Middle East/North African Lit discussion

The Question of Palestine will be our second read for Edward W. Said after Orientalism .

As Said writes "The Question of Palestine" he was described as the following :

" Edward Said sounds like a Palestinian nationalist and writes like a professor of English literature, and in fact he is both. His book is an eloquent defense of the Palestinian Arab people and their right to self-determination. If he over-argues the case and paints Israel and Zionism without redeeming features, it may be because of the intensity of his conviction, which is not without basis in fact, that the Palestinian Arabs have been ill used by others and ignored or dismissed by the Western world."

* Source : http://www.foreignaffairs.com/article...

I found this interesting review about the book - (it is more like a summary I believe – it is long and I am still reading it )
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http://northernsong.wordpress.com/201...


** Please share your thoughts about the book with us in here .

Is there anyone reading this book ?

I have it but have not begun to read it.

Same here. I have recently bought it but I haven't started reading it yet.

Good luck Marieke :)

Philippa , Will this be your first read for Edward Said ?

Nile daughter wrote: "Good luck Marieke :)

Philippa , Will this be your first read for Edward Said ?"

*giggle* thanks...there is hope because it is much shorter than Orientalism. :)

i meant to bring this home from work this evening but i forgot. now i can't remember if it's four or five chapters long. i was thinking of making a schedule: one week per chapter, but including a week lead-time for reading. so...read chapter one next week, but no discussion until the second week:

week one: read chapter one, no discussion
week two, read chapter two, discuss chapter one

does that make sense? would that work for people?

Nile daughter wrote: "Good luck Marieke :)

Philippa , Will this be your first read for Edward Said ?"

No it will be my second. I used Orientalism for my BA thesis, which I wrote on T.E. Lawrence :)

Oooo philippa! How interesting! Can you tell us a little about it?

I had wanted to start Question this past weekend but had to go out of town. I did start Gate of the Sun yesterday morning and love it so its my new morning read...I'll go to the correct thread and post there soon.

Of course Marieke! I wrote my thesis on T.E. Lawrence's split loyalties during the Arab Revolt of 1916-1918 and also its aftermath, focussing on the creation of the modern state of Iraq. I used Seven Pillars of Wisdom as my main source of reference, but I used other works such as Orientalism, and also Lewis' What Went Wrong and many more works as references.

Well I started reading the book last night. I read most of the preface to the 1992 edition, and today I continued up to page 37, so I've just passed the halfway mark of the first chapter. So far I find it utterly fascinating, and in addition to confirming a lot of things I already knew, it's teaching me so many new things about the origins and early days of the conflict as well. I've got a pen with me at all times so I can underline passages and make annotations, because it's going to be a pain otherwise to retrieve passages that stood out to me.

It also really makes me want to read Herzl's The Jewish State, which I bought years ago but still haven't read.

Philippa wrote: "Of course Marieke! I wrote my thesis on T.E. Lawrence's split loyalties during the Arab Revolt of 1916-1918 and also its aftermath, focussing on the creation of the modern state of Iraq. I used Sev..."

That is very interesting !

Philippa wrote: "Well I started reading the book last night. I read most of the preface to the 1992 edition, and today I continued up to page 37, so I've just passed the halfway mark of the first chapter. So far I ..."

I wish to hear more of your notes about the book , sadly I couldn't reach a copy and since I haven't finish "Orientalism" yet I didn't push so far .

i just had the same problem with this book as i had with Gate of the Sun, so i should be receiving my own copy in the middle of this upcoming week. It's probably good to have my own copy, so i can write in it, like Philippa. Maybe Philippa can give us a better idea, but i feel like this one won't be quite as daunting as Orientalism. and also, Philippa: great idea for pairing it with Herzl's book...

It seems like none of us will have finished it before 1 November, but I'm looking forward to discussing it on here!

I think it would be nice to read a bit of Herzl alongside of it, or possibly afterwards. I think for me it'll probably be afterwards, since I'm still fully engrossed in A Clash of Kings as well, which isn't relevant for this group, but is taking up a lot of my time.

Philippa wrote: "It seems like none of us will have finished it before 1 November, but I'm looking forward to discussing it on here!

I think it would be nice to read a bit of Herzl alongside of it, or possibly aft..."

The thread will remain open Philippa , post whenever you like :)