Middle East/North African Lit discussion

I read this novel last year and I reall enjoyed that , Here is a review about it from the independent in Here , even though -personally -I am not sure if the comparison with Salman Rushdie as a beginning fits or not .

one of the things I loved about the novel was the jump from the the 11th century to the the 19th century , even though I found the frist to be more charming :)


* Our friend "Mona{" opened a thread about "the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam" in here , if anyone wants to join the discussion there .

Enjoy !

I have just sent for this book and i'm looking forward to reading it. So many books to read this year with all the different groups I'm in.

Yes, I'm heading to my local bookstore today to see if they have this book! Fingers crossed...

Good luck Bernadette! It looks like a good and interesting read.

That is very good Sue and Bernadette , hope you will be able to read it :)

No luck with Samarkand. :( But I did find The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam so I will join Mona in that discussion, inshallah!

Bernadette wrote: "No luck with Samarkand. :( But I did find The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam so I will join Mona in that discussion, inshallah!"

Sorry about that , from anther side I think discussing "The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam " will interesting too :)

Oh, I hope I like the copy I have coming Maya, after reading those good reviews.

Well I will read it in Arabic to avoid any problems with translations but I can not start it soon as I am reading now 2 books

Mona ,

I read it in Arabic and the translation has a rich language , it may be slow -some how- at the beginning ,can not remember the tone , when you all start discussing I will pick my copy again and follow. I think Marieke read it in English , she can talk more about it . I wish I know someone who read it in its original language "French" .

Sue and Ghada , I hope you will like it .

I just started this last night. Yes, the english is a little stiff and I needed an atlas but I'm committed.Love the topic and the time period.

I read it in Enlgish back when it was first published and I saw it on the "new books" shelf at my library. I didn't know Samarkand was a real place and I didn't know Omar Khayyam was a real person when I started reading it. I remember getting totally carried away in the book but it was so long ago I can't remember how I felt about the language. I just remember loving this book so i must not have been bothered by the style. I am going to reread it but now I'm feeling a little scared....lol.

Lauren wrote: "I just started this last night. Yes, the english is a little stiff and I needed an atlas but I'm committed.Love the topic and the time period."

It is good to hear that , waiting for your thoughts :)BTW , you did not need the Atlas alone ;)

Marieke ,
That was a great feed back :)

Speaking of Omar Khayyam was a real person as real person , it was a famous name for me but I did not know anything about his life :) . BTW, few months ago I saw one of the carpets which was a print of Omar Khayyam , it is popular among persian carpets , it was hand made -localy- and yet very expensive (hand made carpets here are expensive in general but like Iranian ones) .

check

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Love those carpets! Thanks for posting.

Bernadette wrote: "Love those carpets! Thanks for posting."

Thanks Bernadette , I found this video about his tomb in Iran and thought of sharing it A Trip to Omar Khayam's Tomb in Neishabour

My book has been delivered but I'm currently reading 5 books! I should be able to start it in a couple of weeks. Can't believe I scheduled so many 5 to 600 page books at the same time (3 of my 5).

Sue, I've got a similar problem and really want to have fewer books going at the same time this year. :/

Marieke, I'm afraid I may have set myself up a bit this year by adding some new groups/goals, even though they are very flexible. Somehow the flexibility isn't helping. I now have a list of so many planned or semi-planned books to read through June, wow!

I just need to step back and breathe and repeat that it's not really that much and they're all great books. It may keep me a little quiet here for a bit but most of the MENA list books I was having difficulty finding. That's why I decided to buy Samarkand.

Hopefully I'll get things worked out and gradualloy be able to ease off a bit.

I am sorry Sue and Marieke too :)
Take it easy , remember you can start reading and discussing at any time .

Any one read or reading this one ?

Not yet but soon I hope did u started it yet/

Ghada wrote: "Not yet but soon I hope did u started it yet/"

I read a year ago , so I do not know where to start commenting from :)

I haven't started yet either. Hopefully in the next week or two.

Sue wrote: "I haven't started yet either. Hopefully in the next week or two."

Fine , we will be waiting :)

I had to stop and read two other books but I hope to restart at the end the of the week.

Incidently, one of the books was Palestinian Walks which was incredible, although very depressing.

Lauren, I loved Palestinian Walks but I agree that it is sad-making. :(

Devastating. I don't usually feel cynical about attempts for peace but this made me question everything I thought I knew, especially about Oslo.

ohhh ,that is very interesting ! I am planning to read Palestinian Walks: Forays into a Vanishing Landscape this year , may be we can discuss it as some point .

For Samarkand , I wish you will be able to get back to it soon , I am waiting to discuss this book , I was wondering how members will think of Hassan Sabbah and Nizam al-Mulk parts!

Palestinian Walks is another book I hope to read at some point this year too.

I hope to get to Samarkand very soon. i will have to re-read it to participate meaningfully in the discussion.

Palestinian walks is one my to read list, it would be nice if we can read it together :)

Nile daughter wrote: "ohhh ,that is very interesting ! I am planning to read Palestinian Walks: Forays into a Vanishing Landscape this year , may be we can discuss it as some point .

For Samarkand , I ..."

Ghada wrote: "Palestinian walks is one my to read list, it would be nice if we can read it together :)"

I think my library has it. Things are very busy for the next month for me shall we set a time after that? So there are three of us now.

March or April will be perfect for me

ok , we can open a thread for "Palestinian walks " in the salon by April , if you like ?

That would be perfect

That sounds good. I'll put a reminder on my computer to request the book.

Great , I will put it in the "group news" thread , may be others would like to join .

I'll reread it and join in. :)

Now back to Samarkand... ;)

I am about halfway through. The jump to the 19th c. really surprised me. I am halving an easier time with this section - more familiar ground, I guess. I needed an atlas and a dictionary and google to negotiate the first half. I think it's fair to say that in the West, we do not learn about the history of any Muslim countries.

Lauren wrote: "I am about halfway through. The jump to the 19th c. really surprised me. I am halving an easier time with this section - more familiar ground, I guess. I needed an atlas and a dictionary and googl..."

It surprised me too , but I liked it , not as the first half , but it served the whole message of the novel.

I loved your comment about what you needed :) and I do believe Muslims history is unknown to many poeple in the west , some call it "The lost history ", funny there is a book named this title Lost History: The Enduring Legacy of Muslim Scientists, Thinkers, and Artists

Is that what you meant when you said upthread that you wondered what readers would think when they got to the part about Hassan Sabbah and Nizam al-Mulk? Where you thinking folks wouldn't know who they were or that the portrayal was somehow controversial?

Question, for those who grew up in the middle east or grew up in the Islamic faith - are these all names and events that are familiar to you?

Lauren wrote: "Is that what you meant when you said upthread that you wondered what readers would think when they got to the part about Hassan Sabbah and Nizam al-Mulk? Where you thinking folks wouldn't know who ..."

I was thinking of the relation among the three figures , and what each one represented , as you said the "controversial portray "


Lauren wrote: "Question, for those who grew up in the middle east or grew up in the Islamic faith - are these all names and events that are familiar to you?..."

For me I did not know Nizam al-Mulk (I sould have) . while Omar Khayyam is a very popular name as I mentioned before , in Cairo we have a place (used to belong Isma'il Pasha Khedive of Egypt and Sudan) that was named after him which now is a part of a hotel on the Nile .

For Hassan Sabbah , I think here or in the west know the Assassins and Ismailism . there was much talking about him when modern violence appeared (bin Laden and al qaeda)- not sure how accurate the comparison is .

I did not read the development in details to know how Assassins were over (I must check that ) .Today all what I hear about Ismailism is what is reletaed to the Aga Khan (the Imamat of the Ismailis ) , they work for civilization in Islamic countries , improve education and health care and support cultural projects , Aga Khan Foundation is very active and famous .

I finished this Fascinating book. I did find the second half more readable, but again, I think it is because the material was more familiar to me.

Marieke, I am wondering why it is such a favorite.

Lauren, I'll be honest: I'm a bit afraid I won't like it as much when I reread it. I think part of the experience for me before was the joy of discovery because I had never heard of Uzbekistan, let alone Samarkand. I also had never heard of Omar Khayyam and I knew nothing about Islam in central Asia.

Lauren, you said a Fascinating book , but I think there would some issues that you did not like , do you want to discuss them ? - you can use "spoiler alert" if you like .

No, nothing I didn't like. More that there was such holes in what I knew about the history of Islam. I also thought the second half was sad - the problems between the western countries and Iran are still happening 100 years later.

Lauren wrote: "No, nothing I didn't like. More that there was such holes in what I knew about the history of Islam. I also thought the second half was sad - the problems between the western countries and Iran ar..."

I am Curious to hear about those holes ..
I must re-read some parts now , Do you think Iran problems today are the same ? what did think of that sad ending ? did you felt it symbolic ?

I think I said erlier that most of the history, places, and names in the first part of the novel were unknown to me - besides the poet. I spent a lot of time googling and looking at atlases and it interuppted the flow of reading. But that is my problemn, not the books!

I don't know enough historically to comment in any meaningful way about current problems in Iran but the issue of a middle eastern country having any kind of autonomy and not depednent on western powers seemed like it was still relevant today.

I didn't think the ending was symbolic although now that you mention it.......

Lauren ,
I got your point about history and sorry I did not mean to repeat my question , only I misunderstood " message 47" , I thought you mean something you already knew and seemed inaccurate in the novel .

Your definition of Iran pushed me thinking ...

For the ending : Spoiler alert

it was confusing for me , why should be that sad and with no hope !(Samarkand Manuscript) was like a link or a bond between east and west in the second half of the novel (it was a symbol itself ?) , why should it be lost in that journey to the new world , where freedom is the dreem of all ? - even though the the new world was the place where it was supposed to unite them , it caused their infinite separation - I wondered what the author wanted to say .

I like the idea about the mss being the link between the two cultures. Western readers might look at the poems without knowing any of the any social and political context - or what a controversial figure the poet was.