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fof
Joined: 08 Apr 2008
Posts: 20
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 Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2008 1:31 pm Post subject: Your favorite book on the Middle East? |
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Hello,
I am heading over soon. I would like to start my ME reading list (I will be living/working in either Oman, UAE, Qatar). I have enough travel guides like The Lonely Planet, etc. and am looking to read up on history, biographies, travel fiction and non-fiction, culture, politics whatever - either general for the middle east, or specific for the countries that I mentioned. Thanks |
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veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
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| Posted: Fri Apr 18, 2008 1:57 pm Post subject: |
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| Are you male or female? |
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scot47
Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343
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| Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2008 3:51 am Post subject: |
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| Leviticus. |
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mishmumkin
Joined: 01 Sep 2007
Posts: 929
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| Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2008 4:46 am Post subject: |
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Judith Caesar, once a teacher w/ AUS (maybe she still is), wrote a book that I think is a good read for a teacher new to the region: Writing Off the Beaten Track: Reflections on the Meaning of Travel and Culture in the Middle East (Contemporary Issues in the Middle East)
She's taught/lived in Egypt, KSA, and the UAE. She's also got another book that I have yet to read: Crossing Borders: An American Woman in the Middle East (Contemporary Issues in the Middle East) |
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desert date
Joined: 19 Jul 2006
Posts: 67
Location: Australia
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| Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2008 9:37 am Post subject: Re: Your favorite book on the Middle East? |
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| fof wrote: |
| Your favorite book on the Middle East? |
The Qur'an. |
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007
Joined: 30 Oct 2006
Posts: 2684
Location: UK/Veteran of the Magic Kingdom
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| Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2008 10:51 am Post subject: |
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My preferred book about the Middle East is titled:
"The Great War for Civilization: The Conquest of the Middle East"
by Robert Fisk
| desert date wrote: |
fof wrote:
Your favorite book on the Middle East?
The Qur'an. |
The Qur�an is not a book on the Middle East!
The Qur�an is a book of divine guidance and direction for mankind, and consider the original Arabic text to be the final revelation of God.
It is thus obvious that such a book cannot have the kind of uniformity of style which is followed in formal books on religion, culture and the like. |
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franziska
Joined: 20 Apr 2007
Posts: 9
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| Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2008 1:21 pm Post subject: |
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VS - I am female
Desert Date. I have 2 copies of the Qur'an (English and French/Arabic)...been reading them for ages...
I am also reading "History of the Arab World" (Can't remember the author offhand..)
Thanks for the other suggestions so far, looking fwd to more. |
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franziska
Joined: 20 Apr 2007
Posts: 9
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| Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2008 1:32 pm Post subject: |
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Yes I am the same person as fof (by the way); discontinuing one of the usernames...
cheers |
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veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
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| Posted: Sat Apr 19, 2008 2:26 pm Post subject: |
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You had me confused there for a minute.  Are you going to use fof as the new screen name?
Way back when there was a thread on the Thorntree travel site about books on the Middle East and here is the link:
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=5121
You can get suggestions from lots of people with different interests in the area. It is a 7 page thread that has gone on for some years.
I would have a terrible time picking a favorite book. As I sit here looking at my bookshelves, there are probably between 350-400 books on the Middle East - mostly non-fiction with some fiction. About half are on Egypt as that is a particular interest. Many of the books on my shelves are recommended on the thorntree thread.
VS |
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fof
Joined: 08 Apr 2008
Posts: 20
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| Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2008 2:13 pm Post subject: |
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Just want to correct one of my earlier posts...I am reading "History of the Arab peoples" Albert Hourani ...very good
fof (formerly franziska) |
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007
Joined: 30 Oct 2006
Posts: 2684
Location: UK/Veteran of the Magic Kingdom
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| Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2008 2:46 pm Post subject: |
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| fof wrote: |
| ...I am reading "History of the Arab peoples" Albert Hourani ...very good |
And what does Hourani say about the history of the Arab peoples? |
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veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
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| Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2008 3:16 pm Post subject: |
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Go read it 007... no need for a board lecture on it...
VS |
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chrisd
Joined: 23 Jun 2008
Posts: 18
Location: Crossville, TN
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| Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 11:52 am Post subject: |
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| The Arab Mind by Raphael Patai and Norvell B. De Atkine |
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veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
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| Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 12:24 pm Post subject: |
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| chrisd wrote: |
| The Arab Mind by Raphael Patai and Norvell B. De Atkine |
If there is any book published on the Middle East that should be avoided, it is this piece of propagandist anti-Arab, anti-Muslim garbage. The author had an obvious goal in mind and one only need read it next to his other tract "The Jewish Mind." Half hate fantasy and half using one example found in a small village in the middle of nowhere in the 1930s or 40s and extrapolate into "facts" about a culture today.
This book has the same fact and validity as "The Elders of Zion" and should be treated with the same respect... (great toilet paper if you go camping)
VS |
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chrisd
Joined: 23 Jun 2008
Posts: 18
Location: Crossville, TN
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| Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 4:11 pm Post subject: |
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| It's good to know this, VS. I had heard that his book, The Jewish Mind was bad, but hadn't read it. |
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