Cities of salt

Cities of salt | ?Abd al-Ra?m?n Mun?f

pick

A tale on how the oil industry disrupted the 1000 year old caravan and Bedouin culture of the Arabian Peninsula. The Arab characters are well drawn but do not carry the story as they evolve and dissolve. The Americans are one character who are greedy, childish and of course not Islamic. The Arab leaders are not advocates for their worker‘s dignity or well being. The book was banned in Saudi Arabia. #readaroundtheworld #saudiarabia

Simona, rockpools, BookwormM

rockpools How was the writing? Did you enjoy it or was it an effort to get through? I‘m very tempted by this one - just seen the local uni has a copy, so one day I might actually track it down. 4y

Currey The writing is slowly paced but quite beautiful. It flows very well but it is difficult to keep with it as the main characters change constantly. In a way, the main character is the working people as a whole. @RachelO (edited) 4y

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jveezer

Cities of salt | ?Abd al-Ra?m?n Mun?f

So excited to find a copy of the hardback edition of this after reading the paperback from the library and loving it. Thanks @Powells ! Now I just need to find the next two in the series! Once I do, I know I‘ll be back for a re-read. 📖🤓❤️

Leftcoastzen I think I recall when I looked it up that the 3rd volume has not been translated. 6y

jveezer @Leftcoastzen I believe the first three have. The next two of the five don‘t appear to be planned, as they refer to it in the West as a trilogy instead of pentology it is in that Arab world. I wonder if it was getting to real in the (Western) feels. 🤔 6y

cygni I loved this book when I read it some years back, and lucky to have been able to get hold of the second and third books to complete the set I have. I found The Trench (second one) less well-written than Cities of Salt. 6y

jveezer @cygni Ah, good to know they can be found. Interesting about the writing. Wonder if it is the author, the translator, or both. 6y

4 likes4 comments

jveezer

Cities of salt | ?Abd al-Ra?m?n Mun?f

pick

Wow! Talk about some imperialism we don‘t think about and aren‘t taught. This book is like a People‘s History of ?? Arabia, as the U.S.A. comes in bulldoze, bully, bamboozle, and obliterate whole towns and communities for oil. With collusion from the rulers, of course, so this book was banned in Saudi Arabia and other countries. Want a window into why the West (and the U.S.A.) has problems in the Middle East? This is a good eye-opener.

Leftcoastzen Been meaning to read this forever! Gotta move it up the TBR. 6y

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jveezer

Cities of salt | ?Abd al-Ra?m?n Mun?f

Reading Munif sent me back to this excellent history I read years ago to try and put the fiction in historical context...And now, since the library doesn‘t have the next two books in the series, I have to go hunt them down. I‘m sure @Powells will eventually help me out.

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jveezer

Cities of salt | ?Abd al-Ra?m?n Mun?f

The font used for Chapter headings and titling in this book is beautiful. Anyone know what it is?

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jveezer

Cities of salt | ?Abd al-Ra?m?n Mun?f

Enjoying some QianLiXiang "Thousand Mile Aroma" Wu Yi wulong yan cha with my reading today. #tea #BooksAndTea

7 likes

jveezer

Cities of salt | ?Abd al-Ra?m?n Mun?f

Go‼️

Leftcoastzen Let us know if you like it , curious.😀 6y

jveezer @Leftcoastzen I am 100 pages in and like it so far. I like that it highlights a people's history and shows how they were betrayed by their own leaders and exploited by American oil companies. What I don't like is that it is a pentology(?) but it's called a trilogy because that's all that has been translated into English. How is that even possible? 😣 6y

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Diancrawford

Cities of salt | ?Abd al-Ra?m?n Mun?f

Starting tonight.

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