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Novels set in the Middle East?
Posted on 8/12/21 at 12:57 pm
Posted on 8/12/21 at 12:57 pm
Recently read the Kiterunner which was incredible and I am interested in reading more novels set in the Middle East. I plan on ordering a Thousand Splendid Suns but not quite ready for something so heartbreaking after just reading the Kiterunner. Would prefer ones not about the IraQ and Afghanistan wars. Any suggestions?
This post was edited on 8/12/21 at 12:58 pm
8
Posted on 8/12/21 at 2:11 pm to mouton
The Stranger by Albert Camus is a classic and is set in French-occupied Algeria. The desert and the heat play a role in the story as well as the European/Arab division.
Posted on 8/12/21 at 2:43 pm to mouton
The Blind Owl by Sadegh Hedayat is amazing.
Posted on 8/12/21 at 3:56 pm to thedrumdoctor
quote:
The Stranger by Albert Camus is a classic and is set in French-occupied Algeria.
Read this in high school but that has been so long ago I barely remember it. Need to pick up a copy again.
Posted on 8/12/21 at 4:04 pm to The Spleen
quote:
The Blind Owl by Sadegh Hedayat is amazing.
Synopsis?
Posted on 8/12/21 at 4:25 pm to mouton
quote:
Synopsis?
A Persian guy losing his mind and talking to what he thinks is an Owl on his wall about an imaginary girl he's in love with. Lot of talk about death and the broken human condition. It's a pretty dark book, but I enjoyed it.
That's from memory. It's been about 15 years since I read it.
Posted on 8/12/21 at 6:06 pm to mouton
Posted on 8/13/21 at 10:04 am to Roaad
Read that one already. Ending kind of sucked.
This post was edited on 8/13/21 at 10:05 am
Posted on 8/14/21 at 10:54 am to blueridgeTiger
That’s awesome. I’ll have to check it out.
Posted on 8/14/21 at 5:29 pm to mouton
The Kiterunner is so bad. It really plays on some tropes of the area. But it's good it exposed you to a really rich literary area. I loved Sahar Khalifeh's book Wild Thorns. Naguib Mahfouz's Cairo Trilogy is amazing. There are some novels by some Iraqi authors that are really good, like Sinan Antoon. The book I Stared at the Night of the City by this Kurdish dude is really good. One of the classics of the area is called Cities of Salt by Abdul Rahman Munif. I also loved The Hakawati by Rabih Alemaddine. Also Hisham Matar has some amazing books, with his memoir, The Return, being very good. Also Orhan Pamuk is amazing, with several really good books. There are also lots of amazing books of poetry, like Adonis, Mahmoud Darwish, and even Pakistanis like Faiz.
I have a ton of suggestions if you want more.
I have a ton of suggestions if you want more.
Posted on 8/14/21 at 7:33 pm to mouton
Whirlwind by James Clavell
Posted on 8/15/21 at 10:36 am to crazy4lsu
quote:
The Kiterunner is so bad.
You are the first person I have come across that didn’t like it. I thought it was incredible.
Posted on 8/15/21 at 10:41 am to Rockbrc
Skeletons on the Zahara by Dean King
It's an African setting but still worth the read.
A spectacular true odyssey through the extremes of the Sahara Desert in the early 19th century. Reader and protagonist alike are challenged into new ways of understanding culture clash, slavery and the place of Islam in the social fabric of desert-dwelling peoples.
In a calm May morning in 1815, Captain James Riley and the crew of the Commerce left port in Connecticut for an ordinary trading voyage. They could never have imagined what awaited them.
Their nightmare began with a dreadful shipwreck off the coast of Africa, a hair-raising confrontation with hostile native tribesmen within hours of being washed ashore, and a hellish confinement in a rickety longboat as they tried, without success, to escape the fearsome coast. Eventually captured by desert nomads and sold into slavery, Riley and his men were dragged along on an insane journey through the bone-dry heart of the Sahara—a region unknown to Westerners. Along the way the Americans would encounter everything that could possibly test them: barbarism, murder, starvation, plagues of locusts, death, sandstorms that lasted for days, dehydration, and hostile tribes that roamed the desert on armies of camels. They would discover ancient cities and secret oases. They would also discover a surprising bond between a Muslim trader and an American sea captain, men who began as strangers, were forced to become allies in order to survive, and, in the tempering heat of the desert, became friends—even as the captain hatched a daring betrayal in order to save his men.
From the cold waters of the Atlantic to the searing Saharan sands, Skeletons on the Zahara is a spectacular odyssey through the extremes. Destined to become a classic among adventure narratives, Dean King's masterpiece is an unforgettable tale of survival, courage, and brotherhood.
It's an African setting but still worth the read.
A spectacular true odyssey through the extremes of the Sahara Desert in the early 19th century. Reader and protagonist alike are challenged into new ways of understanding culture clash, slavery and the place of Islam in the social fabric of desert-dwelling peoples.
In a calm May morning in 1815, Captain James Riley and the crew of the Commerce left port in Connecticut for an ordinary trading voyage. They could never have imagined what awaited them.
Their nightmare began with a dreadful shipwreck off the coast of Africa, a hair-raising confrontation with hostile native tribesmen within hours of being washed ashore, and a hellish confinement in a rickety longboat as they tried, without success, to escape the fearsome coast. Eventually captured by desert nomads and sold into slavery, Riley and his men were dragged along on an insane journey through the bone-dry heart of the Sahara—a region unknown to Westerners. Along the way the Americans would encounter everything that could possibly test them: barbarism, murder, starvation, plagues of locusts, death, sandstorms that lasted for days, dehydration, and hostile tribes that roamed the desert on armies of camels. They would discover ancient cities and secret oases. They would also discover a surprising bond between a Muslim trader and an American sea captain, men who began as strangers, were forced to become allies in order to survive, and, in the tempering heat of the desert, became friends—even as the captain hatched a daring betrayal in order to save his men.
From the cold waters of the Atlantic to the searing Saharan sands, Skeletons on the Zahara is a spectacular odyssey through the extremes. Destined to become a classic among adventure narratives, Dean King's masterpiece is an unforgettable tale of survival, courage, and brotherhood.
This post was edited on 8/15/21 at 10:42 am
Posted on 8/19/21 at 6:57 pm to crazy4lsu
quote:
I have a ton of suggestions if you want more.
Are you originally from the area?
quote:
Also Orhan Pamuk is amazing, with several really good books.
I'm actually in the middle of My Name is Red right now. It's fascinating.
Posted on 8/20/21 at 8:40 am to mouton
The Afghan Campaign by Steven Pressfield.
quote:
It is the story of Alexander the Great's invasion of the Afghan kingdoms (the Afghanistan of today) in 330 BC through the eyes of Matthias (?a?t??e?? in Greek), a young soldier from Macedonia, who narrates the adventures of the Macedonian army against the Eastern warriors. Matthias fights for Alexander the Great's infantry confronting ferocious people who, determined to defend their homeland, follow tough war methods.
Posted on 8/20/21 at 10:45 am to boxcarbarney
Seems like a lot of people aren't familiar with where the Middle East is located.
Posted on 8/20/21 at 11:05 am to mouton
The Ten Thousand by Michael Curtis Ford is excellent. A novelization of The Anabasis, told from Xenophon's perspective, similar to Pressfield's Gates of Fire.
Posted on 8/20/21 at 11:21 am to Philzilla2k
I misread the OPs post. I thought he was looking for books set in Afghanistan.
I lived 5 years of my life in Dubai, so I'm quite aware of where the Middle East is located.
quote:
Seems like a lot of people aren't familiar with where the Middle East is located.
I lived 5 years of my life in Dubai, so I'm quite aware of where the Middle East is located.
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