Alinea, Librairie Antoine book review

Alinea, Librairie Antoine book review #8

February 3, 2010
Voir la version francaise


Subscribe yourself or a friend

Name	•	Email	•	subscribe

In Egypt, literature is no modern affair. It traces its beginnings to ancient Egypt, making it one of the earliest known literatures. Egyptians were also the first to develop it in the form of a book. In continuation of our Arab literature series, and following our Lebanon / Palestine issue, we have compiled a second issue on Egypt, mother of the only Arab novelist to ever win a Nobel Prize.
The Egyptian capital, also the largest city in Africa, has been a cultural, educational and economical center for centuries and a cultural pacesetter in the Arab speaking world. Its writers were among the first to experiment with modern literary styles and were extensively imitated in the rest of the Arab world. As state controlled censorship in Egypt grew, banning books by such writers as Muhammad Yusuf Quayd or Nawal Al Saadawi, more and more Egyptians took to writing blogs. Nowadays, Egypt produces more than 1/3 of all Arab blogs, some 200 000 of them. From clay to papyrus to the net, Egyptians have always been scribbling something away and this issue showcases our favourite writers.

Marilyn Zakhour

Every winter Cairo witnesses the largest yearly cultural event in the Middle East: The Cairo International Book Fair. The fair is an opportunity for writers, publishers and all of those professionally concerned with books and culture to meet and exchange. In its 42nd edition the fair will be adding a forum for children’s literature, an educational cafe for women writers and a market for antiquarian booksellers. This year’s guest of honour is Russia with the organization of conferences and meetings on Russian literature and over 800 exhibitors from 28 countries are expected.

Lebanese bloggers Blogs are part of the next generation of highly interactive media which are changing the way people around the globe use the internet. Briefly a blog is a home page which is regularly updated by its administrator (or in this case author) who produces new texts, or links his readers to other blogs/sites/...
Although some Lebanese began blogging in the early 2000s, the creation of a real Lebanese blogosphere was a consequence of the Independence Intifada, and was followed by a second wave of blogging brought on by the July 2006 war. I myself was in Canada during those horrible thirty some days. Like many Lebanese, expats or simply stuck outside of Lebanon, unable to return, I was tired of the news updates that were being given by the traditional media outputs which I couldn’t connect to or assimilate. I switched to blogs.

read more



	Francophone Egyptian writers The French language has a preferred place in the Middle East and particularly in Egypt. As of the 19th century it had represented the language of modernity for the upper class. A review of Egyptian literature would not be complete without mentioning its most infamous francophone writers. read more

	Fiction The collar and the bracelet by Yahya Taher Abdullah This collection contains a novella and a dozen short stories. They are set in Cairo and tell of estrangement, displacement and the Egyptians’ daily struggle for survival. In Cairo, Abdullah was known for his oral performances which helps explain the rhythm and structure of some of his stories. The translation of this book into english by Samah Selim won her the 2009 Saif Ghobash–Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation.

	Chicago by Alaa El Aswany Alaa Al Aswany is a dentist-tuner-writer who was made famous (and made into the best selling Arab novelist) by The Yacoubian Building (Amarat Yacoubian). In his second book, Chicago, Al Aswany “takes on America”. The novel revolves around the lives of a group of Egyptian expats, all students or member of the faculty of the University of Illinois Medical Centre. Just as he did in the Yacoubian building, Al Aswany skilfully draws in the relationships that link the lives of his characters as he attempts to answer crucial questions: must an immigrant remain loyal to his/her country of origin? Can one ever change the identity with which he/she was born?

	Sunset Oasis by Bahaa Taher Sunset Oasis is Bahaa Taher’s sixth novel and the winner of the first International Prize for Arabic Fiction (the "Arabic Booker") in 2008. Set in the end of the 19th century the novel follows the misadventures of police major Mahmoud Abd El Zahir who has been sent to the remote oasis town of Siwa near the Libyan border as punishment for his involvement in a failed rebellion in 1982. He is accompanied by his Irish wife Catherine. The story develops in a series of first person narrations while dealing with the themes of love, death, orientalism, social hierarchy and exile.

	Wedding Night by Yusuf Abu Rayya Wedding Night is Yusuf Abu Rayya’s, winner of the 2005 Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature’s, first book to be translated to English. The story is set in a small recluse Egyptian town where Houda, the deaf and mute butcher’s apprentice lives. He makes up for his incapacities with all seeing eyes, taking the reader into the intimate details of the village’s inhabitants. When it is reported that he has violated the sanctity of his master’s house by pinching his wife’s breasts Houda becomes the center of an elaborate ruse. This satiric novel by the literary giant offers insight on contemporary Egypt.

	Aunt Safiyya and the Monastery: A Novel (Literature of the Middle East) by Barbara Romaine Bahaa' Taher Praised as “a competent voice of the new generation that came after the giants, Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz and Yusuf Idris” Bahaa Taher is recognized as a master story teller. In response to the increased violence amongst Egyptian Christians and Muslims he offers a tale of trust between a Muslim man, who has fallen victim to the age old tradition of blood feud, and a Copt monastery. Taher beautifully evokes the life of Upper Egypt where his tale of brotherhood is set.

	Thieves in Retirement: A Novel (Middle East Literature in Translation) by Hamdi Abu Julayyil The first of Golayyel’s writings to be translated, Thieves in Retirement is set in a working class neighbourhood of outer Cairo where a Bedouin from a distant village has come to settle in Abu Gamal’s apartment house. Gamal, Abu Gamal’s son, is a drug dealer and a womanizer. His wife dreams of waking up a man. Amer is a dope addict. He steals to support his habit. The Bedouin narrator prefers drugs and masturbation to sex. With this collage of ordinary yet extreme lives Abu Golayyel manages to render his characters frail, genuine and humane.

	Warda by Sonallah Ibrahim Warda is an arab revolutionary woman. Her story begins in the Beirut of the 60s. As you student, Warda wears short skirts, demands free love, watches Fellini movies. As radical guerrilla movements begin to spring up in the region she joins one that has kept away from the Russian and Chinese mentorship and is developing in Dhofar, Sultunate of Oman. This novel mourns these hopeful years as it admits to their failiure.

	Stones of Bobello by Edwar Al-Kharrat Born in 1962, Edward al Kharrat is a novelist, poet, critic, translator and editor. He has been awarded the prestigious Oweiss Prize, the Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature and the State Merit Award for Literature in 2000. Stones of Bobello is set in a small town called Tarrana sometime in the 30s. The book is constructed around 9 episodes of the life of a Christian boy and his struggles to find balance. Written in a beautiful lyrical language this novel is a must read.

	In The Eye Of The Sun by Ahdaf Soueif In the eye of the sun tells the story of Asya, a beautiful young Egyptian who grew up amongst the Egyptian Elite. Untouched by the turmoil around her, Asya marries Saif after a four year courtship, only to find that their sex life is shaky and their communication skills are null. After moving to England to pursue her PHD, Asya is involved in a love affair with an Englishman. A close look at the roles and lives of Arab women today.

The Tai pei Book Exhibition (TIBE 2010) - January 27 through February 1st.
The Tai pei Book Exhibition is the pre-eminent event for the business of books in all formats, and the products, services and education that supports the buyers and sellers of books. A full range of products and services, educational programs, and networking opportunities make this a must-attend event for book industry professionals.

read more

Egyptian novels by women

For a very long time the Arab woman had been represented either through orientalist visions of the west or through the words of Arab men. Luckily, in the past forty years, arab women have begun to offer accurate self portrayals, proving that contrary to common belief there are Arabic women novelists. In fact the first Arab novel, Badi’awa Fuád, was written by Afifa Karam, a Lebanese woman, in 1906 and published by an American newspaper.

read more

Censorship in Egypt

Egypt is at the heart of Arab intellectual life. Having been a cultural, economical and political centre for centuries, it has produced the highest number of Noble laureates in the Middle East and Africa, including the only Arab laureate for literature, Naguib Mahfouz. While it’s safe to say that Egypt is a cultural trendsetter one can’t help but wonder how this cultural oasis continues to strive in the face of censorship.

read more

" على أنّ الرجل كان يستطيع أن يغمض عينيه ويفتحها، دون أن يرى أو يكاد يرى شيئاً. فقد كان ضريراً إلا بصيصاً ضئيلاً جدّاً من النور في إحدى عينيه. يُمثل له الأشباح دون أن يمكّنه أن يتميزها. وكان الرجل سعيداً بهذا البصيص الضئيل...وكان يخدع نفسه ويظن أنه من المبصرين..." من كتاب الايام – لطه حسين

Madinah: City Stories from the Middle East by collective
This collection of short stories features ten stories of cities in the Middle East. It was published by Comma Press, a Manchester based publishing house that is specialized in short stories inspired by cities: Decapolis: Tales From Ten Cities and Elsewhere: Stories from Small Town Europe.

read more

Taxi by Khaled Al Khamissi
Yellow, white and red taxis travel through Cairo, moving landmarks that punctuate daily existence. More than a practical means of transportation, they carry the soul, hopes and distress of Cairo itself.

read more

Naguib Mahfouz

Naguib Mahfouz is beyond being introduced. The only Arab to have been awarded a Nobel Prize for literature, he was once described by Taher Ben Jelloun in these words: “You can’t understand Egypt without Mahfouz—without his characters, with whom every reader, Arab or not, can identify.” During the course of his 70 year career he published more than 50 novels and 350 short stories, a great number of which have been adapted into film.

read more

Apple is Up to Something Publishers May Not Like (www.publishingperspectives.com)
As many have already noted across the Web, there are many things not to love about the iPad: the premium pricing, lack of an upgrade path, no flash…and the list goes on and on. Surprisingly, all these perceived flaws actually make the iPad become a better platform for reading.

read more

Cinema has always fed on literature and particularly so in Egypt. A striving cinema industry along with exceptional writers have contributed to the success of novel adaptation in Egyptian cinema, but novels have also found other interesting adaptations such as plays or operettas. Here are a few examples.

read more

About Antoineonline - Contact us - Sitemap

Bookmark & Share Alinéa
	Email	Bookmark
	Del.icio.us	Digg
	Google	Facebook
	Myspace	furl
	Yahoomyweb	Live