Middle East/North African Lit discussion

I am delighted to open the discussion of our first group read for 2021. Written by one of my all-time favorite authors, Flight Against Time / الإقلاع عكس الزمن is a story of immigration, in this case from Lebanon to Canada. I have read the first few pages (of the English translation by Issa J. Boullata) and so far it seems realistic and believable, representing the cultural differences between mountain village life and life in Beirut, which is a common topic in Nasrallah's writing.

I also happen to be listening to the audiobook of What Happened to Zeeko (the Arabic original, read by the author), which is a sensitive story about her daughter's cat and the beginning of the Lebanese Civil War. Nasrallah, who worked as a journalist and interviewed many 20th-century celebrities, has a talent for clear observations and concise, memorable descriptions. I have always found her work very relatable.

I look forward to seeing what she has to say about this immigrant experience, about what it is like to move from one place to another, about how to pick up the pieces and create a new life.

Melanie wrote: "I am delighted to open the discussion of our first group read for 2021. Written by one of my all-time favorite authors, Flight Against Time / الإقلاع عكس الزمن is a ..."

Great! I'm looking forward. Sorry, I think I asked before, but where did you find the Arabic audiobook?

Audible has 2 audiobooks for Emily Nasrallah (unfortunately not Flight Against Time).
1) يوميات هر here
2) طيور ايلول here (which I plan to listen to later in 2021 - let me know if you want to do a buddy read - sorry it's in Arabic only as of now, but I'm working on getting it translated to English :)

Thanks! Happy to do the buddy read in Arabic....although I might prefer 2) as an ebook.

I loved it so hope everyone else will to. I am having a go at the Zeeko one too.

I'm so glad you liked it Richard. Looking forward to hearing more of your thoughts. Marcia, sounds good. I'll be in touch!

Hope to get started on this today or tomorrow.

I'm looking forward to it, but won't get to it for a few weeks.

The group read is for January and February 2021, and as always, the discussion thread remains open forever. So take your time and join in whenever you like. Looking forward to it!

I am ca. 13% in and really enjoying it. If the book continues like that I have high hopes that this will be my first 5 star read of this year! I adore how she narrates from the perspective of the old man, deeply rooted in village life on his way to see his children in Canada for the first time in 20 years... Simply brilliant!

I also like the inside view from Radwan. It is clear he loves his home and his children very much. I'm not far in yet, Radwan, Um Nabeel, and Simaan are on the plane to Canada.

hi! I have been a silent member for a while now, but I will read this book -just downloaded the e-book in Arabic. Thank you for updating the Facebook page :)

Yes, I’m enjoying it too. Happy to keep hearing your thoughts. More later!

I managed to start it yesterday and is enjoying the tone and pace. I like the way Radwan's thoughts are conveyed.

Infected by your enthusiasm, I purchased the Kindle version ($4,73). Thanks for selecting and pointing out this book, its opening scenes are amazing.

Yay! Happy to be reading with you all. Enjoy opening the new year with reading :)

I got to this sooner than expected and enjoyed it. I think it conveys a lot of information on the immigrant experience - the alienation of the generations as traditions are changed and adapted, the need of the first generation to "fit in" to the society that they join and the challenges of the second generation who doesn't quite fit in either side. I'd like your thoughts on how she captured the civil war experience as she seems to create a "universal" Lebanese in Radwan not aligned to a specific faction which would seem unlikely.

Thanks for the question about the civil war experience as universal, without factions. I'm just over 1/4 of the way through the book, so I might have more to say later, but for now that experience of the civil war seems consistent with what I have read, seen, and heard (from people who lived through it). Alliances shifted throughout the fighting and there were multiple factions. In addition, in southern Lebanon where Radwan lived, Israel was involved in the fighting (from outside). His perspective is reflected in this quote: "And he remained incapable of understanding the international game that had chosen the south on Lebanon for an arena." In another book by Emily Nasrallah (What Happened to Zeeko), she writes about her own family's experience at the beginning of the war. The soldiers who came to her neighborhood and fought were not from her neighborhood. There was no connection between the residents and those fighting there. This results in an atmosphere of confusion and helplessness: Who is fighting? Why? The answers to these questions were hard to answer and were changing. I'm no expert on the war, but that's my understanding for now.

In my reading, I find this book and its main characters so sweet and relatable. Here are some things that stood out to me so far:

"Man, here, is an ant, he thought to himself. People congregate, walk in groups like ants, unknown in a world that does not know them or care for them. In his village, man was still big. He still counted, from childhood until he reached old age. His place was still preserved in the hearts of his compatriots. Even death was unable to destroy that place at times."

Radwan has this thought on an airplane, which can give a person the distance to feel like this--like people are like ants! Even in the choices we make in life, regarding career or place of residence, we probably find ourselves deciding whether we'd rather be a big fish in a small pond or a small fish in a big pond. Here Radwan feels like a small fish in a big pond, and he thinks of village life as a "big fish in a small pond" experience. I wonder if any of you have similar experiences. As someone who grew up in a rural setting, lived in various urban settings, and now lives in a small town, I have experienced a range on this spectrum. I think there's value to having experienced multiple perspectives. Here Radwan is broadening his horizons later in life. It's a great reminder that we can always learn and grow.

"How was it that those events stayed so clear in his memory after all the other things he had experienced in his life had been forgotten? Why was it that some memories did not vanish?"

It's beautiful to me that the memories Radwan retains most easily are memories of how he met his wife and courted her. And his question is one we can probably all relate to. It's fascinating the way the mind holds on to certain memories and lets others go. This reminds me of a quote by Maya Angelou: "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” In my experience, this is true: We remember our feelings.

" 'Good people are everywhere, um Nabeel,' Radwan said."

This observation is one I have made often, especially while traveling. It reflects the hope I feel, which I cherish especially in hard times (like during the pandemic).

"They surrendered to hugs and kisses, to tears and smiles, to words mumbled in confusion in order to fill the awe of the occasion, the silence that reigned, reminding the witnesses that this was a turning point, a decisive moment in life, a milestone in history. Radwan did not sober up from the intoxication of the reunion."

This meeting at the end of a long trip is so easy to for me to picture. It reminds me of the opening scene of the film "Love Actually" in which many different people come together in the airport, each person absorbed in appreciation of reconnecting with one or more other people. And then it's lovely how Radwan's character reacts from this charged meeting to break out dancing, and everyone joins in, and dances the dabke. And it's equally lovely to me how Um Nabeel's character cannot and will not break out into expression of emotion like that. It seems true to the characters. For me it's very believable.

I'll stop here. Happy to hear your thoughts!

This is part of a description of Radwan that I particularly liked: "He returned to his inner world, snuggling in its warmth and feeling protected from the cold and domination of this enormous outside world".

Thank you, Melanie. Your insights make a lot of sense to me.

Loved the book, it was a relatively quick read. The characters are not all conveyed with the same depth as Radwa/Abu Nabil, but he’s charming. A mix of wisdom and innocence in this character and definitely a great description of the immigrant experience overall.

I liked the scene when they went fishing and he could find something familiar in this strange land. Also his solitary wandering back home.

I felt the other characters lacked that depth but the conversations were easy to relate to when one is a migrant or has kids across cultures.

I want to rad more stuff like this.

In addition to the reflections about nature, birds especially, the reflections around language were very accurate. I am also trying to go back to the times she uses the word غربة a word that’s very hard to translate (exile? alienation? Être dépaysé?). I made my highlights public, would love to reflect on some.

Inji, thanks for sharing your reflections. I only saw a single public highlight from this book. I commented on it. I'm glad you enjoyed the book. I enjoyed the reading experience too - I tend to like the author's writing style in general. I liked the fishing trip too and how he couldn't sleep the night before, like I child anticipating the next day with excitement.

I love the way he and his wife set off into the unknown: "Radwan had set off on this flight against his time and his days, even against the direction of his memory...whenever he stretched out his hand to open a door, a new world opened up before his eyes, arousing in him the wonder of a child." I love that they seized the moment: "He used to think that future days would give him the opportunity and life would wait. But he learned too late that one should not wait for opportunities, but must create them, define their limits and steal them from the pile of preoccupations and responsibilities."

About غربة that you mentioned, Inji, I liked this quote: "He now understood why Raji plunged into his work. Word for Raji and other immigrants was an escape that helped them forget their alienation, their loneliness and their loss. 'The children of this country belong to this country.'" For the 1st generation pioneers, there is a lack of belonging. The translation is pretty good, by the way. There were definitely places whether I thought I could make it smoother, but there were also many places where I admired how smooth it was.

I enjoyed learning about Lebanon's history (for example, the note about safarbarlek, "a type of military conscription during the Ottoman rule"). And the confusion regarding who was fighting in the Civil War. And there is a section that retells a story of Hasan the Clever, a traditional folk hero.

I loved how emotions are embodied. For example: "He then got up, but was unable to straighten his back. He could not walk upright. The information had hit a bone in his spine, sending splinters into his heart."

For about the last third of the book, the suspense rose considerably. I had no idea where the book was going and wanted to find out what would happen. I wanted Radwan to locate more news about his long-lost family members. (And by the way, if you liked the part about the early immigrant experiences, you would like أميركا by Rabee Jaber, available only in Arabic for now - I'm trying to get it Englished :)

In the end, I didn't love what did happen, but the author wrote a lot of books and of course she can experiment with multiple kinds of endings. It was meaningful, just not what I wanted as a reader. Looking forward to hearing others' thoughts!

I would really like to read this but my library doesn't have it, which is surprising because in Ottawa we have a huge Lebanese community here and our libraries reflect this. Because we are on lockdown again our library has stopped doing inter-library loans. I still can buy it, but I try to only buy books when I am sure I'll love them and read them multiple times.
I wonder about this book?

Jalilah, I understand. I bought both the Arabic and the English and might reread it someday. However, I decided not to buy it for my Mom because of something in the ending. I have some books that I plan to request from the library someday when it's more open. If you decide this is better for you as a library book, you can certainly add your reflections here at a later date.

Jalilah wrote: "I would really like to read this but my library doesn't have it, which is surprising because in Ottawa we have a huge Lebanese community here and our libraries reflect this. Because we are on lockd..."

I got the kindle version which is not too expensive.
I remember that you liked Jamila by Chingiz Aitmatov a lot. Though Flight Against Time is different in many aspects I would still think you will like this one as there is a certain atmosphere of change and a yearning for times already gone resulting from change that pervades both books. I do not know if I get my point across :))) but I can only recommend the novel!

Melanie wrote: "Jalilah, I understand. I bought both the Arabic and the English and might reread it someday. However, I decided not to buy it for my Mom because of something in the ending. I have some books that I..."

That's good to know! I have commented late on many other threads!

Orgeluse wrote:".
I got the kindle version which is not too expensive.
I remember that you liked Jamila by Chingiz Aitmatov a lot. Though Flight Against Time is different in many aspects I would still think you will like this one as there is a certain atmosphere of change and a yearning for times already gone resulting from change that pervades both books. I do not know if I get my point across :))) but I can only recommend the novel!
.."

Yes I don't regret buying Jamilia one bit! I loved it!
I might see how much this book costs and then consider!

Melanie I love how you noticed the embodiment, this I missed, and it makes Radwan/Abu Nabil much more alive.

Reflections on Raji’s work and conflicting world views are also very insightful, sometimes Abu Nabil’s genuine surprise at things others take for granted is just enough to show us how the line is thinking lacks logic.

Sorry for the quotes thing, will inbox you some. Glad you read both versions and I will definitely look for Amerika.

PS: I only got to see your post now, still can’t figure out goodreads notifications or threads.

Seems I had to make my highlights visible, here is a favorite.

فاللغة العربية، لم تصبح ميزة بعد. هي لا تزال لغة الفئة “المهاجرة التي جاءت هذه البلاد باحثة عن لقمة العيش

“The Arabic language isn’t an asset/privilege yet, it is still the language of the [first] migrants that came to this country to make a living” (not the best translation but here it is !)

No worries, Inji. I made comments on many of the new highlights I saw. It's fun to see what caught your attention. I'm so glad you enjoyed the book. Feel free to share your thoughts on Amerika someday :)