Middle East/North African Lit discussion

I just saw this and thought I'd share: Hisham Matar talks to NPR about literature in Libya.

I guess I should read In the Country of Men sooner, rather than later! Thanks for reminding me it was on my lists!

My favorite Libyan author is Ibrahim al-Koni, he has a very poetic language, I love it!
Check out his book collection, I think you will like it too...

Ng wrote: "My favorite Libyan author is Ibrahim al-Koni, he has a very poetic language, I love it!
Check out his book collection, I think you will like it too..."

i've only read The Bleeding of the Stone so far but i want to read everything else, too! :D

Marieke wrote: "Ng wrote: "My favorite Libyan author is Ibrahim al-Koni, he has a very poetic language, I love it!
Check out his book collection, I think you will like it too..."

i've only read T..."

"The Magi", "House in the world and the house in nostalgia" and "Verses" (which is the book that made me like him), are his most popular books in Arabic.. But I couldn't find them translated in English on GR..

some of his stuff has been translated into german but not english so i can check for german translations. :D

You read German! Great! That will be a lot of help..
I don't know why not English?

Ng wrote: "You read German! Great! That will be a lot of help..
I don't know why not English?"

there's a real problem translating foreign language literature into English because there is not a big market for it in the US or the UK, i think. but other Europeans are more open to reading foreign literature. i wish there was more of a demand here. :(

Marieke wrote: "Ng wrote: "You read German! Great! That will be a lot of help..
I don't know why not English?"

there's a real problem translating foreign language literature into English because there is not a bi..."

I don't know about Americans taste in lit. But if you don't like "over-poetic" language, that might be the reason why el-kony is late in translation..
But then again, I didn't read much for him, so I can't say for sure.

Apparently Americans like action and a strong plot. beautiful language is not so important (i'm generalizing!) :D

Marieke wrote: "Apparently Americans like action and a strong plot. beautiful language is not so important (i'm generalizing!) :D"

LOL!
No honey, you're stereotyping.. LOL!

but there is always some truth in stereotypes, right? :P

Oh yeah!
It's not about "not saying the truth about a society", it's about generalizing an image that you see only in a fraction of the society..
I guess..

Hello girls :D nice discussion , Hisham Matar has a new novel takes place in Egypt Anatomy of a Disappearance: A Novel , its giveaways are only available in USA :(

Chrissie wrote: "I guess I should read In the Country of Men sooner, rather than later! Thanks for reminding me it was on my lists!"

Any plans on the group reading this book? It looks interesting.

hi abclaret--unfortunately we already covered the region including Libya and Libya was our featured country but this book was not chosen for that discussion. the other moderators and i are developing a slightly different idea for touring the region in 2012, so i am feeling doubtful that this book would be an "official" group read any time soon. however, we have a folder called "cruise salon: individual reads" where members can discuss any book from the MENA region. i bet there are several here who would be glad to do an unofficial group read. i have already read Matar's book and i'd be happy to join the discussion...i'll go ahead and make a folder for it.