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From the bestselling author of the Booker Prize finalist The Map of Love–an incisive collection of essays on Arab identity, art, and politics that seeks to locate the mezzaterra, or common ground, in an increasingly globalized world. The twenty-five years’ worth of criticism and commentary collected here have earned Ahdaf Soueif a place among our most prominent Arab intellectuals. Clear-eyed and passionate, and syndicated throughout the world, they are the direct result of Soueif’s own circumstances of being “like hundreds of thousands of others: people with an Arab or a Muslim background doing daily double-takes when faced with their reflection in a western mirror.” Whether an account of visiting Palestine and entering the Noble Sanctuary for the first time, an interpretation of women who choose to wear the veil, or her post—September 11 reflections, Soueif’s intelligent, fearless, deeply informed essays embody the modern search for identity and community.
From the bestselling author of the Booker Prize finalist The Map of Love–an incisive collection of essays on Arab identity, art, and politics that seeks to locate the mezzaterra, or common ground, in an increasingly globalized world. The twenty-five years’ worth of criticism and commentary collected here have earned Ahdaf Soueif a place among our most prominent Arab intellectuals. Clear-eyed and passionate, and syndicated throughout the world, they are the direct result of Soueif’s own circumstances of being “like hundreds of thousands of others: people with an Arab or a Muslim background doing daily double-takes when faced with their reflection in a western mirror.” Whether an account of visiting Palestine and entering the Noble Sanctuary for the first time, an interpretation of women who choose to wear the veil, or her post—September 11 reflections, Soueif’s intelligent, fearless, deeply informed essays embody the modern search for identity and community.
Due to publisher restrictions the library cannot purchase additional copies of this title, and we apologize if there is a long waiting list. Be sure to check for other copies, because there may be other editions available.
Due to publisher restrictions the library cannot purchase additional copies of this title, and we apologize if there is a long waiting list. Be sure to check for other copies, because there may be other editions available.
Excerpts-
From the book
POLITICAL ESSAYS
Mystery surrounds rules of engagement
The rules of engagement used by the Israeli Defense Force and the border police have always been something of a mystery . . .
Since the intifada, Israeli security forces have frequently used live ammunition against demonstrators despite the absence of firearms on the Palestinian side, producing a steady stream of deaths.
Guardian, Tuesday October 3, 2000
Intifada 2000 dwarfs the original
The slings and stones may be familiar, but the past weeks of Palestinian-Israeli violence bear little resemblance to the intifada of 1987-93. They make it look almost gentlemanly . . .
Mr Najjar recalls the mass arrests and bones broken deliberately by Israeli security forces.
'This time,' he says, 'they aim to kill.'
Guardian, Friday October 27, 2000
Under the Gun: A Palestinian Journey1
I have never, to my knowledge, seen an Israeli except on television. I have never spoken to one. I cannot say I have wanted to. My life, like the life of every Egyptian of my generation, has been overcast by the shadow of Israel. I have longed to go to Palestine, but have not wished to go to Israel. And now I am going there.
I have not felt such anticipation or such fear since I was a child. For the past two months I have been following the news of the Intifada.2 I have compared the images on the BBC and CNN with those on al-Jazeera and other Arab channels. I have unspun stories, fumed at the American newspapers and been grateful for some of the reporting in some of the British press. I have started and ended my days reading appeals for help on the Internet. And again and again I have asked myself: 'What is it that I can do?' Now at last I can do something; I can go see for myself, and write. But going means going there.
Sunday 26 November 2000
My suitcase is open, almost packed, on the bed. I bought it yesterday—with wheels in case I have to drag it through barricades. The minicab is due in half an hour.
Monday 27 November 2000
It is the first day of Ramadan and we are on the road from Amman to the bridge and I am staring out at the desert and thinking—as I always do—how much I miss it when I'm in England: ten minutes of rolling sandy hills, then rock formations rising like huge chocolate gateaux followed by sand again; but this time rippling as though having a joke, then a bend in the road and a green valley opens up and suddenly a row of bedouin women walking elegantly along a ridge, then sand again and we are at the Jordanian terminal which seems almost empty. We unload and our driver makes enquiries. The West Bank, al-Daffa, is closed. He points to a large, low building and through the windows we see that it is crammed with people. 'But Jerusalem?' the woman with whom I've shared the taxi asks. Jerusalem, apparently, is open.
I know nothing of this woman except that the small daughter on the seat next to her is called 'Malak', Angel. An orthodox priest in black robes and his hair in a long grey braid comes out of the building and takes a taxi back to Amman. We go to another part of the terminal. Buses are waiting, loaded with people. Angel's mother decides to go VIP for the sake of the child. I walk along behind her. We hand over our passports and are ushered into a large room with sofas and Arabic newspapers. An official says that because I have a British passport I must go with the 'foreigners' on the bus.
'But she'll sit there for hours,' Angel's mother says.
The man shrugs.
'She's Egyptian', she says, 'and it's her first time here. Let her stay with ...
About the Author-
Ahdaf Soueif was born in Cairo. She is the author of Aisha, Sandpiper, In the Eye of the Sun, and the bestselling novel The Map of Love,which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1999. She also has translated from the Arabic the award-winning memoir I Saw Ramallahby Mourid Barghouti.
Reviews-
September 5, 2005 When Booker Prize finalist Soueif (The Map of Love ) moved from Egypt to London in 1984 to live with her husband, she became one of thousands of "people with an Arab or a Muslim background living in the West and doing daily double-takes when faced with their reflection in a Western mirror." Her sense of the disconnection between Arab life as she knew it and its portrayal in Western media only deepened after the Persian Gulf War began, the second intifada erupted and America invaded Iraq. For the past four years she has found "the situation so grave written hardly anything that does not have direct bearing on it." The 38 pieces collected here—some are works of reporting; most are essayistic book reviews—establish Soueif as the intellectual heir to Edward Said, the Palestinian scholar who was a personal friend of hers until his death in 2003. Like Said, Soueif insists that "the discord between the Arab world and the US is entirely to do with Israel." She speaks longingly of the 1960s, when, she says, political tensions were low enough that Arabs and Westerners could meet on common ground and "differences were interesting rather than threatening, because they were foregrounded against a backdrop of affinities." Though she sometimes appeals to emotion over hard facts, her prose reads smoothly and her observations on the misery inflicted by recent conflicts are thoughtful indeed.
Starred review from October 1, 2005 Are Islam and Western culture condemned to dangerous mutual estrangement and the "clash of civilizations," or is it still possible to bridge their religiopolitical divide? That is one of the more prominent themes of this collection of nearly 40 essays by Egyptian British novelist and commentator Soueif that are in part "the direct product of interactions between [her and] life in the UK." In addition to reviews of selected works by writers such as Jean Genet, Edward Said, and Amitav Ghosh, this collection includes commentaries and opinions about the events and aftermath of 9/11, Muslim women who choose to wear the veil, the notorious pan-Arab TV station Aljazeera, and the Palestinian predicament and uprisings. Known as one of the most widely read Arab fiction writers in English, Soueif here offers mostly political analyses that desperately seek common cultural ground (mezzaterra), mutual understanding, and affinity between the Western and Arab cultures in terms of values, ideals, and historical precedent. Soueif's first book-length work of nonfiction is highly recommended for all large collections. Her acclaimed novels -"Aisha", "Sandpiper", "In the " "Eye of the Sun", and "The Map of Love" -would also make great additions to literature collections. -Ali Houissa, Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY
Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
London Review of Books
"Soueif is a political analyst and commentator of the best kind."
The Independent
"Marvellous. . . . A writer of special importance. . . . Her combination of centred gravity, minute precision and insistent humanity generates highly clarified truth."
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Bahrain, Egypt, Hong Kong, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen
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