Middle East/North African Lit discussion

January & February 2011

This stop will include :Morocco, Mauritania ,Algeria, Tunisia and Libya

We are here to share our recommendations for books , two books , one from the guest of honor and the other from the rest of the region , there will be two polls , you can participate in both or one , read one or two books , or just participate in the discussion ..

Our guest of honor is Algeria

So For Book reconditions (I am not expert myself , so I will need your help) ;)

Here we go :

from Algeria
I will start with the one that is originally written in Arabic not French ,and one of the best 100 Arabic novels , by Ahlam Mosteghanemi we have Memory in the Flesh
Also El Taher Wattar , but I could not reach his translated books :(

written in French and For the Nobel prize nominee Assia Djebar, we have Algerian White

written in French , for Yasmina Khadra, we have Wolf Dreams

From the rest of the region

From Libya , one of the best 100 Arabic novels : The Animists wich is two parts in Arabic : المجوس : الجزء الأول
or any book for Ibrahim al-Koni

Also (written in originally English) In the Country of Men


From Tunisia , one of best 100 Arabic novels : Return to Dar Al-Basha

From Morocco (originally in French): Also from Morocco For Bread Alone
which is a a controversial novel , Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood and Stolen Lives: Twenty Years in a Desert Jail

I don't have any of those books :(

Nagwan , I did not notice that you are an Arab :D ,welcome on board , hope you can help us with books from yemen in the book recommendaions thread ?

For here :
You can recommend the books you have from Maghreb countries , it is open for all to recommend ;)

I can not believe I forgot Tahar Ben Jelloun From Morocco !!!

We have :
This Blinding Absence of Light

For Ibrahim al-Koni
we have new two recomendation :The Bleeding of the Stoneand Gold Dust

Nagwan wrote: "I don't have any of those books :("

hi Nagwan! please don't worry yet because we haven't chosen what we'll read and we realize it may be a problem for some people at times depending on where they are in the world. :(
but maybe you know of books that are available in yemen that come from north african writers? like Nile Daughter said, everyone can and should make recommendations here. the more suggestions we get the more exciting the poll will be! :D

Nile Daughter, i love the pictures you posted. everyone really must want a real cruise now! hahaha!

ohhh Marieke , we posted in the same time :p
I was doing my homework and added more books to our bookshelves ! now I have to go ..

Thank you dear , that was very nice of you :D

also from Algeria
So Vast the Prison: A Novel and Children of the New World for Assia Djebar
********
I did not read any of these books , just critics opinionsc , article and reviews

the final polls will not have all of these books , does any one have any comment ?

from Tunisia Pillar of Salt.

also i started reading Desertthis summer and was enjoying it very much.

Tahir al-Wattar's book "The Earthquake" has been translated into English. It doesn't show up in Goodreads (at least not for me), but the translation was published in 2000.

I loved the original. I haven't read the translation, but I've heard it is quite good.

Thanks Marieke :)

Thanks Spencer , I found it on amazon , I will try to add it here
http://www.amazon.com/Earthquake-Midd...

It is great that we have a lot poeple here who are able to read in Arbic ! :)

Here it is , I do not know why it did not show before :
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48...

that book looks great, spencer! also i love the word for "earthquake" in arabic. :D

Hello everyone...
I'm back at last and right on time for the book choice as I see :D
So where is the poll?

Ng wrote: "Hello everyone...
I'm back at last and right on time for the book choice as I see :D
So where is the poll?"

Welcome back :) soon insha Alah ...

I just acquired "So Vast the Prison" and "Children of the New World", and I think I will start reading them, just to get familiar with Algeria...I'll watch for the results of your poll and what others are reading and join in with that....Happy New Year to each of you! Laurie

I'm now ordering Orientalism....

great; laurie! i'm not familiar with So Vast the Prison: A Novel or Children of the New World so i'll be curious to hear from you about your reactions.

and Orientalism looks like it's shaping up to be a fantastic discussion. i'm glad you will join us! :D

Laurie wrote: "I just acquired "So Vast the Prison" and "Children of the New World", and I think I will start reading them, just to get familiar with Algeria...I'll watch for the results of your poll and what oth..."

Sorry both books were not in the poll , even though I want to read them too :) I just picked Assia Djebar's highset rated book

We will try to arrange something so we can all share our readings :)

Since the polls are over
Here are the results :

From Algeria , we have a tie :
Wolf Dreams and Memory in the Flesh
so we will have both on our reading list ! :)

From the rest of the region , we have The Bleeding of the Stone

So good luck everyone getting the books untill we make the discussions arrangements .

Ok.....now I have ordered these three.....I am REALLY in.....much to read....I'll grab my moments as I am able....and I am pleased to have this focus....Thank you, one and all! Laurie

You are welcome :)
We are very excited too

Thank you for joining us :D

I already have a copy of Memory in the Flesh, will try to start reading it soon!

Is there any order we should be reading these books?

Okyrhoe :

I hope you can , I was planning to read it few days ago , but I could not :( hope to be able to next week .

Alicatte :
We could not put an order since all the books are not read by everyone . but each book has a discussion leader that already read the book - exept Wolf Dreams; it may need more time , so you can start by any and post there or comunicate with the leader directly.

Interesting to watch what is going on in Tunisia right now...My heart goes out to these people....

May Gad with these brave poeple !

I am loving The Bleeding of the Stone...only on pg. 41...but it reminds me of the geography of the Navajo Reservation in Arizona and New Mexico where we lived for one year in 1970-1971....His writing is beautiful....The three books I have read (or am reading) are all of such different styles...(the other two are So Vast the Prison and Wolf Dreams).....then I am watching the news of Tunesia and Algeria....I look forward to hearing some of the views of all of you....Have a good day/evening....Laurie

Indeed, i feel a little overwhelmed by how much news is coming out of "our region" right now!

Laurie, how do you like three books with such different styles from roughly the same region? i'm just getting started...

Laurie
I enjoyed reading your post :D

If you are interested in news , Feel free to post any comments about events in here :

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/4...

Thank you, Nile daughter, for this prompt...I haven't even made use of this discussion spot! You are moving me forward in a good way...thank you! Have a good evening....Laurie

You are welcome and thank you too :)

I'm beginning the introduction of Orientalism, and appreciating his writing and scope....I guess as I get further, and after I read Memory in the Flesh (I am waiting to receive it) I will try to summarize my impressions of all the books...But I am grateful all of you are out there, inquiring into some of the same things I am....and each from a different vantage point...Thank you....

I am in the middle of Chaos of the Senses by Ahlam Mosteghanemi....and I have realized how clueless I am about the history of Algeria! I need more background knowledge to truly understand the implications of some of the happenings in the book. Can anyone recommend a website that could give us some extra information?!

Laurie :
I really really admire your enthusiasm !! thank you for your live reading and comments ! waiting for your comments about Orientalism ,it has an active thread ! BTW , I finished the intro and started in chapter one .


Bernadette :
I did not read the book , I only read 6 pages in (Memory in the flesh) so I am afraid I can not help :(

I guess we can start with wikipedia and and history world ; until we find a better source ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_...

http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/P...

Nile daughter wrote: "I guess we can start with wikipedia and and history world ; until we find a better source ? ..."

That's exactly what my husband suggested, too, when I told him! :-) Thanks for sharing the links.

Marieke wrote: "from Tunisia Pillar of Salt.

also i started reading Desertthis summer and was enjoying it very much."



Desert by J.M.G. Le Clezio is one of his best novel.