Ghada Samman's guest appearances

Ghada Samman

Sherds Podcast

Medio Oriente e Dintorni show

Genghis Khan

Mohsin Hamid

Derek Walcott

Octavia Butler

Amitav Ghosh

Nadine Labaki

Richard Attenborough

Vernon Lee

Algernon Blackwood

Riddley Walker

Russell Hoban

Shokoofeh Azar

Ismail Kadare

Arthur Machen

Muhammad Iqbal

OwlTail

Un libro che strega per stile e ritmo, portandoci con un taxi a Beirut per scoprire la vita “infernale” che lì si viveva nel 1974, giusto un anno prima della Guerra civileSeguici anche su fb, ig e sul nostro sito https://mediorientedintorni.com/ , ogni giorno, il meglio della cultura di Medio Oriente e Mondo islamico.

Un libro che strega per stile e ritmo, portandoci con un taxi a Beirut per scoprire la vita “infernale” che lì si viveva nel 1974, giusto un anno prima della Guerra civile Seguici anche su fb, ig e sul nostro sito <a href="https://mediorientedintorni.com/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">https://mediorientedintorni.com/</a> , ogni giorno, il meglio della cultura di Medio Oriente e Mondo islamico.

“Un taxi per Beirut” di Ghada Samman

Ghada Samman’s ‘Beirut Nightmares’ was originally published in Arabic in 1976.  Set at the height of the Lebanese Civil War, this autobiographical novel concerns two weeks in the life of a journalist and writer living at the heart of the warzone.  With the conflict raging outside,  and snipers on every corner, she is unable to leave her flat.  The horror of the waking world soon finds its way into the dreamscape where disembodied limbs roam the flaming streets, and mannequins come to life.Over the course of the programme, we discuss the strange mixture of realistic depictions of war and fantastical nightmares, boredom as a literary theme, and the clash between ideology and aesthetics within the novel. Bibliography:Arab Women Writers: A Critical Reference Guide 1873-1999 (2008, The American University in Cairo Press) ‘Arab Causes in the Fiction of Ghada Al-Samman 1961-1975’ by Hanan Awwad, reviewed by Miriam Cooke (Al-'Arabiyya, Vol. 17, No. 1/2 (Spring &amp; Autumn 1984), pp. 129-133‘The Square Moon: Supernatural Tales’ by Ghada Samman and  Issa J. Boullata, reviewed by Evelyne Accad (World Literature Today, Vol. 73, No. 4, Celebrating Czesław Miłosz (Autumn, 1999), pp. 811-812

Ghada Samman’s ‘Beirut Nightmares’ was originally published in Arabic in 1976.  Set at the height of the Lebanese Civil War, this autobiographical novel concerns two weeks in the life of a journalist and writer living at the heart of the warzone.  With the conflict raging outside,  and snipers on every corner, she is unable to leave her flat.  The horror of the waking world soon finds its way into the dreamscape where disembodied limbs roam the flaming streets, and mannequins come to life.Over the course of the programme, we discuss the strange mixture of realistic depictions of war and fantastical nightmares, boredom as a literary theme, and the clash between ideology and aesthetics within the novel. Bibliography:Arab Women Writers: A Critical Reference Guide 1873-1999 (2008, The American University in Cairo Press) ‘Arab Causes in the Fiction of Ghada Al-Samman 1961-1975’ by Hanan Awwad, reviewed by Miriam Cooke (Al-'Arabiyya, Vol. 17, No. 1/2 (Spring &amp; Autumn 1984), pp. 129-133‘The Square Moon: Supernatural Tales’ by Ghada Samman and Issa J. Boullata, reviewed by Evelyne Accad (World Literature Today, Vol. 73, No. 4, Celebrating Czesław Miłosz (Autumn, 1999), pp. 811-812

#15 Beirut Nightmares by Ghada Samman 