Bookmarks Subscribers discussion

"Fiction of the Greater Middle East"

"A timely look at the intersection of the personal and political in Middle Eastern literature."




OVERVIEW:
Tablet & Pen: Literary Landscapes from the Modern Middle East

AFGHANISTAN:
A Thousand Splendid Suns
Swallows of Kabul

ALGERIA:
The German Mujahid

EGYPT:
The Yacoubian Building
The Map of Love
Palace Walk
Woman at Point Zero

IRAN:
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
Censoring an Iranian Love Story
The Septembers of Shiraz

ISRAEL:
To the End of the Land
A Woman in Jerusalem
A Pigeon and a Boy: A Novel
My Michael
The Bus Driver Who Wanted To Be God & Other Stories
Beaufort

JORDAN:
Staircase of a Thousand Steps

KUWAIT:
A Map of Home

LEBANON:
The Hakawati

LIBYA:
In the Country of Men

PAKISTAN:
Moth Smoke
The Reluctant Fundamentalist
In Other Rooms, Other Wonders

PALESTINE:
Gate of the Sun
Mornings in Jenin

SAUDI ARABIA:
Girls of Riyadh
Triple Time

TURKEY:
Snow
The Bastard of Istanbul

What are your thoughts on this Bookmarks article? Have you read any of the books mentioned? If so, what did you think of the books? Which books did you add to your TBR? Are there any books about the Greater Middle East you would include on the topic?

Of this list, I have only read , but I have read a few others from this region. I liked the first two, but wasn't thrilled with Palace Walk (gave it 2 stars). I'd definitely add by Anita Diament which is post-WWII historical fiction set in Israel. On my current TBR list for Middle East fiction, I also have . I have a bunch of other read and to-read books on the Middle East, but they all seems to be non-fiction.

I feel remiss, or just plain ignorant, in the number of Middle Eastern books I have read over the years.

I did listen to on audio and enjoyed it. I did not read by Pamuk, but did read , also on audio. This was good, but not as good as Grossman's work. I really did like , but this did not make the above list. Why is not on this list?

I've many several of these with most on my TBR list.
I would add , , , . Also just out are and Farishta is fiction while Every Man is non-fiction, both about Afghanistan.
I read a lot of books about the middle east. I guess it's my way of trying to understand a region whose current history is so tied up with ours.

Just picked up at Borders today for 1/2 off (the literature discount is up to that now, here at least).