Recommendation: "The Other Black Girl" by Zakiya Dalila Harris

The novel The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris has deservedly garnered commercial success, and a Google search will deliver many reviews. So let's just start with a few quotes, and, after the page break, some of my comments with ****SPOILERS****.

"[Hazel had] moved from channeling her inner Baraka to her inner Barack--from confrontational to compassionate--in less than 60 seconds." @zakiya_harris, "The Other Black Girl," p 56

— Ayman Hossam Fadel (@aymanfadel) February 10, 2022

In this fictional discussion about the decision to cast Ben Kingsley as Mahatma Gandhi & the hypothetical casting of Billy Dee Williams as Mozart, @zakiya_harris in "The Other Black Girl" lands on this week's leader in institutionalized gender & racial hierarchy, #Harvard pic.twitter.com/oYmCdJo2BU

— Ayman Hossam Fadel (@aymanfadel) February 10, 2022

Since this is a horror novel, I recommend that, if you think you might read it, stop here. ******SPOILERS ***** 

Recommendation: By the Sea by Abdulrazak Gurnah

Abdulrazak Gurnah won the Nobel Prize in Literature for 2021. I read By the Sea. Here are a few thoughts:

I had never heard of Abdulrazak Gurnah before his being awarded The Nobel Prize for #literature. Just finished "By the Sea." It's really a beautiful book. https://t.co/okiPcYuqaB

— Ayman Hossam Fadel (@aymanfadel) December 11, 2021

Abdulrazak Gurnah "By the Sea," p 76 pic.twitter.com/DmZe2ovbtM

— Ayman Hossam Fadel (@aymanfadel) December 9, 2021

"It was a staggering thought, how little it had been possible to know and remain contented."

--Latif, internal dialogue
From Abdulrazak Gurnah, "By the Sea," p 122

— Ayman Hossam Fadel (@aymanfadel) December 9, 2021

From "By the Sea," by Abdulrazak Gurnah, p. 223 #literature #colonialism #Africa #Tanzania #Mombasa pic.twitter.com/E529Q0cE1q

— Ayman Hossam Fadel (@aymanfadel) December 11, 2021

Review: "The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf" by Mohja Kahf

When I first started this blog, Mohja Kahf's The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf was the kind of book I imagined this blog would focus on. And I had my copy for some time, but, along with thousands of other books on my shelves & my virtual to-read lists, I had not gotten around to reading it. A friend told me he had assigned it to students in his class, and he asked me to participate. Assuming the mantle of "native informant" (ha!), I sped through the book and am now writing as a way to organize my thoughts for the class.

Khadra Shamy, the protagonist, is the daughter of Wajdy & Ebtehaj, Syrian immigrants who eventually move to a town south of Indianapolis, Indiana to work at the Dawah Center. There, they and their co-workers work to realize the ideal Muslim community and raise their children to carry on that legacy after them. Khadra suffers some abuse from prejudiced classmates at the public school and neighbors in the apartment complex, but, for the most part, she grows into the young woman which the leaders of the Dawa Center envisioned: She prays, reads Quran, supports causes of Muslims suffering around the world and scrupulously upholds the interpersonal morals and gender roles of the community.

Author Olivia Abtahi Discusses Her YA Novel "Perfectly Parvin"

Author Olivia Abtahi discussed her Young Adult novel Perfectly Parvin, Thursday, May 27, 2021,  with Professor Neda Maghbouleh 

Flannery O'Connor's "Wise Blood" and Pathologies of Religion

I had read Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor a few years ago. I remember at the time I thought that the story had some insights into modern religious pathologies, but I would have to do a closer read and possibly some research to explore that thought further. Since my list of "backburner" projects has only grown since then, I'm giving this one up and simply presenting some passages I had marked and some accompanying thoughts.

The novel uses racist anti-black slurs frequently, as did the author in real life. None of these appears in the quotes for this blog entry.

My titles in bold. Quotes are from an online, full-text edition.

Review: "Into the Beautiful North" by Luis Alberto Urrea

Luis Alberto Urrea's 2009 novel Into the Beautiful North is a comedy against the background of the cruel forces which drive rural Mexicans to migrate to the United States despite the risks they face on the journey, the hostility they encounter, the dangers government immigration enforcement officers pose and the relatively modest rewards the migrants obtain in exchange for enduring these risks as well as the long, hard hours they work and the bitter loneliness of exile.

The story itself is a combination of the movies The Seven Samurai/The Magnificent Seven and Homer’s The Odyssey. The first part of the novel introduces us to the protagonist Nayeli, a high school graduate from the fictional fishing town of Tres Camarones in Sinaloa (or maybe Nayarit, nobody knows) Province in Mexico. And while Tres Camarones had resisted most forms of modernization, it became subject to forces beyond the control of its residents:

And then, the peso dropped in value. Suddenly, there was no work. All the shrimp were shipped north, tortillas became too expensive to eat, and people started to go hungry. We told you change was bad, the old timers croaked. Nobody had heard of the term immigration. Migration, to them, was when the tuna and the whales cruised up the coast, or when Guacamaya parrots flew up from the south. So the men started to go to el norte. … The modern era had somehow passed Tres Camarones by, but this new storm had found a way to siphon its men away, out of their beds and into the next century, into a land far away. P. 4

Interview with Rabiah York Lumbard, Author of "No True Believers"

Alexis York Lumbard aka Rabiah York Lumbard agreed to Muslim Media Review's request for an interview about her first novel, No True Believers. You can see all of her works and contact her through her website.

The Young Adult (YA) Genre

Given that most authors who write YA aren’t themselves young adults, what are successful YA authors doing to connect with young readers?

They dig deep inside themselves and remember what it was like to be a teen. They also listen to their teen readers. Being a listener is critical in any form of art.

What separates YA novels & short stories from “adult” literature? Is it language level? Is it that the protagonist(s) must be young adults? For example, why isn’t Crime and Punishment a YA novel?

Review: Make Your Home Among Strangers by Jennine Capó Crucet

I first heard about Jennine Capó Crucet's Make Your Home Among Strangers when students at Georgia Southern University burned it after she spoke there about white privilege in the Fall of 2019.

The novel deals with many vital themes, but I recommend it especially for students in high school & college who may have mixed feelings about stretching their wings for personal achievement.

Favorite Quotes: Günter Grass, "The Tin Drum"

Günter Grass received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1999, and his most famous book is Die Blechtrommel, translated into English as The Tin Drum. The June 4, 2007 New Yorker published his account of his participation as a teenager in the German Nazi war effort. Because he had not disclosed these matters publicly, despite his reputation as a critic of post-war Germany's attempts to forget its fascism and its crimes and their popularity, he received much criticism.

I read the 1961 Ralph Manheim translation, but some of these quotes are from the Breon Mitchell 2009 translation. Click to enlarge images.

Favorite Quotes: Carlos Ruiz Zafón on War in "The Shadow of the Wind"

Lucia Graves translated Carlos Ruiz Zafón's La Sombra del Viento as The Shadow of the Wind.

Nothing feeds forgetfulness better than war, Daniel. We all keep quiet and they try to convince us that what we've seen, what we've done, what we've learned about ourselves and about others, is an illusion, a passing nightmare. Wars have no memory, and nobody has the courage to understand them until there are no voices left to tell what happened, until the moment comes when we no longer recognize them and they return, with another face and another name, to devour what they left behind. (p. 428)

I don't know Spanish, but I think I've found the passage in the original text:

Favorite Quote: F Scott Fitzgerald, "The Last Tycoon" - "learned tolerance, kindness, forebearance, and even affection like lessons"

F. Scott Fitzgerald never finished the novel The Last Tycoon. Elia Kazan directed a 1976 movie based on the novel. Amazon produced one season of a series based on the novel.

From p. 97, a description of  "Hollywood studio manager Monroe Stahr, clearly based on Irving Thalberg (head of the film company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer), whom Fitzgerald had encountered several times." (Wikipedia)

Like many brilliant men, he had grown up dead cold. Beginning at about twelve, probably, with the total rejection common to those of extraordinary mental powers, the "See here: this is all wrong -- a mess -- all a lie -- and a sham --," he swept it all away, everything, as men of his type do; and then instead of being a son-of-a-bitch as most of them are, he looked around at the barrenness that was left and said to himself, "This will never do." And so he had learned tolerance, kindness, forebearance, and even affection like lessons. (emphasis in original)

Hey Creative People! Is it the right time for a remake of "The Prisoners of Quai Dong" by Victor Kolpacoff?

My local public library regularly removes books from its shelves for a variety of reasons. I purchased about 15 boxes of books through the Friends of the Library, a volunteer organization which sells these books to fund efforts to support the public libraries in my city. I've sold, exchanged and given away most of the books in those 15 boxes. Recently, I received an order through my Amazon store for The Prisoners of Quai Dong by Victor Kolpacoff. Before fulfilling the order, I read the book. I can't do a proper review of it, but I wanted to give you creative people out there a heads up that this book may be a productive basis for a play or movie or a graphic novel.

Ramadan Readathon: Recommendations #1 – MG, YA & ADULT FICTION

Nadia at Words Beneath the Wings compiled a list of Middle-Grade, Young Adult and Adult Fiction books by Muslim authors. And, if you're too busy during Ramadan to read these books and you, like me, missed the #RamadanReadathon, make it a Shawwal Readathon!

Shabana Mir Tells Story Behind "Umar and the Bully"

From Shabana Mir's blog:

"[Twenty] years later, I assumed [Umar and the Bully] was no longer relevant. Imagine my surprise when I discovered, a few weeks ago, that Umar and the Bully is still being used and recommended for anti-bullying work in schools."

Read about the circumstances in which Professor Shabana wrote that book.

Review: Armageddon in Retrospect by Kurt Vonnegut

This collection of short stories by the American writer Kurt Vonnegut reflect his visceral disgust at war, which developed during his World War II experience as a prisoner of war disposing of the corpses left after the British and United States air forces destroyed Dresden in February of 1945. I'd read two of his novels, Slaughterhouse Five and Cat's Cradle, a long time ago. Slaughterhouse Five has been made into a movie.

In any short story collection, each reader will like some and dislike some. My favorites were "Great Day" and "The Commandant's Desk." The style, in its satirical humor, reminded me of Mark Twain, who opposed United States imperialism.

Islamicates Volume I: Anthology of Science Fiction Short Stories Inspired from Muslim Cultures

Muhammad Aurangzeb Ahmad has completed editing of a collection of science fiction short stories. It can be downloaded for free in various formats at the Islam and Science Fiction blog.

Favorite Quotes - Sinclair Lewis, "It Can't Happen Here"

Harold Finch from CBS's "Person of Interest"
reading It Can't Happen Here

The first Sinclair Lewis novel I read (heard on CDs, actually) was Dodsworth. Some satirical passages were entertaining, but I never felt like I learned/felt/thought anything profound. Frederic Rich's Christian Nation quoted from Lewis's book It Can't Happen Here, so I decided to read it. Overall, it's a vigorous defense of Liberalism from Fascism and Communism, yet it does allow room for criticism of Liberalism. I'm excerpting some lengthy passages from the book, the text of which is available for free online. I've prefaced each passage with a header. So just like al-Imam al-Bukhari, my thoughts are in the headings and the passages I've chosen to excerpt.

The University of California system produced a reading guide which looks really interesting. Also, Donald Trump's campaign has sparked new interest in the novel.

For more thoughts on fascism, read Umberto Eco's essay on Ur-Fascism. Also, check out my other blog entries tagged fascism.

Messiah to the Ants - Quote from Hemingway's "A Farewell to Arms"

I listened to a recording of Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms. The narrator was Alexander Adams. This passage is near the end and contains spoilers.

Feminism in Caleb Carr's "The Angel of Darkness"

I read Caleb Carr's The Alienist for a book club, and I'm almost done with its sequel, The Angel of Darkness. It has some great material to help people understand some aspects of feminism. One of the characters, Sara Howard, explains to Stevie, the novel's narrator and a street kid in the care of her colleague, why society's attitude towards women (misogyny) may explain the behavior of the murder suspect, Elspeth Hunter, they are investigating and people's attitudes towards her. The passage begins on page 437 and continues for a few pages.

Review: Fear and Self-Loathing in Gaza by Ahmed Masoud

Fear and self-loathing in Gaza | @SelmaDabbagh reviews "Vanished" by @masoud_ahmed http://t.co/qdvtkH9ges pic.twitter.com/fSMlxzXlhd

— Electronic Intifada (@intifada) August 4, 2015

I have not read the book.