Middle East/North African Lit discussion

Please join us discussing Celestial Bodies.

Who is in? :)

N.B:
You can also share your thoughts about her new book Bitter Orange Tree.

I'm reading Bitter Orange Tree, the same author's newest book. I plan to post my thoughts about it here. Is anybody else reading this or Celestial Bodies for this group read?

I read Celestial Bodies three years ago, and Bitter Orange Tree a couple of months ago. I don't think I'll be re-reading either novel, again, but I will try to participate in the discussion if I can.

I didn't think her newest book was nearly as good as Celestial Bodies.

I'll be reading Celestial Bodies soon!

I started reading Celestial Bodies months ago but it was so hard to get into the book and stay engaged. I haven't given up on it yet; am hoping this discussion thread will motivate me to go back and finish it.
I just felt her writing to be so detached and wooden. The story hasn't come alive for me yet.

Tamara wrote: "I read Celestial Bodies three years ago, and Bitter Orange Tree a couple of months ago. I don't think I'll be re-reading either novel, again, but I will try to parti..."

Same here! I read Celestial Bodies when it first came out in English and Bitter Orange Tree this year.

I liked both but not enough to reread. My favourite parts in both were learning about the early history or Oman and what life was like before oil was discovered.

For me also, Celestial Bodies I've stopped, because it was to "common" or not interesting enough. I'm not sure if I want to start with her new book. I'm interesting in Oman and books of Omani writers, but also to learn about how life is there.

I started reading Celestial Bodies in Arabic and I'm about 30 pages in so I plan to continue. I lived in Oman for about 5 years so I have some context, but there are many cultural references that I'm going to have ask Omani friends about. I have started reading other Gulf novels and there are some similar themes: colonialism, the supernatural, loss, nostalgia, diaspora, culture shock, oil, etc.

Thanks everyone for chiming in! Here are my thoughts on Bitter Orange Tree...First, the cover art is beautiful!

The novel opens with a chapter titled "Fingers." The London-based protagonist remembers, and dreams of, the hard-working fingers of the woman who raised her back in Oman. Later in the same chapter, she notices a fellow student's pristine fingers. After reading this chapter, I found myself noticing my own fingers and those of others. I liked this attention to details in everyday life. It reminded me of the French film Amélie. The attention to everyday life continues throughout the book...eyeglasses, sex, pineapple juice, coconuts, and cloves.

There is a focus on family and relationships, with references to Omani culture mixed with explorations of life as an Omani woman living in London. Alharthi's storytelling asks many questions, for example: What does it mean to be a Muslim woman? (In this, it reminds me of The Translator and other work by Leila Aboulela.) An Omani woman? A daughter? A sister? How do we make sense of the dramatic changes in Oman over the past century? How do we heal the traumas of the past--slavery, broken families, broken trust, hardship and poverty...? It seems the answer is, in some part, by telling stories of the past and present, expressing the feelings and perspectives that come together in the author.

The translation is excellent. Every word seems carefully chosen--knowing Marilyn Booth, I think it was!

I am about 70 pages of ( Celestial bodies). I am reading it in Arabic. still trying to make an opinion.
Johanna, I think the book is trying to give cultural insights jumping between past and present. personally I know nothing about Oman.

I finished (Celestial bodies), I don't have a solid opinion about the book, but I loved how history and traditions were strong part of the novel. No main protagonist, it is a huge crowded with multi layers and colours of a society moving back and forward between four generations, I managed to follow after a while, yet, some parts were confusing, specifically inside Abdalla's mind.