House of Curiosity...

My mother asked me to get her books when I was in France, so I went to one of the biggest bookshops there… looked around and realized I have almost 0 knowledge of writers outside American or English culture! So I went to that section and bought her few translated books!

I decided to look into our supposedly rich culture and startt a drive to promote Arabic culture! I have to admit from the first look I felt very frustrated reading Arabic, as I found Arab writers very negative and all heading in one direction, I was thinking that I wish to find one modern Arab writer who does not speak in riddles, or who addresses our issues in a light amusing way.

From a second look, I started changing my mind, I chose 6 writers today, all of them are very known, I chose them because I found their books extremely interesting:

Ahdaf Soueif:
Map of Love: In this novel the landscape of Egypt is beautifully brought alive when an English lady not only falls in love with her colonial country, but learns so much of its people.
In the eye of the sun: My absolutely favorite, a very powerful modern Arab book, the relationships and experiences of characters that Asia meets studying between Egypt and Britain, are interwoven to create a surprisingly sexy novel, full of wit, passion and grief.

Tayeb Saleh
Season of immigration to the north: is one of the most passionate books I have ever read, and I am not talking about a cheap love story, it is strong, mysterious, delicious and absolutely marvelous. Way to go Mr. Saleh.

Ahlam Mustaghnemi
I really wanted to read her, when I asked a the library man in Saudi if they hold her and he started scolding me, telling me that this is the beginning of the fall of our culture! When young ladies read whores like Ahlam! So naturally I think she is great! These books are recommended.
The Memory of the Body
The Chaos of the Senses

Mahmoud Taymour
He is an older writer, his books are generally good but there is one book I thought was very nice it is called shamroukh, it is talking about the life of one prince from the gulf, very sweet book.

Abdel Rahman Munif
one of the best writers, you could read in any culture, his masterpieace is 5 books called Cities of Salt where he gives a detailed history of Saudi in a very good fiction novel.

Hanan al sheikh
She is one of the most straight forward Arab writers. She says the truth bluntly, so that is one thing i appreciate in her writings.