- Paperback: 182 pages
- Publisher: Anchor Books; First Printing edition (13 Mar 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0307277216
- ISBN-13: 978-0307277213
- Product Dimensions: 13.1 x 1 x 20.2 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,539,855 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
Ahdaf Soueif, the bestselling author of The Map of Love, writes poignantly and beautifully about love, and about finding one’s place in the world. Achingly lyrical, resonant and richly woven, and with a spark of defiance, these stories explore areas of tension–where women and men are ensnared by cultural and social mores and prescribed notions of “love,” where the place you are is not the place you want to be. Soueif draws her characters with infinite tenderness and compassion as they inhabit a world of lost opportunities, unfulfilled love, and remembrance of times past.
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3 reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Collection of best early work by Ahdaf Souif
4 May 2008
Format:Paperback
Brilliant collection of Short Stories by Ahdaf Souief. I bought the book thinking it was new collection of short stories but as I read the stories felt familiar. After a while I realized this is just the American publishing of Ahdaf's short stories from her very first book Aisha and also from Sand Piper.
As I read or re-read these stories, I thoroughly enjoyed them. Most of the characters were later resurrected, or rather fully developed, in Ahdaf Souif's masterpiece "In the Eye of the Sun".
What I love about Ahdaf Souief the most, is that she appear to write mostly for herself, she is not a marketing oriented author, she is not writing to be accessed by as large an audience as possible. You need to want to get into her own world; you need to try to understand her language, her pace and her approach. The reader needs to work at it to get to see the beauty of her lyrical language, the characters and ultimately the novel. I have never read anyone better than Souif when it comes to a true and genuine bi-cultural sensibility, her skill with the language and her intelligence in writing are truly remarkable.
As I read or re-read these stories, I thoroughly enjoyed them. Most of the characters were later resurrected, or rather fully developed, in Ahdaf Souif's masterpiece "In the Eye of the Sun".
What I love about Ahdaf Souief the most, is that she appear to write mostly for herself, she is not a marketing oriented author, she is not writing to be accessed by as large an audience as possible. You need to want to get into her own world; you need to try to understand her language, her pace and her approach. The reader needs to work at it to get to see the beauty of her lyrical language, the characters and ultimately the novel. I have never read anyone better than Souif when it comes to a true and genuine bi-cultural sensibility, her skill with the language and her intelligence in writing are truly remarkable.
4 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Stories set in Egypt and the UK
6 April 2007
Format:Paperback
Ahdaf Soueif's first fiction offering since The Map of Love, which was shortlisted for the 1999 Man Booker Prize, is actually a repackaging of nine stories originally published between 1983 and 1996.
Set primarily in Egypt and the United Kingdom, each of the stories features a female character. Throughout the collection Soueif focuses on the interior life of her protagonists and the ordering of the stories lends some sense of a progressively maturing voice. The collection, however, does seem a bit uneven. With the first five stories developing two specific characters, the protagonists of the final stories seem comparatively inchoate.
The first three stories--"Knowing," "1964," and "Returning"--show three different epochs in the life of Aisha, an Egyptian woman who immigrated to the United Kingdom in her teens. "Mandy" and "Satan" feature Asya, a woman separated from her husband who is dealing in different ways with the repercussions of their broken marriage and his philandering.
In the title story, which is arguably the collection's strongest, the unnamed first-person narrator has been hospitalized due to a high-risk pregnancy. With her husband in London unable to get a visa, and her family in Cairo, she is alone, the only patient not observing purdah. She survives her hospitalization by invoking an elderly friend, confidante, and role model who died of cancer.
If the stories have a unifying theme it is that of estrangement; estrangement (both emotional and physical) from husbands, as well as from the homeland and the culture of one's childhood. While I think of you lacks the refinement of Soueif's later work, it is nevertheless worth reading. Her stories are touching, nostalgic, but never overly so. Soueif's prose is lyrical and this collection is buoyed by her ability to give her readers an extraordinary sense of place.
Armchair Interviews says... I think of you will transport readers, but it cannot compare to The Map of Love.
Set primarily in Egypt and the United Kingdom, each of the stories features a female character. Throughout the collection Soueif focuses on the interior life of her protagonists and the ordering of the stories lends some sense of a progressively maturing voice. The collection, however, does seem a bit uneven. With the first five stories developing two specific characters, the protagonists of the final stories seem comparatively inchoate.
The first three stories--"Knowing," "1964," and "Returning"--show three different epochs in the life of Aisha, an Egyptian woman who immigrated to the United Kingdom in her teens. "Mandy" and "Satan" feature Asya, a woman separated from her husband who is dealing in different ways with the repercussions of their broken marriage and his philandering.
In the title story, which is arguably the collection's strongest, the unnamed first-person narrator has been hospitalized due to a high-risk pregnancy. With her husband in London unable to get a visa, and her family in Cairo, she is alone, the only patient not observing purdah. She survives her hospitalization by invoking an elderly friend, confidante, and role model who died of cancer.
If the stories have a unifying theme it is that of estrangement; estrangement (both emotional and physical) from husbands, as well as from the homeland and the culture of one's childhood. While I think of you lacks the refinement of Soueif's later work, it is nevertheless worth reading. Her stories are touching, nostalgic, but never overly so. Soueif's prose is lyrical and this collection is buoyed by her ability to give her readers an extraordinary sense of place.
Armchair Interviews says... I think of you will transport readers, but it cannot compare to The Map of Love.
Mesmerizing
30 May 2012
Format:Paperback
A collections of short stories that have themes of belonging, coming of age, estrangement, and relationships. I loved every single story and will be on the look out for more books by Souief (this is my second Souief book). And the writing? The writing was amazing, pure beautiful unpretentious prose. She sucks you right in and makes you relate to the characters.
There are 9 short stories, with some of them involving recurring characters. Most are set in Egypt & England, and two are set in Saudi Arabia; she doesn't directly say that's in the KSA, but you can tell from the cultural references and descriptions. I've lived there for a number of years, and felt like I was revisiting it.
1964 - The story of a young girl coming of age after suddenly moving from her home in Egypt to England where her parents are studying. Trying to adjust to the new culture, whilst keeping a sense of who she is and finding balance. I think any kind who had to move around a lot would instantly relate to certain elements of this story.
Returning: Aisha comes back to a somewhat different Egypt, as she herself, is also different. There is an acute sense of loss & coming to terms with the change of a relationship.
Two of the short stories in the book are excerpts of stand alone novels by the author. Although Ahdaf Souief is an Arab (Egyptian), she mainly writes in English. Her mother actually translated some of her stories into Arabic, and from a translator's point of view, I think it'd be really interesting to see how the texts compare.
There are 9 short stories, with some of them involving recurring characters. Most are set in Egypt & England, and two are set in Saudi Arabia; she doesn't directly say that's in the KSA, but you can tell from the cultural references and descriptions. I've lived there for a number of years, and felt like I was revisiting it.
1964 - The story of a young girl coming of age after suddenly moving from her home in Egypt to England where her parents are studying. Trying to adjust to the new culture, whilst keeping a sense of who she is and finding balance. I think any kind who had to move around a lot would instantly relate to certain elements of this story.
Returning: Aisha comes back to a somewhat different Egypt, as she herself, is also different. There is an acute sense of loss & coming to terms with the change of a relationship.
Two of the short stories in the book are excerpts of stand alone novels by the author. Although Ahdaf Souief is an Arab (Egyptian), she mainly writes in English. Her mother actually translated some of her stories into Arabic, and from a translator's point of view, I think it'd be really interesting to see how the texts compare.
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