Antoon: Five Could’ve Been Fifty, Youssef: Fifty(-Nine) It Is!
Sinan Antoon responded to my book request just after I’d posted the list for Take the Arabic Lit Summer Reading Challenge, and Win. If you don’t know who Antoon is, for goodness sakes! His I’jaam was one of Katrina Weber’s choices.
He said, “So here are my five. But it could’ve been fifty of course:
- Mahmoud Darwish, Fi Hadrat al-Ghiyab ( In the Presence of Absence) (or Memory for Forgetfulness)
- Abdelrahman Munif, Cities of Salt
- Sonallah Ibrahim, The Committee
- Elias Khoury, The Kingdom of Strangers
- Hanan al-Shaykh, The Story of Zahra“
Elias Muhanna, a PhD student in Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations at Harvard University, a writer, and the maintainer of Qifa Nabki, also got back to me “better late than never.”
- 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
And I finally got a file from Cairo book-shop/literary center proprietor Karam Youssef that my computer could understand. And Karam didn’t just choose 50…but 59!
Before you peruse Karam’s list, hop over to the reading challenge and enter your choice.
| Item | ISBN | Title | Author | Author – Arabic |
| 1 | 9774247876 | A Certain Woman | Hala Al Badry | هالة البدري |
| 2 | 9789774163012 | A Dog with no Tail | Hamdy Abou Golaiel | حمدي ابو جليل |
| 3 | 9774249631 | Absent | Betool Khoudiri | بتول
خضيري |
| 4 | 977424530X | Adrift On The Nile | Naguib Mahfouz | نجيب محفوظ |
| 5 | 9789774162091 | As Doha Said | Baha Taher | بهاء طاهر |
| 6 | 977424107X | Autum Quail | Naguib Mahfouz | نجيب محفوظ |
| 7 | 9774160045 | Being Abas El Abd | Ahmed Al Ayedy | احمد العايدي |
| 8 | 9774248864 | Birds Of Amber | Ibrahim Abdel Meguied | ابراهيم عبد المجيد |
| 9 | 9789774161049 | Black Magic | Hamdy Al Gazzar | حمدي
الجزار |
| 10 | 9774249682 | Blue Aubergine | Miral El Tahawy | ميرال الطحاوي |
| 11 | 9774161568 | Cairo Modern | Naguib Mahfouz | نجيب محفوظ |
| 12 | 9789774246883 | Cairo Trilogy | Naguib Mahfouz | نجيب محفوظ |
| 13 | 9774246705 | Chaos Of The Senses | Ahlam Moustaghanmi | احلام مستغانمي |
| 14 | 9789774246791 | Children Of The Alley | Naguib Mahfouz | نجيب محفوظ |
| 15 | 9774246993 | City Of Love & Ashes | Youssif Edris | يوسف ادريس |
| 16 | 977424852X | Clamor Of The Lake | Mohamed Al Bisati | محمد البساطي |
| 17 | 9774247167 | Committee | Sonallah Ibrahim | صنع الله ابراهيم |
| 18 | 9774244168 | Damascus Nights | Rafiq Shamia | رفيق شامية |
| 19 | 9774160673 | Dreams of Departure | Naguib Mahfouz | نجيب محفوظ |
| 20 | 9789774162275 | Gazelle Tracks | Miral El Tahawy | ميرال الطحاوي |
| 21 | 9774162305 | Granada | Radwa Ashour | رضوي
عاشور |
| 22 | 9774249291 | Heron | Ibrahim Aslan | ابراهيم اصلان |
| 23 | 9774247558 | I Saw Ramallah | Mourid Barghouti | مريد البرغوثي |
| 24 | 977416072X | KARNAK CAFE | Naguib Mahfouz | نجيب محفوظ |
| 25 | 9774161909 | Khan Al Khalili | Naguib Mahfouz | نجيب محفوظ |
| 26 | 9774249704 | Lamp Of Umm Hashim | Yahia Haqy | يحي حقي |
| 27 | 9774247272 | Leaves Of Narcissus | Somaya Ramadan | سمية
رمضان |
| 28 | 9789774162947 | Life Is More Beautiful Than Paradise |
Khalid Al Berry | خالد البري |
| 29 | 977424902X | Love In Exile |
Baha Taher | بهاء طاهر |
| 30 | 9774243471 | Man Who Lost His Shadow | Fathy Ghanem | فتحي غانم |
| 31 | 9789774160561 | Maryam`s Maze | Mansoura Ezz Al Din | منصورة عز الدين |
| 32 | 9789774240584 | Midaq Alley | Naguib Mahfouz | نجيب محفوظ |
| 33 | 9789774240911 | Miramar | Naguib Mahfouz | نجيب محفوظ |
| 34 | 9774245601 | Mirrors | Naguib Mahfouz | نجيب
محفوظ |
| 35 | 9789774161896 | Moon over Samarqand | Mohamed Al Manssy Qandiel |
محمد المنسي قنديل |
| 36 | 977424267X | Mountain of Green Tea and Other Stories |
Yahia Al Taher Abdallah |
يحي الطاهر عبدالله |
| 37 | 9774248287 | Nile Sparrows | Ibrahim Aslan | ابراهيم اصلان |
| 38 | 9774249615 | No One Sleeps in Alexandria |
Ibrahim Abdel Meguied | ابراهيم عبد المجيد |
| 39 | 9774246985 | Open Door |
Latifa Al Zayat | لطيفة الزيات |
| 40 | 9774249585 | Other Place | Ibrahim Abdel Meguied | ابراهيم
عبد المجيد |
| 41 | 9774241126 | The Beginning & The End |
Naguib Mahfouz | نجيب محفوظ |
| 42 | 9789774162725 | The Butterfly’s Burden |
Mahmoud Darwish | محمود درويش |
| 43 | 9774246357 | The Days |
Taha Hussein | طه حسين |
| 44 | 9789774162428 | The Essential Yusuf Idris |
Yusuf Idris | يوسف ادريس |
| 45 | 9774246802 | The Harafish |
Naguib Mahfouz | نجيب
محفوظ |
| 46 | 9789774162657 | The Mirage | Naguib Mahfouz | نجيب محفوظ |
| 47 | 9789774163586 | The Scents Of Marie Claire |
Habib Salmi | حبيب سلمي |
| 48 | 9774161070 | The Smiles Of The Saints |
Ibrahim Farghaly | ابراهيم فرغلي |
| 49 | 9789774161902 | The Zafarani Files | Gamal Al Ghitany | جمال الغيطاني |
| 50 | 9774240340 | Thief and the dogs | Naguib Mahfouz | نجيب محفوظ |
| 51 | 9789774160714 | Thieves In Retirement | Hamdy Abou Golaiel | حمدي ابو
جليل |
| 52 | 9774160061 | Wedding Night | Yusuf Abou Rayah | يوسف ابو ريه |
| 53 | 9789774245596 | Whatever Happened To Egyptians? |
Galal Amin | جلال امين |
| 54 | 9774160493 | Wolves of the Crescent Moon |
Youssef Al Mohameed | يوسف المحميد |
| 55 | 9774248988 | Woman Of The Flask | Selim Matar | سليم مطر |
| 56 | 9774248627 | Yacoubian Building | Alaa Al Aswany | علاء الاسواني |
| 57 | 9774248449 | Zaat | Sonallah Ibrahim | صنع الله ابراهيم |
| 58 | 9789774248726 | Zayni Barakat | Gamal Al Ghitany | جمال
الغيطاني |
| 59 | 1557287430 | Angry Voices | poetry – Egyptian Poetry |
شعراء مصريون – جيل التسعينيات |