17.2 What has been written by Lebanese and/or about Lebanon?
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This article is from the Lebanon FAQ, by Alaa Dakroub dakroub@leb.net with numerous contributions by others.
17.2 What has been written by Lebanese and/or about Lebanon?
Hanan Al-Shaykh, -The Story of Zahra_ trans. Peter Ford. New York: Quartet
Books, 1986.
Zahra is a shia Lebanese living in Beirut during the war (though she also
goes to West Africa for a while). I won't give away the plot but only
mention that she has a very complex relationship with a sniper. I really
liked this book. It deals very frankly with sensitive issues such as sex
and politics, and especially with the struggles of women.
Other Lebanese writers I like but for whom I have yet to see anything
published in English are Ghada el Samman and Layla Baalbakki. Excerpts
of their works are available in English in anthologies such as -Opening
the Gates_ edited by Margot Badran and Miriam Cooke. Indiana UP, 1990
and _Middle Eastern Muslim Women Speak_ edited by Elizabeth Warnock
Fernea and Basima Qattan Bezirgan. Univ. of Texas Press, 1977. There
are several other anthologies out as well.
The University of Chicago library has an excellent collection of books
in Arabic. You might search there for what's available. UC Berkeley
also has a very good collection. There is at least one bookstore that
I know of in San Francisco called The Arabic Book Center that also
supplies books in Arabic as well as English. They will order books
for you as well.
If you want to read good books by Lebanese writers, Amin Malouf has
written "Samarcande", "Leon l'africain", and "Les croisades vues par
les Arabes". These books were best sellers in France.
(Samarcande in particular is HIGHLY recommended).
Amin Maalouf's books have been translated into English.
Here are the English titlesof two of them:
"The Crusades Through Arab Eyes" trans. Jon Rothschild. Schocken Books,
New York, 1987.
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