MENA Book Club

[mybackpages 0]

Another favorite book of mine is not written by a MENA author, but takes place in MENA...The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. I love the spiritual aspect of this novel.

Oh I love this book and I am constantly buying a new copy because i keep giving it away to people who have never read it.

Love it!

I didn't think I'd like that one but I couldn't put it down on a flight to florida this spring.

Hey doodle! where your little pestering fly in your signature? I've grown quite fond of him lately.

[terrie/kamal 0]

Another favorite book of mine is not written by a MENA author, but takes place in MENA...The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. I love the spiritual aspect of this novel.

Oh I love this book and I am constantly buying a new copy because i keep giving it away to people who have never read it.

The Caliph's House is really really amusing. It was a thoroughly enjoying read.

Didn't ou just love the parts about the Jinns??????

There were so many parts that just made me laugh out loud. I was really quite sad when the book came to an end.

i LOVED THE CALIPH'S HOUSE. IT WAS ONE OF THE BETTER BOOKS I'VE READ IN A LONG TIME. WHEN I TOLD KAMAL WHAT I READ HE AND I TEASED ABOUT THE JINNS. I WOULD LIKE TO FIND MORE BOOKS LIKE THAT SO IF ANYONE HAS ANY RECOMMENDATIONS, LET ME KNOW

[peezey 0]

Wow. Not sure what to think of the Thomas Friedman bashing.

But hey... I'm objective to both sides of the story. Instead of Thomas Friedman then what would you all suggest that is fair and balanced and having the thumb on the pulse of MENA politics?

Robert Fisk.

Agreed completely.

It also never helps to look up sylllabi from upper level or grad Political Science clsses on the Middle East. History too. If you are looking for a more scholarly approach, you will get an endless list. Here is an intersting link (Middle East toward the bottom): http://www.polisci.ucla.edu/faculty/tracht...ide/SelSyl.html

Not a single one of these listed is written by a muslim, and only one is Arab and the book is #######.

[peezey 0]

Wow. Not sure what to think of the Thomas Friedman bashing.

But hey... I'm objective to both sides of the story. Instead of Thomas Friedman then what would you all suggest that is fair and balanced and having the thumb on the pulse of MENA politics?

Robert Fisk.

Agreed completely.

It also never helps to look up sylllabi from upper level or grad Political Science clsses on the Middle East. History too. If you are looking for a more scholarly approach, you will get an endless list. Here is an intersting link (Middle East toward the bottom): http://www.polisci.ucla.edu/faculty/tracht...ide/SelSyl.html

Not a single one of these listed is written by a muslim, and only one is Arab and the book is #######.

the **course** is ####### (not book)

[jpaula 20]

Wow. Not sure what to think of the Thomas Friedman bashing.

But hey... I'm objective to both sides of the story. Instead of Thomas Friedman then what would you all suggest that is fair and balanced and having the thumb on the pulse of MENA politics?

Robert Fisk.

Agreed completely.

It also never helps to look up sylllabi from upper level or grad Political Science clsses on the Middle East. History too. If you are looking for a more scholarly approach, you will get an endless list. Here is an intersting link (Middle East toward the bottom): http://www.polisci.ucla.edu/faculty/tracht...ide/SelSyl.html

Not a single one of these listed is written by a muslim, and only one is Arab and the book is #######.

the **course** is ####### (not book)

Having sat through many similar courses, I would say that some are certainly #######. Some are not. And some of the lit, be it written by an Arab, a Muslim or an academically ambitious man trying to tackle the "hot" topic of the moment(which is often the case) is good. Some is not. The only point being, if you usually read fiction or memoirs, and are looking for political analysis, the academic literature is a place to look. And, one of the more useful things you get out of the academic literature is a back and forth of arguments. At its best it becomes dynamic. At its worst, no doubt, #######.

If anyone has taken a MENA history or poli sci class they liked, I would be very interested in seeing a syllabus.

[tnh9479 1]

Wow. Not sure what to think of the Thomas Friedman bashing.

But hey... I'm objective to both sides of the story. Instead of Thomas Friedman then what would you all suggest that is fair and balanced and having the thumb on the pulse of MENA politics?

Robert Fisk.

Agreed completely.

It also never helps to look up sylllabi from upper level or grad Political Science clsses on the Middle East. History too. If you are looking for a more scholarly approach, you will get an endless list. Here is an intersting link (Middle East toward the bottom): http://www.polisci.ucla.edu/faculty/tracht...ide/SelSyl.html

Not a single one of these listed is written by a muslim, and only one is Arab and the book is #######.

the **course** is ####### (not book)

Having sat through many similar courses, I would say that some are certainly #######. Some are not. And some of the lit, be it written by an Arab, a Muslim or an academically ambitious man trying to tackle the "hot" topic of the moment(which is often the case) is good. Some is not. The only point being, if you usually read fiction or memoirs, and are looking for political analysis, the academic literature is a place to look. And, one of the more useful things you get out of the academic literature is a back and forth of arguments. At its best it becomes dynamic. At its worst, no doubt, #######.

If anyone has taken a MENA history or poli sci class they liked, I would be very interested in seeing a syllabus.

You are asking me to find a syllabus from 1992? I did take a course, "Introduction to the History of the Middle East". I did poorly. The professor wanted us to memorize names and dates -- I got so confused with so many similar names (not to mention memorizing names and dates is not my thing -- I like patterns. Anyway, the professor shared many interesting stories with us...like how he was Muammar Abu Minyar al-Qadhafi's personal interpreter. He caught wind of an assassination attempt and was thought to be in on it. He fled to France (with hit men following). France would not grant him asylum. Luckily he knew people in the US State Dept and was granted asylum here. He said he was always looking behind his back until he became a naturalized US citizen. Anyway, since this was right after the first Gulf War, he told us a lot of the behind the scenes stories that you never heard in the US media. I do have the text we used for that class somewhere. I had Hicham read some of it to see if it was a pretty balanced perspective. He had told me it was. I'll have to find what I did with it.

[sandinista! 1,816]

avoid bernard lewis like the plague.

[jpaula 20]

avoid bernard lewis like the plague.

Although he is hard to ignore. Disagree with him no doubt, but reading the back and forth with his many critics can be interesting. I would say the same for Huntington.

Plus, we do have to understand some of the intellectual roots of our current foreign policy. Off topic, I realize, as it is recommended reading for understanding our policy in MENA, not for understanding MENA itself. (Sad statement that the two are so far from eachother.)

[sara535 15]

avoid bernard lewis like the plague.

Although he is hard to ignore. Disagree with him no doubt, but reading the back and forth with his many critics can be interesting. I would say the same for Huntington.

Plus, we do have to understand some of the intellectual roots of our current foreign policy. Off topic, I realize, as it is recommended reading for understanding our policy in MENA, not for understanding MENA itself. (Sad statement that the two are so far from eachother.)

I think thats totally true. I am not a fan at all of Bernard Lewis but he is a voice for a whole school of thought....

Sometimes I think its good to read things you dont necessarily agree with at least to see what all sides are, same goes for gathering news from various sources, etc etc.

[Carolyn 1]

My favorite MENA books lately have been either fiction or memoirs...I always think I should read non-fiction, but they sit half-read on my bedside table (I prefer to devour a novel in a day or two).

Some winners already mentioned in this thread that I read this summer:

A Thousand Splendid Suns

The Caliph's House, A Year in Casablanca

Others:

Broken Verses by Kamila Shamsie. This book is a fiction/mystery set in Pakistan--I found this by chance on my mother's shelf--she picks up all kinds of books at used bookstores but doesn't seem to read half of them Very entertaining and a fascinating story about life in modern day Pakistan--I'm going to try to find her other 3 books at the library!

Stolen Lives by Malika Oufkir--A memoir of a very privileged family who was imprisoned in Morocco during the reign of Hassan II...her father was General Oufkir, who imprisoned, tortured and murdered thousands of Moroccans in the 70's-80's...my husband thinks this book is full of inaccuracies, but I thought it was an interesting inside look at the life of the Moroccan monarchy and also into the horrors of Moroccan prisons.

And a handful of Iranian women's stories, all of which I have loaned out to people (can't remember most of their names--one was Lipstick Jihad, which was great).

I love book suggestions (though I have little time now that school has started)--keep 'em coming!

Carolyn

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

That does it. By overwhelming response I have to my hands on a copy of the CALIPH'S HOUSE.

Olivia

[mybackpages 0]

Stolen Lives by Malika Oufkir--A memoir of a very privileged family who was imprisoned in Morocco during the reign of Hassan II...her father was General Oufkir, who imprisoned, tortured and murdered thousands of Moroccans in the 70's-80's...my husband thinks this book is full of inaccuracies, but I thought it was an interesting inside look at the life of the Moroccan monarchy and also into the horrors of Moroccan prisons.

Carolyn

Very interesting to read your husband's view on this book. Myhusband read it too when he got here and had a very different reaction. He was sure that what we saw as the horrors of prison life, were nothing compared to what the ordinary Moroccan would face in prison and that she was still be traeated in a privledge manner.

We were both disappointed that she did not tell teh story of what her father and the others did and why.

Of course my Husband's views are also colored by the fact that he sees her father asa great man and not a traitor.

I also came across her new book when shopping today online.

Edited September 10, 2007 by mybackpages

[MrsAmera 41]

My husband was so surprised when he saw "Stolen Lives" on my bookshelf after he got here. I explained to him that it was my first real book about Morocco that I had read. (BTW did you guys know that one of Hassan's "henchmen" the name eludes me now died last week? My husband said that he talked to a lot of people in Morocco who sighed a big breathe of relief) Anyway although he wasn't a big fan of Hassan II (hubby's not real political and we were both pretty young - barely small children at the time) he said that they were probably treated better than most and that a lot of people would have just been killed (which I think I would have prefered honestly). He and I disagree about politics as I'm a big advocate for democracy and human rights and he hasn't studied (in my opinion) enough to understand the values, I think that the whole idea of monarchy and just doing whatever the king says hits him too hard. For example we were talking about the magazine that was shut down about a month back after there were some anti-king(apparently) comments made and I was saying well this is not good for the king, the rest of the world really thought he was changing things etc. and Youssef said "well that's the rules you can't talk bad about the king" so it spun into this whole democracy, freedom of thought, expression etc. Ok this was a tangent but the point was that book gets some very interesting commentary from the outside world vs. the world inside Morocco.

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

The Caliph's House - Tahir Shah

I had so much fun reading this book and restoring my own iyad LOL The jinns stuff just cracked me up. Poor guy didn't know what was happening to him buying a house and expatriating yourself to Morocco.

A Jinn! Yikes!

[~Jackie~ 30]

Currently reading 'Crescent' by Diana Abu-Jaber

Jackie