Thank you & Book-tips
Published by BO18 on - 4/04/2007Well, this post is all about interaction. Le mot du jour!
First of all, I would like to thank all of the people who commented on my posts. Seriously, I really appreciate it! (no, I'm not drunk)
Eatbees, Xoussef, Myrtus, ViewfromFez, Tsedek, Taamarbuuta, Loula, Mariam, SimplyMoroccan, Leila, Abmoul, Larbi, My Marrakesh, Hannibal and all the anonymous and others, thank you!!!! (I'm not, I repeat not, drunk!)
The 2nd part of this post is books. Seriously, I'm a book addict. I'm already halfway through "Morocco: Islamist awakening and other challenges" and I finished "Hope & Other dangerous pursuits". These books are number 24 & 25 of this year.
I need new ones now. But I kind of ran out of titles I want to read.
So I was wondering, if any of you knew some good titles. They don't have to be about Morocco, just good books. So shoot!
Preferably in English though :P
Coming to books I don't know what are your favorite themes or are you more into novels or political or social works but I will suggest the following books:
-"The Ambassadors" by Henry James
-"As I Lay Dying" by William Faulkner
-"Reading Lolita in Teheran" by Azar Nafisi
-"Crescent & Star: Turkey between two Worlds" by Stephen Kinzer
-"The Ground Beneath Her Feet" by Slman Rushdie
-"Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People" (movie anthology) by Jack Shaheen
if yo are into Venice mystery stories I'll recommand : "Deadly to the Sight" by Edward Sklepowich my american professor who is currently living in Tunisia (it tells the story of a young moroccan artist's adventure in Venice, actually the story is about a Tunisian guy whom I know very well;) Hope you'll enjoy!!
Here are a few I've either recently read, am reading, or have on my shelves waiting to be read:
Orhan Pamuk (last year's Nobel Prize winner, from Istanbul) -- The Black Book
Richard Zimmler -- The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon (a mystery wrapped in mysticism set in 1506)
Paul Auster (an excellent writer from Brooklyn who is a cult favorite, but not as famous as he should be) -- New York Trilogy, Book of Illusions
Margaret Atwood -- A Handmaid's Tale (a story of religious and sexual repression if the Christianists take over America more than they already have!)
Haruki Murukami (often mentioned as a candidate for the Nobel Prize) -- The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
Khaled Hosseni -- The Kite Runner (childhood friends in Afghanistan are forced apart by events)
Juan Goytisolo (an elderly gay man living in Marrakech who is considered to be Spain's best living writer) -- State of Siege
Amin Maalouf -- Samarkand (possibly my favorite book last year, the tale of Omar Khayyam and assassin Hassan-i-Sabbah, then jumps ahead to Persia's attempt at democracy in 1906)
I could go on and on and on, because there so many books just waiting to be read, and more are being written while you read those! Honestly, you should quit now because you'll never see the end of it....
On the other hand, why not go for a walk? London must have all kinds of wonderful bookstores and libraries whose books you can sniff! Surely while you're looking for the perfect book to take home, you will be lured and tempted by many books offering their seductive pleasures....
"Lipstick Jihad" by Azadeh Moaveni I quite enjoyed.
"A Year in Marrakesh" by Peter Mayne. Oldie but goodie.
Malheureusement je ne peux te conseiller que des livres en français. Il est vrai que la littérature marocaine, et maghrébine en général, reste très largement francophone. A ma connaissance Laila Lalami est le premier écrivain marocain à écrire en anglais.
Je vois que eatbees t’as conseillé Amine Maalouf . C’est un excellent écrivain toute son œuvre est à lire.
Here's one that I would highly recommend: "Push Not The River" by James Martin, BO you're gonna love it!
I'm about to start reading the sequel.
http://jamescmartin.com/