Middle East/North African Lit discussion

The Man from Bashmour: A Modern Arabic Novel by Salwa Bakr was listed as one of the 105 best Arabic novels by the Arab Writers Union.It is a historical novel of social strife in medieval Egypt , more in here :
http://www.aucpress.com/p-2773-the-ma...


Salwa Bakr on ‘Women and Arabic Literature’
http://arablit.org/2012/11/18/salwa-b...

The novel had been translated to English by Nancy N. Roberts who received a commendation from the judges of the 2008 Banipal Prize for her translation .

"The jury was deeply impressed by this submission, describing it as a “courageous novelistic exploration of Egypt’s complex relationship with its Christian (Coptic) community during the 9th century AD. The Man from Bashmour is a historical novel that clearly involved its author in a large amount of research into the life of the community, the language of its liturgies, and the history of its status within the Muslim communities of Egypt. The text uses highly complex levels of discourse, and the translation project has therefore been a significant challenge, one that has been met with great success by the translator. This novel is an important contribution to the continuing tradition of historical fiction-writing in Arabic, especially within the Egyptian context, and its translation into English in such an accomplished fashion is to be welcomed.”

source
http://www.banipaltrust.org.uk/prize/...

I really want to read this, but I did not know we were having a group read for it now. I'll need to order it first and have several other books to finish.
I ordered يوميات نائب فى الأرياف and was planning on reading it in May. How long will the group read for A Man From Bashmour be?

There is no specific date , I added it for the challenge , but if several members are interested in reading it we can set a date , I want to read it myself .
When do you think you can read it ?

In June the group will be reading "Brooklyn Heights" ,so alongside it we can read it together then ?

Nile daughter wrote: "In June the group will be reading "Brooklyn Heights" ,so alongside it we can read it together then ?"

Good you reminded me! I'll have to order that one too!

Lol ! :) let it be June 15 then .

Anybody else will be interested in reading this book ?

Nile daughter wrote: "Anybody else will be interested in reading this book ?"

Yes, but either the later part of June or July.

Deal ...hope others will join us :)

Hi everyone. My book, through inter-library loan, will probably come a couple weeks after the start date, so I will have some major catching up to do. Never-the-less, I am excited about reading this book - it seems to interweave nicely with my university studies in Middle Eastern Studies and Egyptian Arabic. I attend a Christian university that has many coptic Christians from the ME region and I myself will be traveling to Palestine for the New Year.

Welcome Niki :) feel free to join the discussion at any moment that suits you .

Jalilah wrote: "My copy of Brooklyn Heights still has not come in, so I probably will not be able to read The Man from Bashmour: A Modern Arabic Novel until later next month."

No problem dear :)

Because of this group read, I revisited البشموري / The Man from Bashmour. I don't want to say much here because it looks like others are planning to read the book soon. So generally, it's a valuable contribution from Salwa Bakr to provide a historical perspective that focuses on social groups that are marginal in contemporary Egyptian society (Copts, women). It is an attempt to address social inequities.

I went on to read a book by Salwa Bakr that I happened to have. As far as I know, ليل ونهار / Night and Day is available only in Arabic. At first, I was enjoying it so much that I wondered if it would be worth proposing to translate it to English. But the ending was horribly tragic! I like Salwa Bakr's writing, but I find that I'm too attached to happy endings!

Melanie I was planning to start reading sooner but Ramadan is really a family time ! hope to catch up soon :)

A preview of the book
https://books.google.com.eg/books?id=...

I found the book in my university library and am excited to be reading it with you all. I'll be starting in a couple of days.

Great , looking forward hearing your thoughts :)

Anyone started reading ?

No, not yet. My copy still has not arrived.

Yes, I've started the novel and am finding it an interesting read. There's a lot of referencing of Christian theological debates and differences in the beginning. As someone who's studied the history of the Christian church, this is really fun and intriguing to see these issues played out in novel form. The syntax is a little formal for me, but it does have a poetic movement to it that is enjoyable.

This is a book that's making me think. I'm really enjoying it.

Sounds interesting Catherine , I am still in the beginning and hopefully I will be reading more in the next few days , I am caught in so much details of the clothes and style of life .

Jalilah wrote: "No, not yet. My copy still has not arrived."
Hope it will arrive soon :(.

Yes, the details are wonderful. They add so much to the story.

Did you finish it ? I haven't read for a while , hopefully I will be back to it in a few days .

My copy finally arrived. I am only a few chapters in, but my impressions are Bakr successfully transports the reader to 9th century Egypt. I can't say how exactly, but it seems believable. I often have problems with historical fiction but not here. This is the first time I am reading something set in Egypt during this time period. I remember reading that Bakr criticized the lack of good female characters in Arab literature, but up to now there have not been any interesting female characters in this book either!

Yes, good point about female characters. I think it's helpful to think of female characters as one of several marginal groups. In this book, she is focusing on another such group (Coptic Christians).

Catherine wrote: "Yes, I've started the novel and am finding it an interesting read. There's a lot of referencing of Christian theological debates and differences in the beginning. As someone who's studied the histo..."

I am looking forward to reading your thoughts Catherine! I don't know that much about the history of the early Christian church and feel like I am missing parts in this novel. For example I did not know who the Byzantine Melkites were and even after I looked them up: http://phoenicia.org/melkites.html , still don't understand why they were such great enemies of the Copts. Was it because the Melkites were foreigners or were the differences in religion what made them enemies? Same goes for the Chaldeans. It's my understanding they are Assyrian Christians from what is today's Iraq. Why are they referred to as heretics in this book? Was there some kind of conflict that happened in history that made the Coptic church feel this way? Also Thawa's description of the prophet Mani surprised me. I read a book about him by Amin MaaloufThe Gardens of Light and he was not portrayed as an evil sorcerer! There are lots of things like that in this book where if I knew a little more background I might appreciate it more.

interesting discussion regarding female characters :)

I need to be more into the book , even though I am Egyptian I am not aware of the detailed history of the Copts , the first time I started to search was after reading Azazeel which dealt with anther era .Hopefully I will be able to comment soon after more reading and getting back to Jalilah's comment .

Niledaughter wrote: "interesting discussion regarding female characters :)

I need to be more into the book , even though I am Egyptian I am not aware of the detailed history of the Copts , the first time I started to ..."

I did not see until now that the Melkites are explained in the glossary at the end of the book! The Melkite church emerged from the council of Chalcedon during the Byzantine rule and were responsible for the persecution of a number of Egyptian Copts.

Jalilah wrote: "I did not see until now that the Melkites are explained in the glossary at the end of the book! The Melkite church emerged from the council of Chalcedon during the Byzantine rule and were responsible for the persecution of a number of Egyptian Copts..."

I read third of the book so far , I am trying to check more info about this part of history ,I knew before of Copts' problems with Byzantium on religious and political level , but I had no previous knowledge of The Copts' problems during Al-Ma'mun rule .

while reading I failed to understand all the religious conversations . from anther side with the rich descriptions took me to anther Egypt .

Niledaughter wrote: "while reading I failed to understand all the religious conversations . from anther side with the rich descriptions took me to anther Egypt .
."

Niledaughter, You just mentioned the two points, what I loved and did not like so much, in the novel!
I felt like I was visiting an Egypt that I'd never been to before. I loved that aspect! I often have difficulties reading historical fiction when I feel like the writer is making people talk and act like they do nowadays. That was not at all the case here. The 9th century Egyptian setting seemed believable to me. I read somewhere that Bakr spent years researching this time period and I really appreciate that!
However I dare say all the long theological discussions either bored me or lost me. I tend to always look for similarities between religions and overlook the differences. I've never been able to understand how anyone could argue over these differences, let alone kill because of them, but that's just me!

Jalilah wrote: " The 9th century Egyptian setting seemed believable to me. I read somewhere that Bakr spent year researching this time period and I really appreciate that! "

Yes , she did a great job ! I felt her trying her best to take to Baghdad and Jerusalem too .

I finished the book ...
Jalila , my feelings about the book remained like you until the end and I agree with your point about reading historical fiction , Yet I have to admit that I felt the other half was almost like anther novel - true the novel was published in two parts but I didn't expect it to be feel this shift so clearly .Still ,in general I am glad I read this novel .

Jalilah wrote: " I've never been able to understand how anyone could argue over these differences, let alone kill because of them, but that's just me! .""

You are not alone :)