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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Literary critic Edward Said has described Ahdaf Soueif as "one of the most extraordinary chroniclers of sexual politics now writing"; In the Eye of the Sun, a story of love and war, sexuality and politics, in modern Egypt and England is a key contribution to that chronicle (Soueif's The Map of Love, first published in 1999, is another). The book begins in London in 1979, with Asya reflecting back on events in Cairo more than a decade before. It's May, 1967: Asya, studying for University, is in the grip of "exam fever"; on the stage of international politics, war is about to break out between Israel and Egypt. Soueif presents that war in brief, journalistic "scenes" that run alongside her exploration of Asya's coming-of-age as a woman in modern Egypt. For Asya, education, love, sexuality and marriage are bound up with, and touched by, the violent conflicts between Egypt and Israel--as well as the seductions, and disappointments, of Europe. Studying for her doctorate in literature at an English University, Asya confronts the difficulty of her marriage to Saif--a man she loves but has never been able to make love to, who is never with her but finds her demands on his time "intolerable". The scenes between husband and wife are among the most memorable, and painful, in the book: in particular, Saif's furious shock at his wife's (eventual) infidelity: "I expected my wife to be loyal. I expected my wife to have some sense of honour. I expected ..."
Exploring the gulf between them through that other gulf between East and West, Soueif offers a remarkable reflection on the recent history of Egypt and England through the life of a woman who won't give up on her question: "Why does it have to be like this?" --Vicky Lebeau
Product Description
This is a love story, a story about growing up, a story about what its like to be a women (East and West), a story about the history of the post-imperial Middle East during the last 30 years or so, perplexed and bloody years, and a story about home.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
23 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
If you are at all interested in women's lives in the contemporary Middle East - or even if you're not - you should read this book. It will tell you more about Egyptian society, about the effects of the Arab-Israeli conflict, about the difficulties facing women, who, like the protaginist Asya, find themselves thorn between tradition and modernity, than any number of non-fiction words ever will. Despite the size of the book - and the fact that I am not generally a keen reader of novels - I devoured this book in a matter of days, and remain haunted by it. Read it!
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Ahdaf Soueif is an amazing author who drew me into the world of Asya and her family, making them familiar as my own family. I cannot go a week without reading this book, but only a little at a time. It is so amazing and incredible, believable, honest, riveting; the characters are always with me. Truly, an amazing accomplishment.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A must-read for anyone (whether man or woman) growing up torn between two cultures. Soueif shows us what it is like to have the 'real life' imposed on you, the one you live everyday without contemplating because it is given and one grows up not questioning - and the other free life where the only rules that matter are the ones you set on yourself. Asya lives these two lifes, and like so many women from her part of the world, she cannot decide which life-path to choose and what is right and what is wrong.
Being an Egytpian myself, I have enjoyed this book even more. I know the streets, the places she goes to, the expressions used. A lovely 800 pages that pass by too quickly, and the reader is left with a part of Asya inside them doing the thinking.
Being an Egytpian myself, I have enjoyed this book even more. I know the streets, the places she goes to, the expressions used. A lovely 800 pages that pass by too quickly, and the reader is left with a part of Asya inside them doing the thinking.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A Novel of Epic Proportions
A fascinating story of the girlhood and young womanhood of a westernized Egpytian woman, both in her native Egypt and in England. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Kate Hopkins
A Mediterranean Tale of Love and Life
This is one of the best novels I've ever read. After twenty years in southern Italy there was finally someone who could write about the Mediterranean I loved so much in a decent,... Read more
Published 23 months ago by Joanna
WOrdy to the point of irritating
I was severely disappointed in this book having looked forward to a good long read. The Map of Love was brilliant this is boring beyond belief - where was the editor? Read more
Published on 12 Oct 2009 by Tracy Johnson
An acquired taste
This is a very good example of a particular type of book, a genre. In style and scope it reminded me of the work of Naguib Mahfouz (the Cairo trilogy). Read more
Published on 4 Jun 2008 by David Mawson
Painfully wordy
I gave up after 277 pages. This book is in desperate need of a vicious edit. I found the main character Asya self-absorbed, spoilt and immature - perhaps she grows up eventually,... Read more
Published on 17 Mar 2008 by S. Faiz
Women can't fail to recognise themselves in this book.
Whilst this novel is slow to start, it deserves to be considered a brilliant book because it depicts incredibly accurately, and with true warmth and compassion for men as well as... Read more
Published on 11 Nov 2002
An eye opening and superbly written novel.
Wow, where do I start? I booked a two and a half week holiday to Egypt and bought a guide book and read it, and several others, from cover to cover many times. Read more
Published on 29 Aug 2000
A terrific coming-of-age story
In the Eye of the Sun tells the story of a young Egyptian woman coming of age, traveling between Egypt and England. Read more
Published on 5 Mar 2000
A deeply moving portrait of a woman's life in changing times
Soueif's Asya is a captivating character who we watch mature through the book. The image of a troubled and changing Egypt is fascinating, but more so the unbearable sadness of the... Read more
Published on 28 Nov 1999
A wonderful novel that shows us the best of both worlds !
This is a brilliant novel that takes us through the life of Asya, an Egyptian girl who experiences life in Egypt and the UK and seems to capture the best of both worlds. Read more
Published on 25 May 1999
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