Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Maryoud…..a novel by taeb salih

I was selling my books to a friend, because am always on a travel and cannot take my books with me, he bought most of them with low prices, about 20 to 70 cent (of US dollar), but when I offered him the novel (Maryoud) he asked me: what it is about?

I found myself speechless while my gaze faded away and my lower jaw dropped down, my friend stop gazing in my face and started to reexamine the books he already bought, I took (maryoud) in my hand and start to examine the cover, the inside, wanted to read a thing but I decided that I will not buy it now, I told my friend to wait for one to 2 days so that I can tell him about this novel and then he can decide to buy it or not…

I read this novel fastly, jumping throught pages and going back again, reading it from different directions, it is a story not going into one line, it is a circle, with no beginning and no ending, where death of (Maryoum) sounds a lovely happening, and her burry sounds like an implantation of a palm.

This novel starts with the main character who you can guess is an old man start to remember his childhood in his village which he is revisiting now, he see things had changed, but still got the same flavor, and the sons and daughters looking like their grandfathers and grandmothers and acting like them whithout really knowing that….

There is another death in the novel and that was the death of (Bilal) who used to call for prayer from the mosque everyday till his teacher died then he stopped one year, then one day, the same date of his teacher’s death, he called with his beautiful sound for prayer early in the morning and all the village woke up happy and start praying with him, then he turned smiling to the people and told them that he will die now and want them to carry him at their shoulders and burry him near his teacher, his death was as sweet as the taste of huney as the novel said.

Then the main character of the novel (maryoud) start to hear the saound of (maryoum) coming from the sky and he asked her that he want to go with her, she told him that he must stay now, but promis that they will meet…

After all this what should I tell my friend bout this novel? He don’t like novels anyway. I don’t know what he will think about it. I loved this novel to a degree that when I was reading I felt like tears was gathering in my eye, not to the degree that my friend could feel, my friend, who was supposed to buy this novel, did not felt the change of brightness and little redness that occurred in my eyes, so, I think I better found someone else with more emotional intelligence to give him/her this novel as a present.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello Dr. Sami,

Wow, just reading about that novel made my chest feel tight...I shall certianly have to try to find a copy of it, it sounds excellent. Right now I am finally reading "A Thousand Splendid Suns", excellent, as expected. Thank you for a most wonderful blog, another blogger a I am in touch with just dicoverd your blog and wrote me saying "Why didn't you tell me about him?" She really likes your blog very much too.

Take care of your self, tracy

saminkie said...

dear Tracy, thank you for your continous support for me, i really like your commnets, and i started to have the habit of comming the next day or after 2 - 3 days from my publishing to read your comments... tell me about the other blogs you like and wether you have a blog or not... i wanna read your blog or your favorate blogs...thank you and take care.

Anonymous said...

Dear Dr. Sami

I think the good readers and intelligent people who value the literary work and art and live in a part of the world like ours get attached to the words and ideas may be more than the other readers , Do you know what I mean ! I guess we feel like words have a souls ,
It is really hard to give your books, when I was little girl I still remember the library corner or the books selves which was very important and valuable part in iraqes houses and every family were proud of it, it made me sad when I hear that most of my family have sold or gave a way the books that they collected generation after generation.
Do you allow me to write comments some times in Arabic?

Domta be Khaier and Salem

Big sister

Anonymous said...

Dear Dr. Sami

I think the good readers and intelligent people who value the literary work and art and live in a part of the world like ours get attached to the words and ideas may be more than the other readers , Do you know what I mean ! I guess we feel like words have a souls ,
It is really hard to give your books, when I was little girl I still remember the library corner or the books selves which was very important and valuable part in iraqes houses and every family were proud of it, it made me sad when I hear that most of my family have sold or gave a way the books that they collected generation after generation.
Do you allow me to write comments some times in Arabic?

Domta be Khaier and Salem

Big sister

Anonymous said...

Hi Dr. Sami,

Thank you for answering. I don't personally have a blog, not having much to "blog" about, but some of my favorites include sarainisrael.blogspot.com (she is the one who recently dicocvered you), angrymedic.blogspot.com (he is usually very funny but now in kind of a "funk" because of a failed exam, etc, but an excellent blog). becomimg-a-doctor.blogspot.com , I especially like him as he just graduated and he is my age (46!), he is a very interesting and thoughtful writer, shortwhitecoatesandstethescopes.blogspot.com, she's great, xavieremanuelle.blogspot.com, also excellent, anamericanmedicinbritian.blogspot.com and so many more, well, there is a start anyway, I hope I got the addresses right, I may not have...thank you, tracy

saminkie said...

dear domta be khair and salem, thank you for your care about the blog and yes you can send comments in arabic...(i prefer english so that the other readers can know what you are talkin about) anyway you are welcome, also i have a blog in arabic http://soaaaaalif.blogspot.com

thank you Tracy for the sites