M.Lynx 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 one or five to read over the summer i ve picked five myself my five choice if they all come from library
1 tales from dayrut by Mohamed Mustagab(Egypt)
2 cities of salt by Abd al Rahman Munif (Saudi arab)
3 for bread alone by Mohamed Choukri (Morocco)
4 yalo by Elias Khoury (Lebanon)
5 i saw ramallah by Mourid Barghouti (Palestine)
a varied selection from my library
Have you a favourite arab book ?
This sounds like a lot of fun! I might have to join in 🙂
i hope so be fun 🙂
What a neat sounding challenge! 😀
I think my favourite ‘classic’ Arabic author is Naguib Mahfouz, as cliche as it is. 🙂 I just read The Hakawati a bit ago and absolutely adored it, so I can’t wait to read more of Rabih Alameddine…he might become my fave contemporary Arabic author.
i tried getting the mahfouz at library but were loaned out and didn’t have catro trilogy that i want to read ,all the best stu
Since I lived several years in Arabic-speaking countries, I read quite a lot of literature from that region. I read the books by Choukri and Barghouti on your list, both I liked very much. I have also reviewed a few books on my blog, such as Munif’s Endings (http://www.mytwostotinki.com/?p=532), Ibrahim al-Koni’s The Bleeding of the Stone (http://www.mytwostotinki.com/?p=117) and Boualem Sansal’s An Unfinished Business (http://www.mytwostotinki.com/?p=224) – Sansal writes in French, and two books about traditional storytelling in Marocco: Richard Hamilton’s The Last Storytellers (http://www.mytwostotinki.com/?p=331) and Tahir Shah’s In Arabian Nights (http://www.mytwostotinki.com/?p=460). I have also a review of a book on Arabic literature (http://www.mytwostotinki.com/?p=127), and a memoir about Jewish life in Egypt by Lucette Lagnado (http://www.mytwostotinki.com/?p=577), and a book with Alexandria stories by Henry Tzalas (http://www.mytwostotinki.com/?p=198). I am planning to review Tawfik al-Hakim’s Diary of a Country Prosecutor very soon. I like also Naguib Mahfouz, especially the Cairo Trilogy and Miramar, Alaa al Aswany’s The Yacoubian Building, and everything by Mahmoud Darwish.