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The Hakawati
The Hakawati | Rabih Alameddine
14 posts | 14 read | 45 to read
In 2003, Osama al-Kharrat returns to Beirut after many years in America to stand vigil at his father's deathbed. As the family gathers, stories begin to unfold: Osama's grandfather was a hakawati, or storyteller, and his bewitching tales are interwoven with classic stories of the Middle East. Here are Abraham and Isaac; Ishmael, father of the Arab tribes; the beautiful Fatima; Baybars, the slave prince who vanquished the Crusaders; and a host of mischievous imps. Through Osama, we also enter the world of the contemporary Lebanese men and women whose stories tell a larger, heartbreaking tale of seemingly endless war, conflicted identity, and survival. With The Hakawati, Rabih Alameddine has given us an Arabian Nights for this century. From the Trade Paperback edition.
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Soubhiville
The Hakawati | Rabih Alameddine
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My #bookhaul from Nowhere Bookshop today! It‘s a beautiful new indie in San Antonio, TX with a terrific selection and a friendly helpful staff. I had a great time browsing with @Eyelit and bright home some goodies! ❤️📚

Nerdfins Stiff was great. It made up my mind on what I am doing with my body after I die. SCIENCE! 3y
Soubhiville I loved Stiff too @Nerdfins ! I listened to the audio some years ago, and have always wanted a physical copy. 3y
jewright I loved Stiff! 3y
Megabooks So cool that you got to go there!! 😎 3y
Hooked_on_books Nice haul! I‘m really excited for The Husbands. I suspect I‘ll listen to the audio. And I agree, Stiff is great! 3y
79 likes5 comments
review
kalinichta
The Hakawati | Rabih Alameddine
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Pickpick

Just finished this book, and I'm a little sad that, after over two months of dragging it out, I'll no longer have these stories of family and fantasy to dip into each night. Alameddine creates a cozy patchwork quilt of story to wrap yourself in. Stories inside of stories inside of stories.

19 likes1 stack add
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kalinichta
The Hakawati | Rabih Alameddine
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Literature is the most agreeable way of ignoring life.

[quoting Fernando Pessoa in _The Book of Disquiet_]

batsy ❤️ 4y
27 likes1 comment
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Ash.on.the.line
The Hakawati | Rabih Alameddine
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So Jane Eyre is here for #cursive and #femalehero I think she's tough and relatable I also don't remember where I got this version but I love it! The Hakawati is on my TBR but the cover is so beautiful the picture does not do it justice I hope the inside is just as good 😅 #coverlovers
#AwesomeAutumnBook #AutumnReads #FallIntoBooks

VioletBramble Beautiful cover. Also, it sounds really interesting. Stacked! 7y
28 likes2 comments
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SubwayBookReview
The Hakawati | Rabih Alameddine
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Mathieu: "I moved from Boston to New York. Lit culture is alive and well in Boston, but here I see people more engaged in what they're reading and talking about it. I'm reading The Hakawati with my book club. It's a fantasy novel about a Muslim man who goes back to Beirut to find out about his family. I haven't read any authors from Lebanon before. That's the good thing about books – they're a window into another person's world."

wanderlustforwords Where does the fantasy element/s come in? 7y
64 likes9 stack adds1 comment
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ValerieAndBooks
The Hakawati | Rabih Alameddine
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It's been quite a while since I read this, which does feature #magiccarpetride. I liked it a lot, but don't recall too much details now. A family's grandpa, was a hakawati (storyteller), and his old Middle Eastern tales are interwoven in this novel along with stories of this Lebanese family's saga.

LyndseyReads I loved his next book, An Unnecessary Woman. I need to pick this one up! 7y
Cinfhen Sounds good! Thanks for posting 😍 7y
ValerieAndBooks @LyndseyReads I liked The Hakawati better than An Unnecessary Woman (though that was good too). Hope you enjoy it when you get to it! 7y
ValerieAndBooks @Cinfhen 😊 you're welcome! 7y
91 likes10 stack adds4 comments
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SuperPunkNinja
The Hakawati | Rabih Alameddine
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Rabih Alameddine on facebook keeps me (almost) sane.

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LindsayReads
The Hakawati | Rabih Alameddine
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Reviewsbylola Sea of Poppies 😍😍 7y
vivastory Ai! I LOVE Ai! 7y
LindsayReads @Reviewsbylola I am really looking forward to reading that one! 7y
See All 8 Comments
LindsayReads @vivastory I love her, too. She's sooo good. 7y
vivastory @LindsayReads I've read all of her work several times. I love persona poetry & very few excelled at it as much as Ai. 7y
LindsayReads @vivastory YES! I read a lot of her poetry during my undergrad, but I still need to read this collection in full. I'm a baby...it's so powerful, I can only read a little at a time. 7y
vivastory @LindsayReads A little bit of excellent poetry goes a long way, it's the espresso of literature 7y
LindsayReads @vivastory GOOD COMPARISON 7y
54 likes8 comments
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Mtroiano
The Hakawati | Rabih Alameddine
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My top four of January 2016.
#readjanuary #bestofjanuary

RealLifeReading The Hakawati was such a good read! 7y
45 likes1 comment
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Jdw.weeks
The Hakawati | Rabih Alameddine
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Pickpick

An all-time favorite! Alameddine stacks fairytales on top of a Lebanese family drama to create something really magical. Rereading it always makes me want to pull out a copy of The Arabian Nights.

4 likes1 stack add
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Mtroiano
The Hakawati | Rabih Alameddine

"You should know better by now. The story of who you are is never about you. I'm starting from the beginning."

Some great #storytelling going on in the hakawati. I wish I was better at it.

ValerieAndBooks This is a good book!! 7y
8 likes1 comment
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Mtroiano
The Hakawati | Rabih Alameddine
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LyndseyReads I haven't read this, but I LOVE An Unecessary Woman. 7y
Mtroiano @LyndseyReads adding that to my stack! 7y
9 likes2 stack adds2 comments
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Mtroiano
The Hakawati | Rabih Alameddine
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Diving into The Hakawati today. #litsyAtoZ #letterA

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Liberty
The Hakawati | Rabih Alameddine
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#DiversityFriday My weekly reminder that you are all amazing. Thank you for being so compassionate and considerate with each other here - it is a wonderful thing to see in such horrible times. Be kind to yourselves, and be excellent to each other. Hugs for everyone. 💕

RebeccaRenner 😋💚 8y
KikiLovesBooks 😍🐝🌸☀️❤️ 8y
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beagle.mama 💜😘😍🌼🌸🌻🌺🐝🐼 8y
Coleen Well said, Liberty. ☮ 8y
Graciouswarriorprincess 😍😘❤️💜💙💚💕👌👍 8y
Pelican71 ☮ & ❤️ 8y
Laura317 Well said, indeed! 8y
LisaReads ✌🏻❤️ 8y
Lupita.Reads Hugs right back! ❤️❤️❤️❤️ 8y
WordWaller 😘❤️ 8y
Caryl ❤️❤️❤️ 8y
capriciousreader 🐱❤️ 8y
Mimi28 😎🤗hugs to you and your cats! 😺😻 8y
Gregman6 I need all of these. 😊 8y
308 likes6 stack adds17 comments