلام الطفولة والبراءة. تنزح الى بيروت ككثيرين نتيجة للفقر الشديد لتلقى العالم بوجهه الآخر ولتبدأ حياة أخرى مختلفة تماما عن حياتها في الجنوب.

تطلعنا هذه الرواية على المجتمع الشيعي الفقير في الجنوب اللبناني بكل عاداته وتقاليده ومفاهيمه، كما يمكن للقارئ مقارنته بالحياة في بيروت الحية ومجتمعهاالمتفتح

أجمل ما في الرواية هو مدى صدق حنان الشيخ في نقل أفكار وممارسات وطريقة حياة والدتها بدون تجميل او تزيين او تغيير، فنقلت لنا بكل شفافية اعتراض "كاملة" على المفاهيم المتوارثة وانقيادها وراء روحها وجسدها لحبيبها رافضة كل أعراف المجتمع

وتختم حنان الشيخ سيرة والدتها قائلة: هاهي حكايتي كتبتها لي ابنتي حنان حتى اذا رويتها لها توقفت عن لوم نفسي

[Annalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Throughout the book, I was amazed at how different the culture and outlook on life was. It was very interesting to read a true account and gain a new perspective on life in the Middle East. What made the book less enjoyable is that, although I had great empathy with Kamila, I found her silly and immature. I think this may be because women were treated like eternal children in that male-dominated society and of course many women would just not grow up. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have under those circumstances. It enraged me to read about those young girls being forced into marriage with older men. To me this is sexual abuse of children, plain and simple. And the worst of all is that it is still happening today. I feel strongly about respecting other people's cultures, but you have to draw the line somewhere!

[Amani · Rating 5 out of 5]

أحببت هذه السيرة الذاتية
بساطة الأسلوب
اللهجة العامية أيضاً ، طريقة الوصف كانت تنقلني معها إلى الأحراش والجبل والمصيف
استطاعت المؤلفة أن تنقلني من سريري إلى واحة خضراء في أراضي لبنان
وعلى الرغم من ذلك لم أستطيع أن أبرر الخيانة الزوجية ، في قاموسي لا يوجد مايبرر الخيانة والكذب على الإطلاق
إن إضافت الرواية لي شيء فهو عمق عاطفة الحب عند الرجل المتمثلة في العاشق والزوج الثاني لكاملة محمد ، هذا المجنون الذي لم يستطيع نسيان حبيبته الأولى وتسببه في طلاقها ومحاربته للعالم من أجلها ، وتبريره لكل أخطائها كقياما بتهريب الفتاة المقبوض عليها عند الحدود
عند إسقاطي لحياة كاملة على حياتي الشخصية ومجتمعي لم أستطيع حبها أو التعاطف معها فهي بالنسبة لنا كمجتمع خائنة وذنبها غير مغفور
ولكن أستطعت أن أحبها فقط على الورق
ربما تضاف هذه الصفة لتناقضاتنا

[رولا البلبيسي Rula Bilbeisi · Rating 2 out of 5]

"حكايتي شرح يطول"
حنان الشيخ

بالرغم من تكامل الأحداث والشخصيات والزخم التاريخي الجدير بالكتابة، أضف الى كل ذلك واقعية الحدث، إلا أن أسلوب السرد المباشر والمتواصل الذي استخدمته الكاتبة لم يشعرنا بأننا نقرأ رواية مكتملة العناصر، بل مجرد يوميات بسيطة خالية من العمق الروائي، وبطريقة لا تجذب القارئ بل تدفعه للملل.

كنت أشعر أثناء القراءة وكأنني أهرول بين صفحة وأخرى، دون أن أتوقف لتحليل حدث أو شخصية. متابعة حياة الشخصية الأساسية لم تدفعني الى التعاطف معها، أو تقدير جرأتها، أو استلطاف خفة دمها، بل الى الشعور بغبائها، وعدم تقديرها لحجم المسؤولية التي تقع على عاتقها. حتى في وصفها لهذا الحب الجارف الذي ربطها بمحمد، وجدت قدرتها المتواصلة على الخيانة دون الشعور بأي ذنب ليست جرأة بل وقاحة، وليست كسرا" للتقاليد، بل امتهان لمعنى الحرية التي تطلبها المرأة في مجتمعاتنا العربية.

[Jihen Bechri · Rating 5 out of 5]

من أجمل السّير الذاتيّة التي يمكن قراءتها ، أنا أحبّ جدا الأقلام النسائيّة ، أحبّ المعاناة التّي يخططنها ثمّ ينتصرن ، أحبّ وصفهنّ لرحلة الحياة ..
حنان الشّيخ تكتب قصّة أمّها كاملة ، الطّفلة التّي أجبروها على الزّواج والإنجاب وهي تحلم بالحلوى وأساور الشّمع الملونة ، تقول كاملة : ثمّ ما إن أعود بعد أيّام ، وأرى الأولاد ينادونني ويتعاركون ، ويبكون ويضحكون ، ويشدّون بفستانِي ، حتى أغمض عينيّ وأنا أفكّر : " لماذا لا يدعونني أنام ، من هم هؤلاء الأولاد ؟ لماذا ينادوني ماما، وأنا مثلهم، أريد أن ألعب ، وأقفز، وأنام ، وأغنّي ، وأنادي سواي ماما؟

[Maha · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best of Hanan Al-Shaykh - a true gem. She surprises us, not only with its details, description of places and characters, but with the truth that she shares with us. A friend read the English translation and found it interesting and excellent. The novel also informs us about life in Lebanon in the first half of the twentieth century.

[Odai Al-Saeed · Rating 3 out of 5]

رواية تحكي الشقاء والوان الفقر ومآسي العوز .سيرة ذاتية كتبت بالدموع عن والدة حنان الشيخ والظروف التي قاستها العائلة التي تنتمي جذروها الى الجنوب الشيعي اللبناني المقهور حاله كحال اغلب الشعب العربي المقهور .وضمن سرد ممتع تاخذك الرواية الى عالم الطفولة وبؤس الحياة لتسرد حكاية مشوقة وممتعة

[الزهراء الصلاحي · Rating 4 out of 5]

"حكايا بكايا، شرح يطول، لو ما جرادة ما علق عصفور."

أحب السير الذاتية عامة، والصادقة والجريئة منها خاصة.
وجاءت هذه السيرة حاملة معها كل ما لذ وطاب!

سيرة امرأة، لكنها قبل أن تكون امرأة كانت طفلة صغيرة، تلعب وتلهو "وتحب"، وفجأة وجدت نفسها في غرفة واحدة مع زوج أختها المتوفاة حتى لا يتشرد أولاد أختها ويتيتموا مع امرأة غريبة، ولم يفكر أحد في الطفلة أبداً!

سيرة جريئة لامرأة عربية،
والأجرأ أنها أمية، ومن كتبت سيرتها هى ابنتها "حنان"!

طوال القراءة وأنا أتساءل، كيف تمكنت من رواية هذه الأحداث لابنتها!!
كيف لم تستحِ منها، وكيف لم تخف أن تحذو حذوها؟!

"كاملة" الفتاة الصغيرة البهية،
المحبة للسينما والرقص والغناء،
المنفتحة على الحياة ومباهجها،
التي تعلمت كيف تحب قبل أن تعرف ماهيته!

تمت
٢٣ أبريل ٢٠٢٢

[imen zrour · Rating 3 out of 5]

هي سيرة ذاتية ولكن لوالدة الكاتبة..
قصة عن تمرد الجسد والعقل لامرأة أمية وفقيرة عاصرت ثلاثينيات القرن الماضي، اختارت الطريق المستحيل للعيش وسط العادات والتقاليد الثقيلة التي ترزح تحتها المرأة بالذات.
كمية الصدق وافرة في الرواية، لا عجب أن تثير استهجان واستنكار القارئ.، فلا زلنا لا نتصور المرأة العربية تنتصر لجسدها وقصة حبها مقابل سمعتها ومصير عائلتها..
البداية رائعة ، وسط الرواية ممل والنهاية مؤثرة وجميلة جدا. المرجعيات الفنية متنوعة وجميلة .
أول مصافحة مع حنان الشيخ ولن تكون الأخيرة.
3.5

[Salam Husari · Rating 5 out of 5]

حكايتي شرحٌ طويل!
وحده العنوان كفيل بأن يطلق آهاته عند بحث الكاتبة بين الأحرف لتجد عنواناً يُناسب واقع الرواية دون مبالغة، رواية عميقة أكثر ما جذبني بقرائتها التناسق الجميل بين العمق في الحياة الشخصية والسطحية المتداولة بشرقنا بشكلٍ يتشابه بكثرة فتجعلك الكاتبة تشعر بعالمك يتداخل في عالم الرواية لتجد نفسك بطلاً أو شخصيةً أخرى بهذا العالم.
أحببت قرائتها جداً.

[Helena · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have liked to like this book more than I did. I hoped to read about Lebanon in the 19th century, but this was a biographical story of Kamila, whom I found such an immature person. Her childish and romantic fantasies and relationships weren't interesting and I really didn't like Kamila as a person at all. A little disappointment for me.

[Neda · Rating 3 out of 5]

از لحاظ ادبی کتاب چندان چشم‌گیری نیست. اما زندگی واقعی زنی بی‌سواد را تعریف می‌کند که به شیوه خودش با سنت‌های جامعه لبنان در دهه‌های سی و چهل میلادی مبارزه کرده. زن شجاعی که برای عشق و زندگی‌اش دست و پا زده. زنی که مادر حنان الشیخ نویسنده لبنانی کتاب است

[Bloodorange · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing deserved more than 2 stars, I think, but the book was frustrating in many ways and I did not enjoy it.

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

Al-Shaykh introduces us to her mother at the start of the book as a woman she barely knows, someone who abandoned her and her sister when they were small, and who appears mostly as a chaotic force. Although the prose is restrained, her hurt shines through. In an act of courage, love, creativity and skill, she then switches voice, to tell her mother's story in her own words.
A very different picture emerges from this, of a girl raised in rural poverty, then treated as a servant to a wealthier family in Beirut. A strong-willed girl denied any schooling or literacy, she steals time to herself at the cinema, remains terrible at housekeeping, and flirts with the gorgeous young toff in the neighbourhood. Their burgeoning attraction - Romeo and Juliet-style passion for these teenagers - is not enough to stop her child marriage to her widowed brother-in-law at the age of fourteen or the birth of her first child a year later. Nor are those things enough to stop the love affair. In the end, forced to choose between the possibility of freedom or custody of her daughters, she chooses herself - and, having done so barely looks back.
Neither Hanan nor her mother come out of this story as saints. Kamila is impetuous, self-centred and desperately hungry for love. Through her eyes, we see the hurt inflicted by Hanan's rejection and disinterest, her application of judgements from a world of difference.
But really, this book is a celebration of survival, and in that, a deep condemnation of a society that denies women education and autonomy. Kamila's selfishness feels earned - she has no reason to assume that anything will come to her if she does not take it. Kamila loves stories - the cinema is her obsession, and her attraction to her lover is, in part, that he reads to her and loves literature. Hanan recognises this shared passion as they reunite. Her mother draws, sings, and tells stories - in yet another act of rebellion, she adopts the image of a rose and a bird as a signature, rather than malformed letters that convey her illiteracy. But she cannot write down what her mind sees.
Hanan also obliquely explores the ways in which judge mothers who do not fight for custody. Kamila knows that she will not get more custody than her husband allows. To leave is to surrender her children, and the difficulty of this decision is drawn out. Having made it, she gets on with her life, seeking to keep the girls in it, but eschewing legal processes she would never have won. I was uncomfortably aware of how easy it is to focus on what she did not do rather than on those who made her choose in the first place.
What the book does well, is wonderful, and the voice is engaging, polished and varied. It does, however, have some pacing issues (common in family biographies, I think, where cutting out detail must be painful). The middle section drags a little, and it becomes hard to keep track of when things are occurring at times. It is not, however, the kind of book that needs to be perfect. It is pretty good just the way it is.

[Kareem Adawy · Rating 3 out of 5]

كاملة وهي عندها 14 سنة اهلها كانوا عايزين يجوزوها زوج اختها اللي ماتت، وعشان تهرب منهم راحت لفاطمة جارتها الخياطة اللي قالتلها إحنا في بيروت بنجوز البنات وهما صغيرين اه لكن التقاليد تقاليد، والتقاليد بتقول إن العريس مينفعش يتجوز العروسة غير ما يجيب لها كل طلباتها، فلو عايزه تبوظي الجوازه فعلا لازم “تكعّيهم”، يعني تطلب منهم طلبات تعجيزيه يرفضها جوز اختها وتبوظ الجوازة.

كاملة قعدت تفكر وتفكر، وأول ما رجعت بيت أهلها خطر على بالها الطلب الجهنمي اللي هيعّجز جوز اختها البخيل، قالتله: بدي إياك تحضرلي فرخة محمرة!

عارف مشكلة أدب السير الذاتية عمومًا؟
هو إنه دايمًا بيحكي حكايات ناس خارقة، علماء ومفكرين وسياسيين ومليونيرات. ن��س الفكرة في التليفزيون والسوشيال ميديا واليوتيوب، كلهم السبب الوحيد لذكر قصتهم إنهم مش عاديين. وده بيخلينا بشكل ما ننسى قيمة أن يكون المرء عاديًا، أو بمعنى أصح ننسى نعرّف كلمة عادي!

في فيلم Awakenings كان فيه مشهد عبقري بين دي نيرو وروبن ويليامز. دي نيرو كان عنده Encephalitis وبيعاني من صعوبات في الحركة والكلام والاستجابة لكل شئ حواليه من وهو عنده 11 سنة، وفجأة الدوا الجديد بيعمل نتيجة غير متوقعة، دي نيرو يبدأ يستعيد قدراته الذهنية والجسمانية تاني، يبدأ يتحرك ويتكلم ويتجاوب مع اللي بيحصل حواليه، يبدأ يمشي ويرقص ويلبس هدومه لوحده، بيبدأ يبقى انسان عادي تاني، وحط تحت عادي ميت خط.

في المشهد دي نيرو بيحكي لدكتوره روبن ويليامز عن دهشته من خمول الناس تجاه كونهم عاديين، طبيعين، كونهم عايشين عمومًا، بيقوله:

“اقرأ الجرائد، ماذا تقول؟ كلها أخبار سيئة. لقد نسى الناس حول ماذا تدور الحياة، لقد نسوا معنى أن تكون على قيد الحياة. إنهم يحتاجون أن نذّكرهم، أن نذّكرهم بما يملكون وبما يمكنهم فقدانه، بما أشعر الان من بهجة الحياة، من هدية الحياة، من حرية الحياة. كل هذا يجب أن يُستغل، بالعمل، باللعب، بالصداقة، بالعائلة. هذه هي الأشياء التي تهم، هذه هي الأشياء التي نساها الناس، أبسط الأشياء!”

لو بصينا على نظرة الناس للشئ العادي هتلاقيه انه الشئ الممل، المش مفيد، الغير مثير للاهتمام. تخيل التعريف ده وبص حواليك وشوف ينطبق على إيه وايه لأ. بالتعريف ده، مفيش حاجة عادية في أن يكون المرء على قيد الحياة. في انه يكون أب، ام، زوج، ابن، صديق، موظف، طالب، كلها حاجات مش عادية ومش سهلة ومش هيّنة!

دي الحقيقة اللي بننساها وإحنا كل يوم بنراقب الناس ال”مش عاديين” ونفتكر إن أي حاجة أقل منهم مش مثيرة للاهتمام، وده السبب اللي خلاني احب الكتاب ده. وكأنه محاولة لتقدير الحياة العادية بتناول حكاية واحدة عادية هتقابل زيها ملايين بتشوفهم من بعيد عاديين، بس لما تقرب وتشوف تفاصيل حياتهم هتكتشف إن مفيش حاجة حصلتلهم كانت عادية، إن مفيش حاجة حصلتلك نقدر نقول عليها عادية، إن مفيش حاجة بتحصل عادية!

طفلة من النبطية في لبنان، تتولد بين أب مهمل وأم مكافحة، وتوديها الدنيا وتجيبها، تروح بيروت ومنها تتعرف على السينما اللي بتغير حياتها، تتجوز مرتين، مرة بالغصب والمصلحة والاجبار، ومرة تانية بالحب والتمرد والأشعار، تنجب 5 بنات وولدين، منهم بنت هتبقى روائية كبيرة اسمها حنان الشيخ وهي اللي تكتبلها سيرتها الذاتية قبل ما تموت.

في نهاية حياة كاملة، وهي عايشة في امريكا، بنتها بدأت تقلب في الورق القديم بتاعها وتكتشف واحدة واحدة قسوة الحياة اللي عاشتها أمها وهي طفلة بتلف على البيوت عشان تلاقي أكل ليها هي واخوها، فبعتت كاملة ليه رسالة بتلخص حياتها وبتقول:

“لا تقسي على ماضٍ تولى، إنه كان حلوًا لأني تحديت الجلاد وتحديت القيود في معصمي، واسترجعت حريتي من الجواري المباعة بلا ثمن“

اعتقد لو دقننا في السير الذاتية للعاديين، وكنا منصفين في التدقيق، هنكتشف في الآخر إن حياة الشخص العادي مفيهاش أي حاجة عادية.

[Leila · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book!

The author Hanan tells the life story of her mother Kamila from Kamila’s POV. Kamila was born in Nabatieh and moved to Beirut in her youth, where she was married off at age 11. She soon fell in love with another man, Muhammad, and eventually left her husband and 2 daughters (including Hanan!) to be with Muhammad.

This book was heartbreaking but also hilarious. I love Kamila’s spirit especially in the face of the inhumane treatment she faced. I want to be her bestie and I know we would LOL 24/7 but also my heart weeps for her.

This also makes me wish I had kept up with my Arabic studies because Muhammad would write the most beautiful love letters to Hanan and I just know that they hit different in Arabic