Very striking cover. The font size and choices seemed small for a children's book. Very striking cover. The font size and choices seemed small for a children's book. ...more
Not just for children. It's a nice overview of ancient Egypt. The craft options also seem pretty cute. Not just for children. It's a nice overview of ancient Egypt. The craft options also seem pretty cute. ...more
I really enjoyed this. Lots of deep thinking about larger global systems and how they interconnect. Financial markets, geopolitics, war, US politics, I really enjoyed this. Lots of deep thinking about larger global systems and how they interconnect. Financial markets, geopolitics, war, US politics, etc. Very fun to see Newman's high-level interpretation. ...more
Probably one of the most spectacular things I've read in a long time. The writing is exquisite: ornate and sweeping. The characters are cast from all Probably one of the most spectacular things I've read in a long time. The writing is exquisite: ornate and sweeping. The characters are cast from all corners of Egyptian society, bringing high and low together in a sensuous jumble. The shifting narrative means that as you go through the series you get more and more perspective on the characters and essential plot points. Initial impressions are upended and all wrong. More and more illusions are shattered and you're left with something painful, but utterly real.
Only few quotes from Clea. KNH broke and lost most of my highlights :(
"Words are the mirrors of our discontents merely; they contain all the huge unhatched eggs of the world's sorrows."
"Eloquent and silent water-ballets which allowed us to correspond only by smile and gesture."
"We carry in ourselves the biological trophies they bequeathed us by their failure to use up life--alignment of an eye, responsive curve of a nose; or in still more fugitive forms like someone's dead laugh, or a dimple which excites a long-buried smile."
"Art is not art unless it threatens your very existence. Could you repeat that, please, more slowly?"...more
Wow. I devoured this book. It pretty much hit all the right notes for me: exotic places, a little romance (but not too much), spies, MI6, deception, aWow. I devoured this book. It pretty much hit all the right notes for me: exotic places, a little romance (but not too much), spies, MI6, deception, and fashion. I always seem to resonate with the international bestsellers. The Far Pavillions is a favorite, as is Perfume. Anyway, I recommend this book highly. With two full time jobs, a child, and a novel that I'm revising, the fact that I finished it in three days should sufficiently recommend it. ...more
This book positively shimmered. I thought about it for days afterward, and not for any specific reason apart from sheer awe at this author's skill. ThThis book positively shimmered. I thought about it for days afterward, and not for any specific reason apart from sheer awe at this author's skill. This novel is perhaps the best book I've read all year. Her economy of phrase, wit, and ability to apply a dream-like sheen to a whole compendium of characters makes this book a strange journey, much like an odd dream that you wake up wondering, "was that real?"
A Moroccan Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Well, not quite. But there is something of the wistfulness of Francie in Fatima Mernissi, a young girl growing up wA Moroccan Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Well, not quite. But there is something of the wistfulness of Francie in Fatima Mernissi, a young girl growing up within the confines of a harem in Fez. The idea of a harem in the 1940s is somewhat different than the stereotype, and the definition of the word is something that Mernissi goes into in great detail. Let's just say that there are no eunuchs waving palm fronds or scenes from The History of the World, Part I, or Scheherazade. Although, the tales of Scheherazade do feature prominently in the female culture of the harem.
I loved this book. It's absolutely fascinating. I love how Mernissi mixes her own lively childhood experiences of hiding in olive jars, trips to the hammam, homemade beauty treatments, her extended family's love of storytelling, the role of slaves in their home, and then contrasts it with the frustration her mother feels from living in a traditional household and being illiterate. The role of women during this time period sounds like a real challenge.
There are also some great observations about the American soldiers who arrived in Morocco during WWII. Apparently, they went right for the ladies.
A few quotes that I found striking: "Once I asked Mina why she danced so smoothly while most of the wother women made abrupt, jerky movements, and she said that many of the women confused liberation with agitation. 'Some ladies are angry with their lives,' she said 'and so even their dance becomes an expression of that.' Angry women are hostages of their anger. They cannot escape it and set themselves free, which is indeed a sad fate. The worst of prisons is a self-created one." p.162
"'Mothers should tell little girls and boys about the importance of dreams,' Aunt Habiba said. 'They give a sense direction. It is not enough to reject this courtyard--you need to have a vision of the meadows with which you want to replace it.' But how, I asked Aunt Habiba, could you distinguish among all the wishes, all the cravings which besieged you, and find the one on which you ought to focus, the important dream that gave you vision? She said that little children had to be patient, the key dream would emerge and bloom within, and then, from the intense pleasure it gave you, you would know that that it was the genuine little treasure which would give you direction and light." p. 214
"Maturity is when you start feeling the motion of zaman (time) as if it is a sensuous caress." p.216...more
Loading...
