Fatma: A Novel of Arabia (Middle East Literature in Translation) [Hardcover]

Raja Alem (Author), Tom McDonough (Author)

Book Description

Series: Middle East Literature in Translation | Publication Date: January 2003

The story of one woman's passionate odyssey and sophisticated fantasy of Arabia, ancient and modern.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Dreams, myths, and prophecies figure prominently in this elegant and eerie tale-an unusual collaboration between the Saudi Arabian woman... -- Kirkus Reviews

One might consider this tale a revelation of Arabian women's inner lives in rebellion against the confines imposed... -- Multicultural Review

Told in the form of dreams and living parables, Fatma is full of vivid descriptions that billow from Alem's... -- Virginia Quarterly Review

About the Author

Raja Alem is the author of seven novels, many plays, and collections of poetry. She lives in Jidda, Saudi Arabia.

Tom McDonough is the author of a novel, Virgin with Child, and a short story collection, Light Years. His cinematography won an Academy Award for the feature documentary Best Boy.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 164 pages
• Publisher: Syracuse Univ Pr (Sd); 1 edition (January 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0815607385
• ISBN-13: 978-0815607380
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 6.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,106,772 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing, April 27, 2011

By 

DJ (Australia) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Fatma: A Novel of Arabia (Middle East Literature in Translation) (Hardcover)

These two writers are a fabulous team. Alem's story takes you on a mind-stretching visit inside a culture that I have far less understand of than I wish. The story of Fatma fascinates, and evokes all kinds of questions. The strange world she lives in, as well as the relationship she develops with the snakes make for an adventure unlike any I have read before. Although significant sections of the book are about a mixture of mysterious and mystical events, it takes the reader into another way of seeing inside a life of one who wants the truth, and can follow where her experiences take her. She lives between two worlds; worlds unlike what most of us have experienced or can fathom.

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars rehumanizing preciousness, December 24, 2003

By 

urileo (west coast) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fatma: A Novel of Arabia (Middle East Literature in Translation) (Hardcover)

Raja Alem has gifted English speakers with this wonderful tale about a young Arab woman and her strange life. Raja wrote Fatma in English with some help from Tom McDonough, these two should collaborate more often! It's intense stuff, and yes Raja does mean it. She's one of a kind, and you should all thank whatever you consider sacred that her stuff is getting published. She's the closest thing to a modern day profit I know of, and if you hear her talk you'll realize she isn't playing around. Poetic, beautifully written, every word is meant to be there, readable and very enjoyable, and if you let it Fatma can make you think differently about life. It is capable of rehumanizing the most jaded soul. It's like the opposite of Kafka's The Castle, Raja is the 'Anti-Michel Houllebecq'- and it would be funny to see what her mind's creations would do to a sad balding Frenchman. Raja's stuff is great, her sister Shadia did the cool cover art. Now, having been BLESSED with owning and reading Fatma, I and many others fervently wish for her other books to be published in English... she's a genius, you've just got to love this woman.

3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars INSANE, July 30, 2004

By 

C. Bennett "WideReader" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fatma: A Novel of Arabia (Middle East Literature in Translation) (Hardcover)

Well, I'm the second person to write a review, and I should probably wait until I finish the last ten pages. But I can't wait! This books is wild, unlike any other book that I've read from the Middle East. Fatma's life keeps spinning, twisting, reshaping, and surprising. What an amazing ride!