5 Arabic Books (in English) to Read ‘Before You Die’
Well, perhaps this one was a bit morbid:
The “Five Before You Die” was a feature we ran back in the summer 2010; by now, there are now many more great Arabic books available in translation, but this remains a strong list from translators, authors, critics, and publishers.
Although he might not put it on his resume, Mustafa was perhaps the first supporter of this blog. He teaches at Northeastern University, translates, and is the editor and translator of the excellent Contemporary Iraqi Fiction: An Anthology. His picks:
- Tayeb Salih, Season Of Migration To The North
- Naguib Mahfouz, Miramar
- Assia Djebar, Women of Algiers in Their Apartment
- Mourid Barghouti, I Saw Ramallah
- Alifa Rifat, Distant View Of A Minaret & Other Stories
Mahmoud Saeed
Saeed is the acclaimed and award-winning author of Saddam City, among many other works. We have since run an interview with him here. He currently lives, writes, and teaches in Chicago. His picks:
1 – One Thousand and One Nights by Mohammed bin Sakkra Alhashemi
2 – Hayy Ben Yadhan by Iben Tufail
3 – Maqamat Al Hamdani by Bad’ie Azzaman Alhamadani
4 – Children of the Alley by Naguib Mahfouz
5 – Life Full of Holes by Driss Chraibi
Sinan Antoon
Antoon was shortlisted for this year’s International Prize for Arabic Fiction for his third novel, Hail Mary, currently being translated. His second, Pomegranate Alone, is coming out in translation later this year from Yale University Press. His first was I’jaam, which Katrina Weber lists as one of her picks further down the list. He also has published a collection of poems in English, titled Baghdad Blues, in addition to being a filmmaker and award-winning translator, and is currently an assistant professor at NYU. More on Antoon here. His five:
- Mahmoud Darwish, Fi Hadrat al-Ghiyab ( In the Presence of Absence)
- Abdelrahman Munif, Cities of Salt
- Sonallah Ibrahim, The Committee
- Elias Khoury, The Kingdom of Strangers
- Hanan al-Shaykh, The Story of Zahra
Elias Muhanna
In 2010, Muhanna was a PhD student in Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations at Harvard University, a writer, and the maintainer of Qifa Nabki. He still blogs at Qifa Nabki, but has since become a comp lit professor at Brown University. His five:
- Al-Jahiz, The Book of Misers
- The Mu`allaqaat in the Arberry translation
- Night, Horses, and the Desert (not a single work, but an excellent anthology of classical Arabic literature by Robert Irwin)
- Ibn Khaldun’s Muqaddima, in the Rosenthal translation
- The Poems of al-Mutanabbi, also in the Arberry translation
Rakha is a poet, journalist, literary critic, and a member of the Beirut39 cabal. He writes about Arabic literature and other things at http://yrakha.wordpress.com/. His first two novels, Sultan’s Seal and Crocodiles, are forthcoming from Interlink and Seven Stories Press.
Rakha’s five books:
- The Travels of Ibn Battutah
- The Ring of the Dove by Ibn Hazm
- The Polymath by Bensalem Himmich
- Season Of Migration To The North by Tayib Saleh
- The Collected (or Selected) Poems of Sargon Boulus
Nouri Gana
Gana teaches in the department of comparative literature at UCLA; he also writes about Arabic literature, cinema, and culture. Gana’s five (plus one not yet available in English):
- Salih, Season Of Migration To The North
- Choukri, For Bread Alone
- Kanafani, Men in the Sun
- Mahmoud Massadi, The Dam (Al-Sudd)
- Mahfouz, The Beggar
- Barghouti, I Saw Ramallah
Laila Lalami
Lalami is the award-winning author of Secret Son.
- Men in the Sun (Ghassan Kanafani)
- For Bread Alone (Mohammed Choukri)
- Year of the Elephant (Leila Abouzeid)
- Season Of Migration To The North (Tayeb Salih)
- Memory in the Flesh (Ahlam Mosteghanemi)
Maia Tabet
Tabet is a literary translator; her translation of Elias Khoury’s White Masks won a citation from the Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation.
Tabet’s five:
- One Thousand and One Nights, translated by Hussain Haddawy
- Taha Hussein’s The Days
- Tayeb Salih’s Season Of Migration To The North
- Mourid Barghouti’s I Saw Ramallah
- Emile Habibi’s The Pessoptimist
R. Neil Hewison
Hewison is a writer, translator (City of Love and Ashes by Yusuf Idris, and Wedding Night by Yusuf Abu Rayya), and associate director of editorial programs with AUC Press. Hewison’s five:
- Hoda Barakat, The Tiller of Waters (Lebanon) — an absorbing, enlightening, multi-layered novel set in the empty war-ruins of Beirut, as a man struggling to survive and retain his sanity among packs of feral dogs reconstructs his history and the histories of those close to him through the metaphor of fabric (in which he used to trade), and slowly reveals the secret meanings of linen, cotton, velvet, silk. This is simply one of the best Arabic novels I have read, and it is beautifully translated by Marilyn Booth.
- Mourid Barghouti, I Saw Ramallah (Palestine) — a poetic revelation of what it means to be an exile, and what it means to return. This is one of the most powerful — because it is told so calmly, without rancor — indictments of the great injustice that is Israel. Translated perfectly by Ahdaf Soueif.
- Ibrahim al-Koni, Gold Dust (Libya) — a great desert novel that is simple and universal at the same time. You will feel the heat and the sores and the thirst and the pain. In an elegant translation by Elliott Colla.
- Naguib Mahfouz, Miramar (Egypt) — everybody must have their favorite Mahfouz novel, and this is mine. It is the story of Egypt and its Revolution, brilliantly told by four very different men staying in an old-fashioned pension in Alexandria, as they hover around the country girl who works there.
- Ahmed Alaidy, Being Abbas el Abd (Egypt) — weird, funny, unconventional in form and content, short but effective and memorable.
Humphrey Davies
Davies is the celebrated translator of, among other works, Bahaa Taher’s Sunset Oasis, Alaa El Aswany’s The Yacoubian Building, Elias Khoury’s Gate of the Sun and Yalo, Ahmed Al-Aidy’s Being Abbas el-Abd. You’ll certainly want to pick up his translation of Ahmad Faris Shidyaq’s Leg over Leg when it comes out later this year. Davies’ choices:
- Elias Khoury, Bab al-Shams/Gate of the Sun: best book written about Palestinian dispossession; very long and non-linear; sometimes infuriating but ultimately thrilling—as one critic pointed out, you really have to read it twice.
- Elias Khoury, Yalo: a young man accused to serial rape and theft is being interrogated in a Lebanese police station; in the process his understanding of the world changes utterly; amazingly, even some deadpan humor.
- Muhammad Mustagab, Dayrut al-sharif + Min al-Tarikh al-Sirri li-N‛man ‛Abd al-Hafiz/Tales from Dayrut; Upper Egyptian gothic, always over the top.
- Yusuf al-Shirbini. Hazz al-Quhuf bi-Sharh Qasid Abi Shaduf/Brains Confounded by the Ode of Abu Shaduf Expounded; viciously non-PC attack on the ‘people of the countryside’ and everything they stand for by way of ignorance, unwashedness, overly long pubic hair, etc. with digressions into farting, love, cooking, and anything else rattling around in the mind of this seventeenth-century Egyptian intellectual.
- Muhammad Afifi, Taranim fi Zill Tamara/Little Songs in the Shade of Tamaara ; dreamy contemplations of the creatures inhabiting his garden (the dog, a frog, his wife, etc.) by an old man sitting under a tree; cult classic in the making.
- Ibn Khaldun, al-Muqaddima/The Introduction; what really makes the world turn, by an eleventh-century genius.
Hosam Aboul-Ela
Aboul-Ela is associate professor of English at the University of Houston; he teaches courses in postcolonial literature literary theory, Arab studies, and world lit. He also translates, most notably Sonallah Ibrahim’s Stealth, Ibrahim Abdel-Meguid’s Distant Train, and Soleiman Fayyad’s Voices. He is co-editor with Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak of “Theory Around the World”, a new publication series translating critical theory from outside Europe and North America. Aboul-Ela says he bases his list partially on the quality of the translation into English, with the exception of Voices, which he insists “rises above its translator’s limitations.” His five:
- Ghassan Kanafani, Men in the Sun
- Tayyeb Salih, Season Of Migration To The North
- Soleiman Fayyad, Voices
- Abdel Rahman Munif, Cities of Salt
- Sonallah Ibrahim, Zaat
Aida Bamia
Bamia is a professor emiritus of Arabic Language and Literature, University of Florida. She has translated Sahar Khalifeh’s The Inheritance and Ali Bader’s Papa Sartre, among other works.
- Emile Habibi’ s Said the Pessoptimist
- Etel Adnan’s Sitt Marie Rose
- Abd al-Rahman Munif, Cities of Salt
- Ahdaf Soueif’s The Map of Love
- Sahar Khalifeh’s The Image, the Icon and the Covenant
Katrina Weber
Weber is a lover of Arabic literature and was the moderator of the Read Kutub literature group and blog, which is part of The Third Line non-profit programming in Dubai. Weber also has a very interesting method of counting to five:
- Tayeb Salih, Season Of Migration To The North
- Elias Khoury, Gate of the Sun
- Mahmoud Darwish, anything and everything…is this cheating?
- Sinan Antoon, I’jaam
- Sonallah Ibrahim, Zaat
- Ghassan Kanafani, Men in the Sun and Other Palestinian Stories or Palestine’s Children: Returning to Haifa & Other Stories or All That’s Left of You
- Abdul Rahman Munif, Cities of Salt and Endings
- Hoda Barakat, Tiller of the Waters
- Naguib Mahfouz, Cairo Trilogy
- Emile Habiby, The Secret Life of Saeed: The Pessoptimist
- Husain Haddawy’s translation The Arabian Nights (based on the Muhsin Mahdi edition of the Arabic).
- Season Of Migration To The North, Denys Johnson-Davies’ translation of Tayeb Salih’s Mawsim al-Hijra ila al-Shamal.
- Zayni Barakat, Farouq Mustafa’s translation of Gamal al-Ghitani’s novel of the same name.
- W. J. Prendergast’s translation of Badi‘ al-Zaman al-Hamadhani’s Maqamat.
- Cities of Salt, Peter Theroux’s translation of the first of Abderrahman Munif’s quintet
- And a bonus that needs to be included: Michael Sells’ translation of the early Meccan Suras in Approaching the Qur’an.
- Memory for Forgetfulness, Mahmoud Darwish
- Season of Migration to the North, Tayyeb Saleh
- The Trilogy or Children of the Alley by Mahfouz (I’m cheating but they should both be on the list.)
- Bleeding of the Stone, Ibrahim al-Koni
- Youssef Idris stories in Arabic
Arabic Summer Reading Challenge at Arabic Literature (in English) « By The Firelight
May 26, 2010 @ 4:33 am
[…] Arabic Literature (in English) May 25, 2010 bythefirelight Leave a comment Go to comments Arabic Literature (in English) is having a summer Arabic reading challenge. There are prizes too! To participate: […]
Moris
May 27, 2010 @ 12:36 pm
I will read:
1.Mahmoud Darwish, Fi Hadrat al-Ghiyab ( In the Presence of Absence) (or Memory for Forgetfulness)
2. Al Jahiz, the book of misers
3. In Khaldun, Al Muqaddima the introduction
4. Saleh, Season of migration to the north (Re-read)
5. Elias Khoury Gates of the sun
Marek Brieška
June 25, 2010 @ 7:59 am
As my interest slightly shifts from classics through moderns into contemporaries I will definitely include the anthology Beirut39 with that spans the whole Arab world in my summer must-read list, than maybe an excellent anthology edited by Joumana Haddad “Medina”, long-postponed Amin Maalouf “Balthazar” and anything thay may come from Yahia´s Lababidi pen:) And maybe finally finish Nagib Mahfouz´s “Children of Gebelawi”:)
bythefirelight
May 26, 2010 @ 4:36 am
I’m going to finally read Miramar. I’ve been carting a copy of it around with me for years with the best of intentions.
Maryanne Stroud Gabbani
May 26, 2010 @ 5:20 am
I have quite a few of these and have read them, albeit many of them long ago. I’m glad to see The Children of the Alley on there. I’ve posted this to my Facebook page to encourage my summer-reading friends. So fascinating to see the concurrences in the lists…there are some there that are definitely must-reads.
Helen Ellis
May 26, 2010 @ 7:03 am
What a great idea, I never know which books to choose so this will help expand my Arabia translation library.
Now it all comes down to what is available in Hurghada.
Thanks.
winstonsdad
May 26, 2010 @ 10:36 am
what a wondeful idea ,breat chices from every one ,all the best stu
winstonsdad
May 26, 2010 @ 10:40 am
going try and read one of the 2 mahfouz on list 🙂
winstonsdad
May 26, 2010 @ 12:09 pm
have managed to find 4 from library have reserved and have tales of dayrut 🙂
Qifa Nabki
May 26, 2010 @ 12:13 pm
Nice exercise. What about doing a parallel post that invites people to submit their recommendations for non-translated Arabic lit?
Anna
May 26, 2010 @ 12:48 pm
I will finally read “the Days”! I bought the book ages ago and now it’s a great opportunity to read it!
reem
May 26, 2010 @ 8:49 pm
i like the idea , i planned to read : Miramar , I Saw Ramallah and Muqadima for ibn khaldoun
Eva
May 26, 2010 @ 11:48 pm
I’m going to read I saw Ramallah. I have already read Yalo (Elias Khury), which was a great discover for me, I just loved it, so I’m going to try also The gate of the sun. This for now.
(And by the way, I’m reading those books in Italian, so far)
Two days’ worth of links « champollion st.
May 26, 2010 @ 11:53 pm
[…] The Arabic reading summer challenge. It’s on! […]
Kirsten
May 27, 2010 @ 8:15 am
What a great idea! I’ll start with Tayeb Salih, Season of Migration to the North.
Diana
May 27, 2010 @ 8:27 am
I’d definitely go for “The Collected (or Selected) Poems” of Sargon Boulus. For the summer….
Harry
May 27, 2010 @ 10:07 am
Well, I’m trying to read a book from every country anyway, so it’s great to have some recommendations… I think I’ll start with Cities of Salt and Bleeding of the Stone.
winstonsdad
May 27, 2010 @ 11:04 am
my five choice if they all come from library
1 tales of dayrut
2 cities of salt
3 for bread alone
4 yalo
5 i saw ramallah
taking part in the arabic summer reading challenge 2010 « Winstonsdad's Blog
May 27, 2010 @ 11:30 am
[…] Qualey of ARABLIT blog is hosting a an arabic reading challenge ,she has ask writers critics and scholars to pick great books from the arab world and you can choose […]
Krista Park
May 27, 2010 @ 10:18 pm
I will read Elias Khoury’s Yalo and, if my copy turns up (I’m not sure if I’m still waiting for the publisher to send it or if it’s lost in my house) Gate of the Sun.
I read Mirimar in college, and I loved it.
Krista Park
May 30, 2010 @ 9:33 pm
My copy turned up (the publisher had an issue w/ the printer, and the backorder finally came)! And, I went through my bookshelves . . . discovering other eligible books. So, here’s the list I’m attempting between Memorial Day and Labor Day:
Beirut Blues by Hanan al-Shaykh
The Harafish by Naguib Mahfouz (I also might re-read Mirimar)
White Masks by Elias Khoury
Yalo by Elias Khoury
Gate of the Sun by Elias Khoury
and two anthologies w/ decent Arabic representation. . .
Words Without Borders: The World Through the Eyes of Writers
Literature from the “Axis of Evil.”
It doesn’t totally count, but I’m also planning to read Michael Muhammad Knight’s The Taqwacores.
AbdulRahman Arif
May 29, 2010 @ 7:51 am
What’s the Polymath in Arabic?
mlynxqualey
May 29, 2010 @ 7:59 am
AbdulRahman: You going to read it?
العلامة
by بنسالم حميش
letturearabe
May 29, 2010 @ 11:18 am
I will surely read
نسيان.كوم
by Ahlam Mostaghanmi and
ليلة المليار
by Ghada Samman
Jolanda
ps.: العلامة is a very good book
AbdulRahman Arif
May 29, 2010 @ 9:01 pm
Well, I have a dissertation to write so I don’t know how much time I’ll have, but it does look interesting. I already read Tayeb Salih’s Season of Migration to the North and much of Mostaghanemi’s Memories of the Flesh. Cities of Salt, and Mahfuz’s Trilogy are appealing.
Ellie
May 30, 2010 @ 8:54 pm
I just finished Azazeel by Yusef Zidan and before it Al-Harafeesh by Mahfouz, so I’m in the mood still for Arabic literature.
I chose 6 books that I try to finish this summer, I’m a quick reader but I’m working so it might slow me down a bit but I will do my best to finish them because it’s a very interesting challenge that I want to make use of to read the books I might not be able to read any other time.
Here is the list of the books I intend to read, some I have already some I’m yet to buy:
1. Children of the Alley….Mahfouz (in Arabic)
2. Season of Migration to the North…Tayeb Saleh (in English)
3. Gate of the Sun…Elyas Khoury (in English)
4. Cities of Salt…Abd AlRahman Munif (in English)
5. Map of Love….Ahdaf Souaif (in Arabic)
6. works of Mahmoud Darwish, (in Arabic) a book that I found last week in a new bookshop in Edgware road and i was about to buy it but I hesitated now I have a reason to buy it 🙂
BTW, do we have to come back and comment on every book we read or we comment after we finish them all?
We are all Homo Sacer Now? « zunguzungu
June 2, 2010 @ 6:28 pm
[…] / Islamic world novels I hope to get through this simmer (working mostly from this list, and also this one; either Elias Khoury‘s Gate of the Sun or T.E.’s Seven Pillars is next if you want to join me), […]
Christiaan
June 3, 2010 @ 6:40 pm
Arabic summer reading list? A great idea! I just stumbled upon this blog and love it.
I’m an American living in Tunis and am heading to Libya next week so my top read for June is Gold Dust by Ibrahim al-Koni. [If anyone has more advice on Libyan authors, let me know. My whole trip there is to buy Libyan literature.]
July, I’ll read I Saw Ramallah. I’ve had it for years and haven’t gotten around to it.
August will be for Al-Muqqadimah in honor of my “concitoyen” Ibn Khaldoun.
Taqwa
June 3, 2010 @ 8:19 pm
I have a question. Where can I order online or buy Arabic literature? (in the US). I’ve tried neelwafurat.com but their shipping is just way too much for a college student like myself to afford. Any suggestions? 🙂 Thanks..
Krista Park
June 4, 2010 @ 10:18 am
For literature in translation, Amazon.com actually has a decent supply. For non-translated literature, try http://www.incognito.com.lb/store/ I’ve purchased music and graphic-based books from them. They’re shipping is quite reasonable. It isn’t the biggest selection of books, but they carry stuff in Arabic, French, and English.
mlynxqualey
June 4, 2010 @ 4:58 am
Christiaan: Ahmad Ibrahim al-Faqih, sometimes transliterated as al-Fagih. Hisham Matar, although he lives in London and writes in English.
Perhaps, after the trip, you can suggest more Libyan literature to us?
Taqwa: I guess having traveling friends stuff books in their suitcases is the cheapest option….
Liz
June 7, 2010 @ 1:33 pm
What a wonderful idea!
I am ashamed to admit that I haven’t read /A Season of Migration to the North/, so that is first on my to-read list.
Books you should read (summer 2010) « Writer, Reader, Chocolate Eater
June 7, 2010 @ 5:39 pm
[…] for another reading list (with a competition to boot!), click here. Be warned, it’s an Arabic reading challenge. But you’re allowed to read the books in […]
Eva
June 9, 2010 @ 12:03 am
This sounds like fun, and what a great resource! Unfortunately, my library didn’t have a lot of the titles, but I’ll be using the list for ILL inspiration in the future. 🙂
I’d like to participate and read I Saw Ramallah in June, Cities of Salt in July, and either Women of Algiers in Their Apartments or The Map of Love in August (I’ve requested the former, but if it doesn’t arrive in time, my library owns the latter).
NYRB Classics: Season of Migration to the North and Alone! Alone! « A Striped Armchair
June 11, 2010 @ 12:51 pm
[…] I’m hoping there’s at least a bit of interest. Also, a few days ago I found this great list of recommended Arabic-in-English-translation lit ( thanks to stu) and 9 of the 14 contributors selected Season of the North as one of their top […]
Arabic Summer Reading Challenge
June 11, 2010 @ 8:52 pm
[…] just a few of the books in the library that are on the list. To see the complete list, visit the Arabic Literature (in English) […]
Edita
June 15, 2010 @ 5:35 am
I have already enjoyed Memory for Forgetfulness by Mahmoud Darwish and For Bread Alone by Mohammed Choukri, so I am going to read Mourid Barghouti’s I Saw Ramallah as I am familiar with the excerpts already and love his style of writing a lot. I would surely read them all if I had them at home, I always try to buy and read as many as I can.
Thank you for posting the list.
Summer Reading Challenge! « Kutub
June 15, 2010 @ 10:57 am
[…] ENTER: http://arablit.wordpress.com/2010/05/26/take-the-arabic-summer-reading-challenge-and-win/ Published […]
Palendia
June 16, 2010 @ 11:48 am
Excellent Idea. It;s a shame that I have only read 3 or 4 of the books.
Check out my blog!
JoV
June 20, 2010 @ 9:05 am
I am going to read Map of Love and Elias Khoury‘s Gate of the Sun if I can.
This challenge is just too enticing to pass it on, because my local libraries (South West UK) are so poorly stock on translated Arab lit that I jumped on the prospect of receiving a bundle of Arabic books from across Atlantic! 😉
Jess
June 22, 2010 @ 12:11 am
I’m going to read Tayeb Salih’s Season of Migration to the North. Great summer reading challenge!
cynthia burton
June 22, 2010 @ 3:44 pm
I read Miramar (in English) a lifetime ago. This challenge inspires me to re-read it and add to it Map of Love. Thank you for the challenge and for the lovely list of new authors (to me). A thought, if you have copies to spare of these authors, donate them to the public library so others can share these visions.
Does anyone know where I might purchase Metro in English by Magdy ElShaffee? translated by Humphrey Davies. I couldn’t find it on Amazon or Incognito.
Thanks in advance,
Cynthia
mlynxqualey
June 23, 2010 @ 3:48 am
Humphrey only translated the excerpt of Metro that appeared in Words Without Borders:
http://wordswithoutborders.org/graphic-lit/from-metro/
Our libraries don’t take donations, but good suggestion.
Sarah
June 24, 2010 @ 5:20 am
I’m really excited to have stumbled upon this challenge. I have always loved reading about middle eastern culture and history but for some reason I’ve never thought to read Arabic literature translated into English. So thank you for this challenge and for all of the suggestions, without them I wouldn’t have known where to start. I’m going to start off reading Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih because it was recommended the most. I’m hoping to read more from the lists of suggestions in the future. Thanks again!
Heraclitean Fire » The Bleeding of the Stone by Ibrahim Al-Koni
June 26, 2010 @ 11:38 am
[…] The Bleeding of the Stone is my book from Libya for the Read The World challenge. And, incidentally, for the Arabic Summer Reading Challenge. […]
Krista Park
June 27, 2010 @ 10:20 am
Audible.com is now selling The Others by Seba al-Herz (translated from Arabic). Their website doesn’t say who did the translation, however.
Ellie
June 28, 2010 @ 11:20 am
finished reading 2 books:
1. Children of the Alley….Mahfouz (in Arabic)
2. Map of Love….Ahdaf Souaif (in Arabic)
4 to go 😀
Ellie
Links & Such « Ardent Reader
June 28, 2010 @ 11:45 am
[…] as my public library doesn’t have any of these books, I am greatly enjoying perusing the recommendations given by Arabic authors for the […]
gina
July 4, 2010 @ 8:31 pm
I’m excited about this challenge. I will read Mourid Barghouti, I Saw Ramallah and Tayeb Salih, Season of Migration to the North.
And And And» Blog Archive » 2010 Challenges
July 4, 2010 @ 8:45 pm
[…] Another challenge I’ve signed up for is the Arabic Summer Reading Challenge. This one is more obtainable as the only requirement is to read a translated Arabic book and add a comment to the Arabic Literature (In English) blog. Ms. Qualey, the woman behind the blog, reached out to translators, critics, professors and writers for their recommendations, which is great for new readers of Arabic lit like me. For more details about the challenge, click here. […]
Paul Doyle
July 6, 2010 @ 4:54 am
As you’ve already seen, I finished reading Miramar. 850 words doesn’t seem to do justice to a such a good book. I wish I’d read it years ago when I first bought the book.
http://bythefirelight.com/2010/07/02/miramar-by-nagib-mafouz-a-review/
DubaiReader
July 9, 2010 @ 12:35 am
I’ve got a copy of I Saw Ramallah on my shelves and it seems tol be widely recommended so that’s what I’ll commit to initially.
M
July 9, 2010 @ 9:49 pm
I’m studying for the bar exam until the end of July, so I won’t be able to start my book until August, hope that’s okay. I plan on reading either Palace Walk by Mahfouz (first book in the Cairo Trilogy) or I See Ramallah.
Thanks! 🙂
For bread alone by Mohamed Choukri « Winstonsdad's Blog
July 13, 2010 @ 3:24 pm
[…] this is part of the arabic lit challenge. […]
Rasmus
July 15, 2010 @ 9:23 am
Phew, so many good recommendations …. like my reading list wasn’t long enough already! I have the Beirut39 book in my lap at the moment, but Memory in the Flesh will arrive to my mail box soon and will be my choice for the challenge.
Sue
July 22, 2010 @ 2:38 am
Thank you for posting so many titles, I am very interested in this challenge. I will read:
For Bread Alone (just bought before I read this posting.) I plan to read others, I need to see what my library has in their collection. Thank you.
Sue
July 22, 2010 @ 2:40 am
Can you recommend any good non fiction regarding Egypt, it’s history, culture, etc. Thanks.
vaeva
August 9, 2010 @ 11:21 am
Finished “I saw Ramallah”, at last! Very moving… But the thing is, when it comes to Palestine, I become way too much emotional.
And just to keep this emotional thing I’m going to start “The Gate of the sun”.
I also found in my shelves “The map of love”, so that could be the third this summer (this one in English, the others still in Italian).
Tales from Dayrut by Mohamed Mustagab « Winstonsdad's Blog
August 15, 2010 @ 7:25 pm
[…] ,the book is published by the american university press of Cairo .This is my third read for the arabic summer reading challenge from arablit blog .I ve some more arabic books as well to read over the next month or two as […]
Raymond
August 20, 2010 @ 5:03 am
Hello all!
This is probably a little too late but will share my summer reading experience anyway.
I’m very very new to Arabic literature but so far have had a very enjoyable summer sampling some its fiction (I only found out about this blog last week so I think I only got one amongst the recommended readings).
Here’s the list –
Yalo – Elias Khoury (saw him at PEN!)
Silent Day in Tangier, The Sand Child, and The Last Friend – Tahar Ben Jelloun
Journey of Ibn Fattouma and Arabian Night & Days – Naguib Mahfouz
Muntaha – Hala El Badry
Shattered Vision – Rabah Belamri
As you can see, it’s pretty random so this blog will definitely help me in the future!
Enjoy the rest of the summer and happy reading!
Library Loot 25 – 31 August 2010 « Bibliojunkie
August 26, 2010 @ 11:42 pm
[…] by Elias Khoury – introduced by the Arabic Lit Summer reading Challenge it is about how differently the world is seen through the eyes of a militia member of the Lebanese […]
Bookie Mee | Book Fairy Struck Again!
September 26, 2010 @ 3:02 am
[…] I found out these series are not exactly the translation that’s recommended by the people of Arab Lit Challenge. What to do? Should I go ahead and read these ones?) 25 No Shitting in the Toilet by Peter […]
Yalo by Elias Khoury « Bibliojunkie
October 8, 2010 @ 3:05 pm
[…] book made reading laborious, but hold on to it and the second half you will be rewarded. Thanks to M. Lynx Qualey of Arab Lit encouragement, I held on to the book. By the second half of the book, Yalo confession accounts […]
The Under-appreciated Sargon Boulus « Arabic Literature (in English)
October 9, 2010 @ 9:47 am
[…] mentioned Boulos’ single English collection on his list of five Arabic books you must read before you die, in the company of greats like Tayeb Salih, Bensalem Himmich, Ibn Hazm and Ibn […]
valleau
December 20, 2010 @ 2:43 am
Hope to join in 2011.
Chris Mick
February 1, 2011 @ 8:28 am
I must admit reading Alla Ala Aswany was my first exposure to middle east and North African literature. I have since found many other’s like the great Naguib Mahfouz. I loved “Drumbeat” by Mohamed El-Bisatie. I could relate to it. It reminded me of being in prison or what that would be like. Having to “Suffocate” or completely turn off part of yourself. Anyway’s I am now reading “Wolves of a crescent Moon” by Yousef Al-Mohaimeed.
I have read other’s as well. Maybe I am wrong but the author’s currently writing seem to have better translation’s. Maybe it’s because some or most speak English and can over see the translation or maybe it’s just that modern Arabic language is easier to translate than something written 50 or more years ago. Perhaps the art of translating is more refined and done with more care . Whatever the reason books written in the past 10 years just seem to flow natural. Some of the other translations make the story almost academic and stiff which is something I don’t like. But I am great-full for these books.
Thanks.
C.J.M. Seattle Wash.
voices of palenstine and Arabic world « Winstonsdad's Blog
March 4, 2011 @ 8:13 pm
[…] news and interviews from the arabic world and also had a summer reading challenge last year with a wonderful list of books by the good and the great of arabic literature .A blog worth […]
5 Must-read Memoirs (and Not-quite-memoirs) | Arabic Literature (in English)
March 16, 2011 @ 4:05 am
[…] Five Arabic books to read before you die […]
Arab Novels: Not as Good as the Russians, Latin Americans? | Arabic Literature (in English)
April 19, 2011 @ 9:49 am
[…] year’s summer challenge list, in which translators, authors, and publishers note “five Arabic books to read before you die” should include at least one that will blow you […]
د آية الأسمر
May 11, 2011 @ 6:08 pm
Hello there… I am a palestinian novelist and a political writer. I published a novel in 2007 “The Jasmine Dreams in the Time of Marble”. It is a valuable novel in Arabic which deals with the social life of an arabic woman and the social problems and political issues in the arab countries which is worth it to be translated to english for american people to get to know what is happening around more… How can I translate the novel into English? thank you…
ernie brill
June 7, 2011 @ 4:27 pm
Are we not doing Arab poets, some of the most spectacular poets in the world?
I highly recommend the recentlly issued Journal of An Ordinary Grief by Mahmoud Darwish, Kanafani’s short story collecton Palestine’s Children, and Emile Habiby’s delightful Sanaya, The Ogre’s Daughter. For Mahfouz, I recommend Arabian Nights, and Ahknaten, a masterpiece of multiple povs. I would also recommend Al Koni’s The Bleeding Stone, and Sahar Khalifeh’s Wild Thorns ( a novel that’s more intricate than what appears).
mlynxqualey
June 8, 2011 @ 4:45 pm
We could do poets this summer… still undecided. I have until June 21, the official start of the season…
Julie Purcell
June 24, 2011 @ 5:38 pm
Thank you for this list!!!!!
I must choose Season of Migration to the North, Tayyeb Saleh because it was mentioned so many times… and by such amazing minds… I am wonderfully frightened to see what impact it has on my life, it will no doubt be small!
Julie Purcell
June 24, 2011 @ 5:39 pm
Oh my, I meant to say, it will no doubt NOT be small 🙂
Mohamed NGADI
August 12, 2011 @ 6:26 pm
two years ago, I read A. Rahmane Mounif’s Cities of Salt, Ahlam Musteghanmi’s Memory of Flesh.
on 2005, I read Ghassan Kanafani’s Men under Sun and a short story entitled “The Stranger” by Leila Abouzeid.