Sabriya: Damascus Bitter Sweet (Interlink World Fiction) [Paperback]

Ulfat Idilbi (Author), Peter Clark (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 30, 2003

Sabriya portrays life in Damascus in the 1920's. Central to the story is Sabriya's journey to self-knowledge, intertwined with the rise and eclipse of national and feminist awareness during her painful life. The national revolt is crushed by superior foreign power and Sabriya's personal emancipation is stifled by the traditional values of a patriarchal society.

Written from the point of view of a young girl passionately committed to the nationalist cause but unable, because of her sex, to take an active part, it seethes with the frustrated energy of the reluctant bystander and vividly expresses the terror of civilians living in a city rocked nightly by explosions.

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews

Sabriya ($29.95; paper $12.95; May 13, 1997; 248 pp.; 1-56656-219-8; paper 1-56656-254-6): Syria in the 1920s is the focus of this accomplished 1980 novel, which takes the form of a journal left behind after her suicide by its eponymous protagonist. A passionate adherent of nationalist agitation against her country's French colonial oppressors, Sabriya finds that her yearnings for political freedom are no more attainable than are love and marriage--the underground ``war'' that claims her husband-to-be proves no crueler than the stern patriarchy that demands her devotion to the needs of her aging parents. A bleak, painfully convincing story, narrated with admirable economy and restraint. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

After her father dies, a woman named Sabriya sells an antique carpet from the family house in Damascus and uses the money to stage an exquisite funeral party.... Her diary, which describes her beleaguered life, constitutes the bulk of the Syrian writer Ulfat Idilbi's novel. Sabriya's story unfolds during her country's revolt against the French in the 1920s. As a young woman, she suffers a series of tragic blows, which are made worse by the humiliations she must endure in an oppressively patriarchal society. Small wonder, then, that she turns into a bitter recluse, taking joy only in her eventual suicide. Sabriya's tale of woe is operatic in its self-pity, but Idilbi uses it to make an effective point. Her heroine's choice in life is a simple one: to fight, despite terrible odds, or to retreat into a pathetic martyrdom. --The New York Times Book Review, Jenny McPhee

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Product Details

• Paperback: 248 pages
• Publisher: Interlink Pub Group; 1st Amer. Ed edition (September 30, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566562546
• ISBN-13: 978-1566562546
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #820,593 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A simple, sweet book., December 10, 2001

By 

Rania Masri (Lebanon (the country)) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sabriya: Damascus Bitter Sweet (Interlink World Fiction) (Paperback)

A simple, sweet book. Suitable for calm morning reads. Presents a tender picture of Syria during the Turkish occupation