Subscribe to Print Edition | Wed., May 21, 2008 Iyyar 16, 5768 | | Israel Time: 18:24 (EST+7) web haaretz.com   Back to Homepage Rosner's Domain Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Advertising Books Peres Conference Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File

Last update - 18:21 21/05/2008 Fiction 'They are people, like us' By Vivian Eden Tags: Arabic literature  I Think of You: Stories, ,i>by Ahdaf Soueif Anchor Books (paperback), 182 pages, $13 In the Eye of the Sun, by Ahdaf Soueif Anchor Books (paperback), 816 pages, $17.95 When I read Ahdaf Soueif's first novel, "In the Eye of the Sun? (1992), a story about coming of age in the '60s and early '70s, I found the protagonist, Asya, the daughter of two Cairo university professors, entirely familiar. I also encountered the inevitable plot touchstones of such a novel -- close friendships, premarital sneaking around, trips abroad, absurd academics, a marriage gone sour, a miscarriage, some miscegenation (an Egyptian girl of good family marries an impecunious Palestinian! A Muslim man is hopelessly in love with a Coptic girl!), a Ph.D. thesis, adultery, a battle with cancer, Bob Dylan and Oum Kalthoum croaking and crooning (respectively) in the background, fast cars, the Beatles, sex, lies, shopping expeditions and coming home again. The touchstones were familiar -- the setting strange yet not strange. Who of that generation here in Israel does not remember what he or she was doing on the eve of the Six-Day War, and who of us bothered to think then about what our counterparts on the other side were doing? As Soueif tells us, some of them were studying for their matriculation exams, the equivalent of the Israeli bagrut tests. Here is a scene dated to the evening of June 7, 1967: Pointless now to study or revise. Impossible to work. Impossible to do anything except chafe and fret and fight with Lateefa [the protagonist's mother] who now wants her children to remain in the inner living-room of their flat and not even sit -- with the windows closed -- in the outer room where the walls could fall on them at any moment. Apart from the odd phone conversation with a friend, the world has been narrowed down to the inner living-room. Even novels are no good any more. Asya opens "Madame Bovary,? "Middlemarch,? "Anna Karenina? and closes them again. Out there, there is the world and action and history taking shape. And in here: waiting, helplessness, paralysis. Are we not terribly familiar with this ourselves? Though English is a second language for Soueif, an Egyptian woman who lives mostly in England, she acquired it early in life and her pitch is perfect. Even when characters are purportedly speaking Arabic, it is possible to hear distinct voices that are utterly convincing as rendered in English, and I am not the only one who thinks so: She has said in an interview that "often my bilingual (Arabic/English) readers tell me that when they read my characters' dialogues in English they can hear it in their heads -- in Arabic.? Disappointingly, all but the last three of the nine short stories in Soueif's new book, "I Think of You,? appear to be outtakes, earlier drafts or riffs on scenes from "In the Eye of the Sun.? More vigorous editing of the latter, which has too many long bits, would have benefited it and enriched the story collection. As things stand, it is nearly impossible to talk about the newer book without talking about the earlier one. One of the many scenes that appear in both books depicts a grandmother at prayer. Here is the version in the first story in the new collection, "Knowing,? a memoir of an enchanted early childhood in Cairo: Her lips move as she nears the end of the Qur'anic verses she is reciting and she slowly bends over to prostrate herself, her forehead touching the floor between two open palms. The broad, loved back is too great a temptation and I steal up from the floor and clamber onto it. Mama Hajja makes no sign that anything untoward has happened. When it is time, she slowly straightens up. I try to hang on but tumble off her back onto the floor behind her. She recites ?Praise be my Lord, most great' slowly, then slowly straightens, tumbling me once more off her back. I settle on the floor behind her. She recites the final greeting to God and Mohammad, and his family and children and all the prophets that God ever sent. She turns her head to salute the angels at her right and left shoulders and, almost in the same movement, reaches for her slipper. She stretches her arm behind her back and makes a grab for me, but I am small and quick and crouch just out of her reach, laughing. I wait a few seconds to make sure it's safe, then rush back to fling myself into her open arms. ?You little monkey. You would have made me break my prayers?' I snuggle contentedly against her breast in the sunlight.? A few beloved customs Islam in the protagonist's comfortable milieu boils down to the observance of a few beloved customs -- new clothes for children for the holidays, pre-dawn breakfast during Ramadan, a blind Koran reciter for the women at a funeral, even when it is the relentlessly secular grandfather being buried. In both books, the protagonist is shocked upon coming home to Cairo from study abroad to see how many women have adopted the veil. Again, this attitude toward religion is familiar to a secular Israeli Jew, though it is a different religion. And yet, Soueif can talk the talk. The title story of "I Think of You? is set in an unnamed but strictly Islamic Arab country -- perhaps Saudi Arabia -- where the protagonist/narrator has come to teach while her husband remains abroad. She is confined to a hospital bed in the final stages of a difficult pregnancy: On my fourth day, the door of my room opens and a woman walks in. She is tall and wears a long, loose gray garment with buttons up the front and the usual black veil over her face and head. She looks around to make sure I am alone in the room. "There are no men?? "There are none.? She lifts the veil from her face and lays it back on top of her head. "Peace be upon you!? "And upon you peace and the mercy of God and His blessings. They say you are married to an Englishman?? "It is my portion and my fate.? "But you are Muslim. How can you marry an Englishman?? "He has embraced our religion.? "And you live there?? "Yes.? "How can you live there? They are all animals there.? "They are people, like us.? "They live like animals there.? "They live like us. Among them there is good and there is bad.? "They copulate on the streets there.? "Pardon?? "There, the people copulate on the streets.? "I have lived there a long time; I never saw anybody copulating on the street.? "I saw it.? "Where?? "In films. My husband brings home video films and I have seen them: The man goes to the woman on the street, he lifts her clothes and copulates with her.? "Ah! Those films don't represent the truth. They are made only to excite people's appetites.? "I have to go,? she says, and rises. "But your husband is a good man? He is good to you?? "Like my own people.? In the story "Sandpiper,? a European woman's marriage to an Egyptian disintegrates: "My foreignness, which had been so charming, began to irritate him. My inability to remember names, to follow the minutiae of politics; my struggles with his language; my need to be protected from the sun, the mosquitoes, the salads, the drinking water.? With regard to the "minutiae of politics,? Soueif is both sympathetic and critical. Her characters talk about politics in a way that very much resembles Israeli conversations. Here are university students in Cairo about two weeks after Nasser's death in 1970: "We're going to get cozy with the Americans now.? "Did you see the picture in the paper?? "What picture?? "A couple of days after the funeral. The American delegation offering their condolences. Elliot Richardson and Robert Murphy and Sadat. All three with big grins on their faces.? "Well, Sadat's been smiling ever since the funeral.? A feminine feminist Edward Said called Soueif "one of the most extraordinary chroniclers of sexual politics now writing.? I would also call her a feminine feminist. She is very engaged with the minutiae of women's concerns about appearance, and in both books, for example, she invests considerable attention and psychological significance in nail polish. The protagonist of the story "I Think of You,? for example, recalls her last visit to her adored friend (the "you? of the title), who is also confined to bed, dying, at home, with cancer: "In my light dress my body was warm with new life, but around your shoulders you drew a dark red woolen cloak and the fingers that held it to your breast were longer, more tapering than I had remembered, although still tipped in defiant scarlet.? Three paragraphs later: "I push my bare feet out from under the sheet and lower them from the bed. The perfect toenails I had once more achieved -- twisting, bending, maneuvering around my now-enormous belly are here 10 small red badges of shame.? Soueif has published another novel, "The Map of Love? (1999), which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize; two earlier books of short stories, "Aisha? (1983) and "Sandpiper (1996), in which some of the stories in this collection originally appeared; a book of essays on Palestine and Islam, "Mezzaterra: Fragments from the Common Ground? (2005), and the translation from Arabic into English of "I Saw Ramallah: A Memoir by Mourid Barghouti.? As a fellow translator, I was tickled by the pages of "In the Eye of the Sun? in which Asya translates for some friends from the university in the north of England the words of a song by Sheikh Imam, a blind protest singer, on a "samizdat? recording her sister has smuggled out of Egypt. A sample: "Sharraft ya Nixon Baba, Ya bta' el-Watergate.? [H]e says, "You've honored us, Nixon Baba? -- "Baba? means father but it's also used, as it is used here, as a title of mock respect -- as in "Ali Baba,? for example -- that's probably derived from Muslim Indian use of Arabic -- but the thing is you could also address a child as "Baba? as an endearment -- a sort of inversion: like calling him Big Chief because he's so little -- and so when it's used aggressively -- say in an argument between two men -- it carries a diminutivising, belittling significance. So here it holds all these meanings. But alas -- Soueif signed that petition in 2006 "to boycott Israeli film festivals, Israeli public venues, and Israeli institutions supported by the government, and to end all cooperation with these cultural and artistic institutions that to date have refused to take a stand against the Occupation,? and she is a member of the Egyptian Writers Union, which has resolutely continued the boycott of Israel even after the peace agreement. She and the other "cultural workers,? as they are called in the boycott petition, should have known better. A case can often be made for economic sanctions, but none can ever be made for boycotting cultural forums or academic institutions; nothing will ever be resolved unless all sides to a conflict are seen and heard. The words of Soueif's protagonist apply to everyone, even to "the other? and "the enemy:? "They are people, like us.? So read these books and enjoy them -- even if this is contrary to what their author has said she wants. Vivian Eden's translation of Aharon Megged's "The Flying Camel and the Golden Hump? was published in November by Toby Press. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Fear of extinction The state of over 20 species of birds in Israel has worsened considerably. Taking advantage Jerusalem police probe possible gang rape of disabled woman.

Read & React Al Gore: Israel should lead the way in renewable energy Responses: 113 Olmert to U.S.: Impose naval blockade on Iran Responses: 169 Israel, Syria to begin indirect peace talks Responses: 117 Akiva Eldar: If Israel wants peace, it must bolster Fatah Responses: 62 Opinion: The demise of the European left Responses: 62 Rosner's Domain 5 questions: Does Israel need rescue? Goldberg vs. Boot. I'm going to stay neutral! Rosner's Guests: Israel not likely to invade Gaza soon Poll: Meeting the president of Iran - good or bad? Can Obama win over Jewish voters? (WTR) More Headlines 17:14 Israel and Syria officially confirm indirect talks 17:08 Shas: Syria still in axis of evil; Labor MK: Olmert using spin to deflect from probe 17:07 ANALYSIS / Small piece of land could scupper Israel-Syria talks 18:24 Hamas: Israel-Syria talks won't hurt our 'strategic' Damascus ties 17:22 Microsoft CEO, in Herzliya: Our company almost as Israeli as American 15:45 Palestinian official: Israel, Hamas still at odds over truce terms 18:09 Talansky offers $1.3m J'lem flat as guarantee of testimony 13:15 Iran detains seven Baha'i leaders, citing 'Zionist' ties 11:51 Warring Lebanese leaders seal deal to end 18-month crisis 15:48 In countdown to Champions League final, Avram Grant faces the test of his life 14:47 Gazans fear for their health as they turn to cooking oil to power cars 15:24 IDF soldier lightly hurt when mortar explodes on Negev base 11:50 Hungarian-born Australian denies Holocaust war crimes 17:13 Olmert: I hope Abbas does not quit before peace talks progress Previous Editions Select Day 20 may 19 may 18 may 16 may 15 may 14 may 13 may 12 may 11 may 09 may 08 may 07 may

Special Offers Advertisement Dead Sea Products Buy Dead Sea mineral skin care and beauty products. Coupon code Haaretz for 10% off. Istudy Learn Hebrew in 3 months The Terraces Your Ultimate Coastal Address On Nitza Boulevard, North Netanya Together Celebrating Israel's 60th The Jewish Agency and You - together making history Pardes Institute Summer Sessions http://www.pardes.org.il/ Free the Palestinians from: Corrupt Kleptocracy, Tyrannical Theocracy, Abysmal Anarchy Fattal Hotel Chain Perfectly located hotels on best resorts of Israel. ISRAEL BONDS Build Israel Israel bonds - a multi-purpose way to celebrate Israel's 60th Eldan Rent a Car Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on all online reservations Junkyard Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt

Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Underground | Site rules |

Real Estate in Israel

Haaretz.com, the online edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, offers real-time breaking news, opinions and analysis from Israel and the Middle East. Haaretz.com provides extensive and in-depth coverage of Israel, the Jewish World and the Middle East, including defense, diplomacy, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the peace process, Israeli politics, Jerusalem affairs, international relations, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli business world and Jewish life in Israel and the Diaspora.

© Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved