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/lit/ - Literature

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17801747 No.17801747 [Reply] [Original]

I'm going to be living in the Arab Gulf in the near future. Any rec charts for Arabian literature/poetry? No geopolitical non-fiction please, I only read for aesthetic purposes

>> No.17801768

>>17801747
bump

>> No.17802056

Quran

>> No.17802311

Seriously? nothing else bros

>> No.17802322

>>17802311
The Arab people are not intellectual, to put it mildly.

>> No.17802328 [DELETED] 

>>17802322
Really? I live in rural Canada so I've never interacted with non-whites

>> No.17802336

The Masnavi of Rumi
And evn though it isn't what you're asking for, you might get a kick out of The Road to Oxiana by Robert Byron

>> No.17802354

The Seven Pillars of Wisdom

>> No.17802370
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17802370

The 1001 Nights are obviously what you want to read. picrel is also pretty good

>> No.17802371

>>17802311
Arabic poetry is often praised but I can't name you a single arabic poet/author. I even doubt that they deserve their reputation in poetry.

>> No.17802375

>>17802371
>i have never read or even attempted to engage with arab poetry
>it probably isnt good anyway
retarded

>> No.17802384

>>17802311
See
>>17802322

There isn't much.

>> No.17802385

>>17802370
This is the one about the bird conference right?

>> No.17802391

>>17802375
No I did. But since I don't speak arabic and since english translations has no worth to me (because I'm ESL), it's hard to find arabic poetry. Of what I have read, I found nothing worth remembering.

>> No.17802402

>>17801747
In all seriousness, I (>>17802322) made a simialr thread a few days ago:
>>/lit/thread/S17768801
There were a few novels suggested, but the overall impression is that literature is not exactly a priority in the Arab world.

>> No.17802434

>>17802402
>>>/lit/thread/S17768801
so it would seem...

>> No.17802502

>>17802434
It's sad, really. Arabic as a language is beautiful on paper and to the ear. It, Hebrew, and Spanish are three languages I unironically think were divinely inspired. It's a shame the literature is lacking.

>> No.17802525

>>17801747
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOGvbZxzpGI

>> No.17802541

>>17802502
Apparently Aramaic sounds beautiful too

>> No.17802573

>>17801747
>>17802322
>>17802371
>>17802402
Untrue. I am Egyptian and I'll let you know that literature IS a big thing here. Issue is 99% of the books are untranslated. Seriously, when it comes to stuff like arabic poetry, reading the translated version just sucks in comparison because it loses a big part of its intrinsic qualities. Arabic poetry relies heavily on arabic grammar (which is scuffed and retarded) and on words that can mean several things depending on the interpretation. If you want book recommendations, I recommend looking into Naguib Mahfouz's books or Taha Hussein, although both are Egyptian authors and I haven't really read much from other arab countries (I hear Kahlil Gibran is great but I've only read The Prophet)

>> No.17802605

>>17802573
OP here, I'll check those out

>> No.17802610

>>17802391
lol

>> No.17802740
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17802740

Bible, Genesis to be more precise. Garden of Eden is where Persian gulf is now.

>> No.17802745

>>17802740
>designer
And who would that be?

>> No.17802763
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17802763

>>17802745
Our Lord Jesus Christ, of course. If you disagree with me, its fine bro youre wrong

>> No.17802765

>>17802763
And why not any other god? Also, why does this designer have to be a ‘who’ instead of a ‘what’?

>> No.17802792

>>17802765
Because Church told me and it says so in the Good Book. Good enough for me

>> No.17802806

>>17802792
Yes, but not everyone’s a retard, so that won’t be good for everyone

>> No.17802852

>>17802502
Honestly had it not been restricted because of islam, I don't think the arab world would be having this difficult problem.

>> No.17803179

>>17802573
>Arabic poetry relies heavily on arabic grammar (which is scuffed and retarded) and on words that can mean several things depending on the interpretation.
As a fellow Arab, if I want to know if the person I'm talking to online is also Arabic I ask him what he thinks of the Arabic language, and if he answers anything other than this I know he's a fucking lier and not Arabic lol

>> No.17803186

>>17802322
The golden age poetry mogged everything the west has made in the past 3 centuries.

>> No.17803196

>>17802852
Islam enriched it. Not restricted. Get your facts straight before you speak this confidently please .

>> No.17803201

>>17801747
>Arab Gulf
son, you sure have some reading to do

>> No.17803205

Frankenstein in Baghdad is apparently a pretty decent read.

>> No.17803220

>>17802402
A lot of the publishing houses were targeted by Israel during the 80s. It's hard to have a literary culture when your printing machines keep getting blown up. A lot of it also doesn't get translated.
The best libraries in the world are in Jordan though. Hundreds of years old books and ancient knowledge inaccessible anywhere else.

>> No.17803231

>>17802322
There’s so many Arab reviews for the books on goodreads. I’ve noticed it’s more than any other besides the ones who write in English.

>> No.17803233

>>17803220
>publishing houses were targeted by Israel during the 80s.
Wut

>> No.17804224

Grew up in Sharjah and Dubai, travelled a bit of the region. Where are you going OP?

>> No.17804244

I read a pretty good translated arabic novel a while back. Frankenstein in Baghdad. Not amazing but certainly solid.

>> No.17804265

>>17802322
That's pretty unfair. Speaking as Westerner, they have a good wealth of older quality literature if you can read Arabic. Indeed, we brought a lot of Arab scholarship back after the Crusades. As for contemporary stuff, it's probably not as well known to us because most Arabs aren't frequenting English literature imageboards. Sure a goat herder living in the mountains is probably not an academic, but there are definitely some out there.

>> No.17804271

Cities of Salt
Men in the Sun
Leo Africanus
Azazeel
This Blinding Absence of Light
The Lovers of Algeria

>> No.17804283

>>17803196
Not him, but I'm thinking it's a little of both. It restricted the diffusion of ideas with the Christian West but enriched its own traditions. As a result, there is limited overlap between the two.

>> No.17804482

>>17801747
Hope you're going to be living in Bahrain or Dubai anon, saudi is dull dull dull, left BH myself a few years ago. Recently read Omnicide, analysis is a bit whacky but it's a nice collection of arabic poetry nonetheless

>> No.17805069

>>17802311
If you asked for Persian literature to enjoy while living by the Persian Gulf, you'd have a lot of suggestions by now.

>> No.17805117

>>17803231
>>17803186
>>17804265
It is an allusion to a Memri TV quote, where a woman says "The American people are not intellectual, to put it mildly."

>> No.17805981

>>17801747
>he doesn't read for knowledge
NGMI

>> No.17806487

>>17801747
>Arab gulf
I'm impressed nobody realized the bait. For everyone who isnt a Saudi/Sunni shill it's know as the Persian gulf