Fragments of Memory: A Story of a Syrian Family (Modern Middle East Literature in Translation Series) [Paperback]

Hanna Minah (Author), Mina Hanna (Author), Olive E. Kenny (Author), Lorne Kenny (Author)

Book Description

Series: Modern Middle East Literature in Translation Series | Publication Date: September 1993

An autobiographical novel about the life of a boy born to a poor family in northern Syria. Mina sets these personal events against a richly detailed description of events in the history of early 20th century Syria, as the silkworm industry gave way to modern foreign technology. The mode of life described is one of a bygone era.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...offers a picture of reality that is simple, direct, and quite emotional..." -- Khaldoun Shamaa --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Arabic

Product Details

• Paperback: 180 pages
• Publisher: Univ of Texas Pr (September 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0292751559
• ISBN-13: 978-0292751552
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,002,750 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Poverty, Struggle and Effect of globalization in Syria, December 30, 2001

By 

Alessandro Bruno (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fragments of Memory: A Story of a Syrian Family (Modern Middle East Literature in Translation Series) (Paperback)

Fragments of Memory is a socio-historical novel that illustrates the characteristics of rural life in Syria at the time of the French Mandate. This biographical novel is particularly effective in illustrating issues related to the exercise of power and the role of the state. There will also be an analysis of the expectations of family life and the respective roles of men, women and children and the role of religion in daily life. The Novel offers considerable insight into relations of power and the role of the state in rural society. The vicissitudes of the author's family in al-Suwaydiya and the village of al-Akbar clearly show that the landowner and the village headman - mukhtar - held all the power, especially when the landowner was also the mukhtar as was the case in al-Suwaydiya. The first chapters of the novel describe the family's move from the administrative capital Latakiya to the coastal village of al-Suwaydiya. There the family virtually submits to a sharecropping arrangement with the mukhtar, Mr. Elias, who owns the land, which entitled it to earn a quarter of the income accruing from the cultivation of mulberry trees while the rest went to the mukhtar (p.19). The paramount characteristic of this arrangement, however, is the relationship of dependency that the family develops upon the assistance of the mukhtar that borders on slavery.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars powerful story, December 8, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Fragments of Memory: A Story of a Syrian Family (Modern Middle East Literature in Translation Series) (Paperback)

This was a powerful and sad story about a young boy growing up in Syria, and about the hardships in a person's life due to culture and geography. Most people don't know much about Syria, let alone the Middle East. The story does a superb job of revealing the agony of hunger, sickness, poverty, the marginalization of women and the poor, and it brings up the excesses of our own American society. It becomes obvious that Syria lacks the infrastructure to realistically support its people. Thus, they are forced to live day by day, barely avoiding injustice and death. It's a miracle that the author survives to tell his story. Sickness and poverty take on a new meaning in this book, showing how death can be much more humane than life itself, and how God can be ruthless, how begging can be dehumanizing. There are just so many elements of the human experience compacted into this story. If anything, after reading this book, I gained an appreciation for the relative comfort and security of my life. Lastly, I think this book shows how work and the ability to work give value to a person's life. A truly worthwhile read.