These days when we hear about the Middle East it is always
bad news. I am not going to mention terrorism, Islam, women's rights, genocide
or any of the other hot topics. Instead, I simply wish to list off a few great
book's about the region has produced or inspired that might help us shed some
of that negativity towards a beautiful and unique part of the world.
5. Seven Pillars of
Wisdom by T. E. Lawrence is an account of the author's experiences as a
British military officer during the Arab Revolt of 1917/18. Emir Faisal bin
Hussein bin Ali al-Hashimi, King of Syria led a revolt against the Ottoman
Empire to liberate what is now Jordan, Syria and parts of several other Middle
Eastern countries. The British took advantage of the revolt and used Lawrence,
who was already in the region to do research, to communicate with the rebels to
coordinate their attacks with Allied battle plans in WWI. (The book was also
made into a pretty decent movie!)
4. The Kite Runner
by Khaled Hosseini is another biography that tells the story of a boy who can
predict where a kite will land and his friendship with a rich kid during the
1970s in Afghanistan. While it may sound a little silly, the story is actually pretty good. It gives some good insights into Afghani
culture over the last 40ish years and tugs at your heart strings a little too.
(Also a movie!)
3. The Great War for Civilization by Robert Fisk (not a movie) is over 1000
pages on the last 100 years of Middle Eastern history and well worth the time it
takes to read for anybody who finds themselves asking "Why?" about
the region. A word of caution, the author does not paint the western world in a
very pretty light.
2. The Cairo Trilogy
by Naguib Mahfouz consists of the books Palace Walk, 
1. Who hasn't
heard of Ali Baba and the 40 thieves, Aladdin's lamp or Sinbad the Sailor (all
movies)? The Arabian Nights, at least
according to the full title, brings us these along with 998 more traditional
stories and folk tales from India, Western Asia and the Middle East. First compiled in Arabic during the 1200s at
the height of the Islamic Golden Age the stories are presented as part of a frame
story about a Perisan king who marries and then kills a new woman every night because
his true love had been unfaithful. When
his kingdom runs out of virgins he marries his Vizier's daughter who, after the
nookie, tells him the first half of a great story. Wanting to hear the end, the king puts off
the execution for a day to be told the end of the story AND the first half of
another great story. He stays the
execution again and this pattern continues for 1001 nights. Depending on which version you read she
either gets killed when she runs out of stories, or the king falls in love and
they live happily ever after. There are
several "greatest hits" versions telling just the most popular tales as
well as multi-volume versions with all 1001 stories. We at Oddfellow's are happy to keep a
selection of both kinds available at all times.
Thanks for reading!
