Two Women in One (Paperback)

~ Nawal El-Saadawi (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Bahiah Shaheen is a young medical student outwardly obedient to the wishes of her petit bourgeois family but inwardly starved for freedom and affection. Egyptian feminist writer Saadawi ( The Face of Eve ) does little to flesh out this stock situation. The nature of the student movement Bahiah joins (and goes to prison for) remains a mystery, and the lover whose own imprisonment impels Bahiah's involvement is a vaguely characterized prop. Practices such as clitoridectomy that might usefully have been discussed in an introduction go unexplained. Whatever Two Women in One may have meant to its intended audience upon its original publication (Beirut, 1975), it is unlikely to stir many readers here. Grove Koger, Boise P.L., Id.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

In contemporary Egypt, eighteen-year-old Bahiah Shaheen struggles to fill her inner need for independence. Her world consists of her family home and medical school, but she yearns for a freedom of which neither her mother nor her female classmates seem to be aware. As she looks at the women around her she is struck with despair by the falseness she feels about their lives. In her culture, where women's skirts bind their legs together by narrowing at the knees, she wears pants and causes people to wonder: "Was she a woman or a man?...But since she was a woman, it was legitimate to stare." Her involvement in a student uprising further defies her family and cultural expectations; it is a decision that changes her life. She notes: "We never know the reality of things: we see only what we are aware of. It is our consciousness that determines the shape of the world around us - its size, motion and meaning." Much of this story is told through Bahiah's thoughts, which are not always literal, imbuing the reality of her life with a dream-like quality. With her awareness, drive, and action, Bahiah Shaheen's search for a life different from the expected provides insight into the power of ancient and traditional Egyptian culture over women's lives. -- For great reviews of books for girls, check out Let's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14. -- From 500 Great Books by Women; review by Holly Smith

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Product Details

• Paperback: 124 pages
• Publisher: Women In Translation (September 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1879679019
• ISBN-13: 978-1879679016
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,064,930 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of my all time favorites, October 2, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Two Women in One: Nawal El-Saadawi (Women in Translation)) (Hardcover)

This is an amazingly strong, moving novel written by a woman who has been exiled from her country because of the glimpses she provides through her writing of women's lives in Arabic society. Two women in One is a haunting work of the choices one woman makes and her struggle to find agency under the power of people who would deny her this, and herself.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I just wanna be me--but who might that be?, May 3, 2001

By	Sandra Zickefoose "integratedconcerns" (Katonah, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This book was first published in 1975 by a brave woman who was willing to tell a story--and to tell truths that others from her country didn't want told--she has paid for her bravery with exile and that kind of commitment should not be belittled. I am sure this book was a groundbreaking, landmark work at the time it was first published--so it shouldn't be entirely dismissed--but in reality it is pretty dated and a bit of a bore to read. I almost stopped reading it and it is only 123 pages.

The main character is a woman who is trying to figure out who she is--all she seems sure of is that she doesn't want to be who other people--her parents, her teachers, society in general--want her to be. She is drawn to a young man with whom she has a sexual encounter and is then rather mystically drawn toward a life of student activism--a life her lover is fully but rather mysteriously engaged in. He is arrested and our gal is determined that the cause he is dedicated to will define her life...so...well...we might say that she wants to dump one set of oppressors--or powers that want to define her (ie her father, uncles, even her mother--and other teachers & defenders of the current social order) for sex with a revolutionary hero and another set of male-centered outside forces that wait to offer her their definition of a good woman------now how that adds up to self determination is beyond me...but like I said--this was first published in the mid 70s--and, that sort of thinking had a bit of a romantic tinge back then.

Overall I'd say that this is a dated book that I wouldn't recommend to anyone unless they were specifically studying women in the Middle East and wanted some historic background.

Also the translation I read (translated by Osman Nusairi and Jane Gough) was a bit redundant in its language use--which may be the fault of the translators rather than the author. I really couldn't say--but it didn't make it any more interesting to read.

Buy the book to support the author--she deserves praise--but don't buy the book because you are looking for a great read with new insights into another culture or some universal human dilemma --its just not here

3.0 out of 5 stars Bit Dated, April 28, 2009

By	GT Reviewer (Georgetown, Guyana) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Two Women in One (Paperback)

A member of our Book Club suggested this book and after reading the Mafouz Trilogy I was quite looking forward to reading this book.
As another reviewer commented, some parts may be revelant for the '70's- I was puzzled about the repetition of the protagonist's name and the constant referrals to her paleness and thought it must be some cultural thing I must be missing.
Other parts were universally recognisably - the arrogance of the men in her life, even the Lecturer who should have known better- all characters present in every-day life- and I was happy that the author had her heroine spunkily fighting back, though I worried for her safety at the end without the protection of the same men in her life and felt she would come to a sticky end.
I had just finished reading George Lamming's In The Castle of My Skin and was struck by both authors claiming that one needed to conceal one's true self and feelings from others as they would destroy you.