The first chapter of this book had me confused right away, I was not sure if the main character, who is the narrarator, was dreaming or if it was something that really happened. At the end of this chapter it talks about the father disappearing in the water and never seeing him come back up. I thought that the father had drowned but then later to find out the father died a different way. The second chapter then begins off with the narrarator talking about his childhood and wetting the bed everytime he dreamt of water, so that told me he was dreaming but remembering things from his past. The narrarator decides to start writing his dreams down because everytime he dreams its the same one. The river he always swam in as a child has something to do with the main character not being able to deal with his life and wanting something more, I'm just not quite sure how it ties in yet.
The narrarator lives in a tiny little apartment with two other men. One of the roommates, Hamid thinks the biggest deal in life is to get married. Why he thinks that I'm not sure, it was probably more custom to get married right away in life in that time and in that certain culture. In America now I would say it has developed into the total opposite. One's main goal is to be successful first and then if they choose to, they get married. I think parents had a lot to do with making sure their child is married off right in that culture. The funny part is that the narrarator gets married before his roommate does. What's weird is that it's his cousin and the only thing that brought them together was his father's death. Right away he ends up getting annoyed by her and they haven't even been married for no more than a week. Although, I wouldn't be very happy having to have my honeymoon in that small apartment either.
One thing I didn't understand is why the narrartor didn't tell his manager, at the book store he worked at, why he had left for so long. He acted like it was a secret that his father had died and being away for two weeks without a reason was acceptable. I think he realizes though in the end of that chapter how dumb that really was. Now that he has no job he has nothing to do. He could have used his father's shop and opened up a brand new business there and could have made good money. Instead he lets his new wife and brother-in-law take it over for him and tailor women's clothing. He says he would go in the shop from time to time and notice how different it was. They did many changes to the place since his father had worked in there but he stopped going in there because it still reminded him of his father too much. I think that there was a lot of unresolved tension between the narrarator and his father that we will come to find out more about soon.
The Marsh Ch. 13-24
In the first chapter the narrarator sees a boat in the river. At first he is not sure if it is real because there are never boats in this river. He watches a family pay to ride on the boat but then realizes that it is not worth the money since the river is not big enough for a boat ride. It is odd to me that there were not more boats on this river, and why is there one now? The next dream the narrarator has is with his father and Mr. Goltchin again but this time his father and Mr. Goltchin are like statues and do not move when they talk or blink. It is weird that he keeps dreaming about his 4th grade teacher, what does he have to do with these dreams?
Later on in the chapters we come to find out that Mr. Goltchin drowns in the river about a year ago and the narrarator never sees the story in the newspaper. He also didn't know that Mr. Goltchin was a swimmer which is odd because it seemed like everyone else knew. Since he was a swimmer how did he drown, especially when he swam in the river all the time? The narrarator and his wife end up getting a divorce and we come to find out that this was planned by her parents the whole time so that they could get the tailor shop. This was probably not a big deal to the narrarator because everytime he went in that shop he saw his father and it made him upset.
In the last chapters it seems like they were all just one big dream. Was his father really alive? I dont think so, I just believe the narrarator was having a dream the whole time but maybe his father was really alive in his dreams. He takes him to the place where he use to sit and watch the polish girl sing. His father was in love with this polish girl and never really loved the narrarator's actual mother. I think after these final dreams the narrarator will be more at peace with his life and maybe not have so many issues with his father because it seemed that they were friends in the final dreams he had.
Memoirs of a Woman Doctor
In the first chapter you can see right away that the narrarator gets treated very unfairly from her brother. Since she is a woman she has to do all the chores while her brother gets to go outside and play. I hate hearing things like this because it makes me feel so unappreciative of what us Americans have compared to people in other countries like hers. I think its funny how much the narrarator hates being a girl, but then again if I had matured so much like her, at such an early age, I dont think I would like that either. One thing I didn't understand is why she didn't say something to her mom when that man molested her?
In the next chapter we find out that she wants to become a doctor. The main reason she wants to is because she wants to prove to her family and all the men that she can do anything they can do. Her first day she has to examine a dead mans body, right then she loses all respect for men because they are no more powerful than any woman. She starts to learn a lot about the human body and how everything works. When she loses her first patient she then realizes that she is not happy with what she is doing and needs a break. Death came as a big shock to her.
She takes a vacation to the country all by herself for the first time. She can't believe all that has happened to her so fast. She finds herself again and is able to feel like a normal woman. She overcomes her hatred of being a woman. She comes to find out that there is something missing in her life, so she returns home. When she gets home she realizes how bad her yearning for love is.
Memoirs of a Woman Doctor
In the next chapter she finally ends up meeting a guy. She thinks he is sincere and appreciates her for her knowledge. She end up marrying him and has to sign documents which she shouldn't have signed. They end up getting married too fast I think because then she learns that he is not really the guy she thought he was. He ends up trying to take control of her and asks her to leave her work. She doesn't understand why he would want her to do this and then realizes that he is just like any other man.
She ends up leaving him which was definately a good idea because once someone tries to control you, you need to get out. After a while she feels the need to have someone by her side again. She is now even more skeptical of finding someone because of the mistake she made with the guy before. I really wish she would have said if she divorced him for sure or not, she never really says for sure. She gives her colleague a chance but she sees how blank he is too when she looks into his eyes.
Finally in the last chapter she finds the man of her dreams. It was funny how they met since she decided to go that party at the last minute, and I didn't think she usually did stuff like that. Especially when people talk about her so much because she has no husband. When she meets this guy she notices him for not being noticed. He is the guy in the corner not getting any attention but she sees something about him that draws her to him. In the end of the story I thought she was getting sick from curing the man with tuberculosis, but then I came to find out it was just her being so overwhelmed because she was finally happy and had made peace with herself.
The Wedding of Zein
The first chapter of this book goes right into the narrarator talking to his son. It was pretty confusing; then he starts telling a story of a time that his son's friend came to visit their village and said he wouldn't stay another night because he got really sick the first night. He never tells us why he got sich though. In the rest of the chapter he keeps saying "my son" like he is directly talking to his son, I dont understand that. He then says he wishes that his village was more mondernized, why does he say this?? He also says that he is sure his son will leave the next day. I dont understand this part either.
It seems like anyone who visits this village becomes sick. A preacher comes to visit and again on the first night he becomes sick. I believe this is because he was bitten by the horse flies; they were the worst in the summer. Then the narrarator starts talking about the doum tree of Wad Hamid. The preacher makes a big deal about this tree and leaves and says that no preacher is needed in the village beacause of the tree??I guess the tree is very sacred and a powerful tree. Once the government talked about taking down the tree and all the villagers rose up to an uproar. Some of the men were arrested, the narrarator was one of them.
All of the villagers have their stories of the tree and how it has saved them. Like the one time the man woke up from his sleep and was thirsty and by the tree was a jug of milk. Another story was the woman who woke up with a lump on her neck and went and laid by the tree. In her sleep a man came to her and hit her on the head with beads and she was cured. It seems like everytime their is a story the see a man in white and he striked them on the head with his beads. At the end of the chapter the narrarator changes it seems, and he starts asking the old man questions about when he thinks the doum tree will be taken down.
At first I didnt think that there were going to be three different stories in one. I expected the next chapters to continue on about the first story. I have never read a story like this before; having three different stories. I dont really think I like it because it kind of throws the reader off at frist. I was trying to understand how the new section went along with the last chapter so I was trying to tie it all in together, then realized it was an entirely different story. I suppose I should have paid more attention to the Title of the chapters, maybe then I would have noticed something.
The next story in the book was about a young child and his grandfather who owns land that he bought from a man who he thinks doesnt deserve all the land. The grandfather tells the boy that he doesnt deserve the land because he was born wealthy, but is that really the mans fault?? The boy really seems to idolize his grandfather, which I found kind of funny since most of the time when you think of grandparents you think of old people. Why would a child want to be like like an old person? Maybe, if it was his dad, but not his grandfather. I didnt understand the end of this story when he says he hates him..hates who? His grandfather or Masood? Then why does he puke up the stuff he just ate?
The next story was about a man who was kind of like the clown of the town, who gets married. Everyone makes fun of this man and makes a really big deal when he gets married. He is described as being very awkward and only has one tooth. No one wants to invite him to their wedding because he eats all the food. The weird thing about his story is who he gets married to. You would think his wife would a real troll but she actually is described as being very beautiful and rich. Why would a woman like that want to be with an unattractive man who gets on everyone's nerves??
Year of the Elephant Ch.1-2
This novel was about a woman who gets a divorce and has to come back to her hometown when it has been many years since she has returned. In the first chapter she explains a woman she always will remember that use to stand out in the middle of the street everyday. The way she describes her makes me think of a gypsy. She made it seem like it was a big deal when she was invited in their house. The only reason she was even invited in was because she pretended to be friends with the womans daughter. She has no where to stay when she comes back to town because all her close family is gone. She has a room at her fathers house but the first night she comes back it is occupied so she goes and stays at the shrine where she knows the old man faqih. This is when she starts telling him her story of her divorce and why she is back. She's telling the stories of the past then it comes back to the present.
A House in the Woods
This short story is about three little girls who are playing in the forest and they set out to build a play house made of stone. A man who is watching them tries to help them with their collection of the stones. When they are done building, they pick flowers to docorate. Then the man offers them his oranges, and to their excitement they destroy their little house.
The Vacation
The story was about two girl cousins who don't get along and get locked in a cellar. One of the girls gets hungry and finds a bag of peas which somehow gets lodged in her nose. They girls are finally found and they make her sneeze the pea of her nose. She is so embarassed that she asks to return home, for she was a guest there.
The Discontended
This story was about another pair of cousins. One is a custodian and the other is of an official. The one of higher importance tries to offer his cousin a better job because he feels bad for him. The cousin ends up not wanting to take the job in the end and says its because of his children's education, but the real reason is too much self pride.
The Divorce
The story is about a man who cannot live with his past. He was treated badly by his father and now blames all his failures on his father. What he doesn't realize is that all the frustration he has is being put on his family. He ends up getting into a fight with his wife, for she tries to stand up for herself and the children. He gets so upset that he goes right to the divorce office and files for a divorce, just like his parents.
Silence
Silence was about two sisters who also dont like each other. At first the reader is not sure why the two sisters are so bitter, but then in one of their fights the fatter sister says it not her fault that he huband divorced her sister and married her. The fatter sister wanted the other sister who sick to die in her house, so the sick sister runs away but then only dying in another place. I dont really understand why the fatter sister was smiling when she received the telegram? I guess she really did hate her sister.
The black market
This was a short story about an employee at a store was approached by a so called business woman and pretended to own apartments so the emoployee and her husband who go look at them and hopefully they would all become friends. The business woman invites them to a party and her high class house. When the two leave they realize the woman has robbed them and the other guests at the party.
The Stanger
This story is about a man who flashes back to his past and then to the present. He remembers his mother having weird convulsions; I'm not sure if he was dreaming or not. Then he talks about his father one time beating his mother very badly. Then he talks about the maid that he loved very much who always use to stop his mother from tryin to punish him. He decides to visit his old house only to find out that his mother does not recognize him and says her son has been dead for thirty years.
Out of Work
This short story is about a man who doesn't realize how repetetive and meaningless his life is. He does the same thing everyday without even thinking about it. When he loses his job is when he starts taking in the things around him and starts noticing the city he has lived in for twenty years.
Year of the Elelphant
The rest of the chapters we find out that the woman actually was working under cover for the gorvernment. Her husband gets sent to prison, but we never find out why. When he's in prison she stays with their two friends who are into the government jobs as well. The book seems to skip around a lot because one minute she's explaining her life in the past, then the next she's talking to the sheikh.
I guess divorce was looked down upon in their country because all her friends and family want her to get back with her husband, but she wouldn't even think about that. We find out that her husband messes around with his secretary and thats why they get a divorce because he wants someone who isnt as political and strong as her. The funny thing is, is that even though he wants the divorce she doesn't get anything out of the deal though he's the one with all the money.
In the end of the book, she learns that she still remembers how to knit. So the sheikh tells her to try to find a job doing that because anywhere else won't hire her. One of the reasons she won't get hired is because she is divorced and she's a woman. This kind of thing shouldn't be factors why she doesn't get a job but things in their country are different and unfair.
Thousand Cranes
The first chapter starts off with the main character being invited to a tea ceremony by his father's mistress. As he is reading the invitation he was sent he remembers the first time he met Chikako; his father and him were going to visit her and when they found her, she was cutting hair off the birth mark that she has on her breasts. I guess the mom had some idea that the father was messing around on her because she brings the "secret" of the birth mark up one day and asks if he's seen it. Though he denies it, it seems like she figures it out for herself. The talk about the birth mark goes on for about 4 pages, so I guess being deformed like that was really looked down upon. I found it funny how much the birth mark bothered Kikuji.
On his way to the ceremony he notices a beautiful young woman attending the tea ceremony as well. She had a kerchief that had the thousand-crane pattern on it. Chikako wastes no time trying to push Kikuji on the young lady. Then she tells him that Mrs. Ota, another one of his father's mistesses was there, only this one was different. The father spent a lot of his time with this woman and her daughter, even Kikuji remembers it. I think that one of the reasons Kikuji ends up sleeping with Mrs. Ota his because he feels resentment for her, or maybe she just seduced him.
After what had happened between Mrs. Ota and Kikuji, her daughter came to his house one day. She asked him to stop what he was doing with her mother. She told him that she had problems and that she was a bad person. Kikuji agrees to stop seeing her but who know if that will last or not. I thought it was weird that when he was saying good bye to the daughter that he seemed to have an affection for because she reminded him of her mother so much; then he imagines the Inamura girl all of a sudden, I thought that was strange. I guess she might be important later on.
In the next chapters, Mrs. Ota comes to see Kikuji. She is very frail and weak and you can tell she wants to die by the way she is acting. Then, that night, her daughter calls him on the phone to tell him that her mother accidentally overdosed on pills, but her and him both know the real truth; that she killed herself. Of course, the one other idividual that knows is Chikako.
Chikako plays a big roll in iviting the Inamura girl over for a tea ceremony, even thought it ends up only being Kikuji, the Inamura girl, and Chikako. I think Chikako acts very out of place here because what she should have done was left them alone to talk and get to know each other but basically the whole time she is in their conversation talking about his father. I don't understand why he is so nice to her? Can't he just tell her to leave him alone?
When Kikuji goes over to Mrs. Ota's house a couple of days after she dies, he ends up having a strong connection with Fumiko. I'm not sure that this connection is just friendship since they have so many things in common, and they both loved his father; or is it feelings Kikuji has for Fumiko because she reminds him so much of Mrs. Ota? Either way, I dont she feels the same for him. I think she respects him and wants to be friends with him but in a way I think she is afraid of him because she feels the way he looks at her too.
In the last chapters of the book Chikako becomes even more involved with Kikuji's business. She tells him that Mrs. Ota wanted to leave Fumiko to him, that she was planning this all along. Or course he ponders this and wonders if she's right. Kikuji definately has feelings for Fumiko, thought Im not sure if its because she was Mrs. Ota's daughter of if he just really likes her for who she is. Sometimes I think Chikako is just trying to make sure that Kikuji is ok and wants the best for him, thats why she tries to marry him off to the Inamura girl.
Later Chikako goes to see a man who wants to buy all of Mr. Matani's tea collections. So this tells me that Chikako is really just tryin to make sure that she gets paid for her service because she would go in with the man to buy all of this collections. She also tells the maid of Kikuji wanting to sell the house and thinks that he should. I thought this was weird because I figured she would want the house to herself. When she comes back from her trip she likes to Kikuji and tells him both the girls have been married but later Fumiko calls him to tell him that she moved away and says shes not married and believes the Inamura girls isn't either.
Why Chikako did this I believe is because she doesn't want Kikuji to be involved with the Ota's at all and she feels that Kikuji really does want to be with Fumiko. If Mrs. Ota gets her way, Chikako will not be happy so that why she lies about her being married. Kikuji finally starts to feel reborn again when Fumiko comes to visit him. I think the reason she kills herself in the end is because she's scared that she has feelings for him too, but doesn't want to because she feels wrong about it. Did she really kill herself? The ending never really tells us fore sure but Kikuji senses it.
God Dies by the Nile
The first chapter starts to explain the life of Zakeya, the hard work she has to do all day. Then it mentions her brother Kafrawi and how alike they are. I'm not sure if the part about her mother wrapping her up in her arms was a dream or not because she said she can't remember her face but remembers her when she smells dough or yeast. At the end of this chapter it mentions a girl names Nefissa being missing. I'm not sure what that is about. The second chapter introduces us to the mayor of the town. All the other men try to win the mayors affection, then a young girl who is supposively Nefissa's younger sister catches the mayor's eye.
Chapter three is about Nefissa, the girl who ran away. I think she ran away because she was being forced to work at the mayor's house and I dont think she wanted to. Nefissa is the daughter of Kafrawi. It seems like the author is almost trying to make it hard for the reader to figure out which character he is talking about. She is taken to a town by her "uncle" atleast thats what she calls him, but it seems like he almost has feelings for her or something, so I don't really understand that. Chapter four explains the life of the young girl Fatheya and her husband who is pretty good friends with mayor, Shiekh Hamzawi, who also recites the prayers for the town. They havea baby delivered to their door step, but they think that Nefissa abondoned her baby to them.
Chapter five talks about the Nefissa girl running away again. This time its the mayor and his family discussing it. The mother tries to stick up for pride of women because her son and husband are talking about how immoral women are nowadays. Though its ok for a man to be immoral, but for a woman its just not right. The whole town now knows about Nefissa and abondoning her child. When the question is brought up about who could have done this to her a man named Elwau is brought up. Now, just because this was rumored to be questionable, the whole town thinks it was him.
I'm not sure whats happening to Kafrawi at the beginning of the chapter, but he seems to be having an out of body experience. I didn't realize how important the buffalo was to him until now. Though im not sure whats going on between him and the buffallo when he's lying next to her, its almost like they were doing sexual things, it really grossed me out. Then he is covicted of killing Elwau, but I dont think he really did it. I think it was a set up by the mayor so he could have Zienab. The next chapter talks about the barber and the the village guard watching the body of Elwau by the river. The barber had a terrible child memory of him being raped by his boy cousin. We are then intorduced to Metwalli, the village idiot. He watches over the cemetary and when no one is looking goes to the body of Elwau and does sexual things to him, but he usually does this on all the dead this is still in a sense "fresh".
Kafrawi is not being chased by the police. Him and the police guard swim all the way to the other end of the river. If he is not resposible for Elwau's murder I don't understand why he runs. Everyone else just watches and cheers the two on, like its some sort of entertainment to watch a man being arrested for something he did not do. Zakeya and Zienab are now lost, it seems as if they lost all of their loved ones. We don't know what happened to Zakeya's son but he is gone, Nefissa ran away, and now Kafrawi has been arrested. Then Zakeya has a really weird dream about how her husband use to beat her everytime she lost a child, which was quite a bit. Then she is being raped by her husband which then turns to the face of her brother Kafrawi.
The last two chapters were more about Zakeya. She seems to be having a bad dream of some sort. People are throwing blood on her and touching her everywhere. They are doing some sort of ritual dance because they think she has a demon in her, but really she is just depressed from everyone in her life leaving her. We find out that her son has never returned from the military. We are also introduced to a new character who is like the midwife of the town. She helps the villagers deliver babies and help kill them too it seems like. She also pretends that if a young girl is not a virgin she will put rabbits blood on a towel to show that she is.
Zeinab and Zakeya go to the city to see a doctor for Zakeya's sickness. On their way they have to take a horrible old bus which almost falls off the road on the way. The hustle and bustle of the city is nothing like they have ever seen before. The man who was with them from the beginning who is also bringing his wife to get treated, falls under the tracks of a train gets killed. Spectators don't even make that big of a scene about it and Zeinab and Zakeya just keep going on their way. The doctor, who isn't really a doctor tells them to perfrom a certain ritual when they get home to rid themselves of their sins. The next day they both do what they were told and Zeinaba amazingly end up at the mayor's house who takes her to bed with him.
Sheikh Hamzawi is not happy with his new demon son. He hates that Fatheya has relvolved her life around the child. He even tries to take the child away one night from her, but she feels the child being taken out of her arms and scolds her husband. The villagers don't look at him the same and he notices it. One day the villagers beat up the Sheikh and blame all their misfortunes on his demon child. He goes home even more upset at Fatheya and tells her they will have to leave their home. A few days go by and everyone has seemed to forgotten about the demon child and carried on with their lives. Then a fire starts and a child is killed. The blame is set on the demon child. Fatheya tries to run away from the villagers, but they come after her and tear her to shreds. The Sheikh finds her and tries to carry her home but can't move her body. Then they find the child a few feet away and return the child's body to Fatheya. They burry her and the child together as one.
Galal returns home, Zakeya is at disbelief at first, but when she realizes its him all the life in her returns. Galal is deeply in love with Zeinab and finds out she has been working at the mayors house. He decides to marry her, and Zeinab stops going to the mayor's house. The chief of the village gaurd knows the Zeinab has married Galal and has stopped going to the mayor's house he knows something is going to have to be done about this. They try to make a deal with Galal so that Zeinab would return to the mayor's house to do her "chores" but Galal refuses. They end up setting him up and pretend that he stole something from the mayors house. Galal is arrested and sent to prison. Zeinab tries to go after him and return to the mosque but falls into a trap and is never heard from again. Zakeya knows what has to be done, she goes to the mayors house and kills him with her hoe, she is arrested and taken to prison as well.
City of Love and Ashes
The first chapter starts off with the main character Hamza trying to start a training camp. He goes to meet his friend Hasan, who is also in the training camp idea. A woman names Fawziya is introduced to them, her job is to raise money. I'm pretty sure Hamza falls in love with her right away and is surprised by her independence, but yet her fragility. She comes back to the camp the next day to give him enough money to buy guns and ammo. He tells her to meet him the following week, and if anything happens to meet him the week after.
Everything starts to fall apart in Cairo and Hamza is forced to stay with his longtime friend Bedeir. Bedeir is a lawyer and makes a very good living, though he has no wife and family, which I found odd. The fighting gets so bad that Hamza is forced to stay indoors. The only thing keeping him from going insane is the thought of seeing Fawziya once more. When he finds out the curfew change he is devastated. Soon enough the fighting slows down and the curfew is changed again. He feels like it is pointless to go to the spot he told her to meet him, but he knows he must try. Sure enough she is there, he tells her his address and within a few days she shows up at his house once morning earlier than expected.
He tells her to go and check on Hasan for him and find out about him. The next day she comes back with news that he has been arrested. I don't understand why Hazma is unable to go out without disguise, what makes him a threat? Hamza finally dedcides he must save the cement. He goes to the cemetary where the bombs are burried and retreives them safely. Why he hides explosives, Im not sure, but I think he's probably going to start back his training camp again. It was strange that it was so common for medical pracitioners to come by all the time and get skeletons and bones from the cemetary.
Beginning of chapter 7, Bedeir tried to pick up the suitcase that Hamza filled with the explosives. He freaks out and pretends its only clothes. Hamza finally starts to realize he is in love with Fawziya in this chapter, he goes on about it for about 2 pages. When she comes for their "meeting" this time its almost as if Bedeir is more excited to see her then Hamza is. Hamza tells Fawziya he want to know everything about her, then he starts to tell her about the many jobs that he has had. One in particular really stood out. The one where it seemed to be he was a revolutionist and had to watch all those young boys stand up for their country and be heros. Then he talks about how he showed that teacher up in the heated debate he was in.
After they were done with their "lesson" Hamza walks Fawziya out the door only to find Hamza sitting in the hallway waiting for them to get done. He said he didn't want to interrupt, but its his own house so I found that strange. Bedeir keeps asking Hamza if the has done anything with Fawziya yet but Hamza just ingnores him, to interested in his thoughts about this new love he has found. Then Bedeir tells Hamza that he is in love with someone. I think Bedeir is in love with Fawziya as well.
The next morning Bedeir goes off to work as usual leaving Hamza time to think about his love for Fawziya and if she feels the same way for him. He does this the whole morning till it is two oclock and Bedeir is home for lunch already. Bedeir complains about work and decides not to return that day. Hamza is mad about this because now he cannot tell Fawziya about his feelings like he was planning to do. When she finally arrives Bedeir tries to put his charm on and play music for her. He suddenly feels about of place and returns back to work. When they are alone Fawziya tells Hamza that she gave the suitcase to another teacher friend who was going to watch in for them. Then Hamza works up the courage and explains to Fawziya how he feels about her. Fawziya get so angry that he has fallen in love with her, she gets up and storms off.
Hamza thinks for a while about what just happened, he gets really upset about the whole thing. Then Bedeir comes home drunk and tells him that she is not welcome in his house anymore. He says its because he doesn't want to get in any trouble and she will only cause trouble, but its really because I think he's in love with her too. This makes Hamza even more upset, but thinks that it doesn't matter anyway because she won't come back. The next day Hamza is still very upset, and doesn't do anything besides mope around the house the whole morning while Bedeir goes off to work. He ponders everything he said to Fawziya in his head and can't understand why he told her that he loved her.
Then there is a knock on the door and Fawziya is there wanting some coffee. As he is making her coffee he cannot believe that she is there and thinks about what he should do and how he should react. Does this mean that she loves him too? Then, Fawziya is in front of him and they embrace each other. Fawziya gives him a letter that explains everything about who she really was. The letter goes on for way too long, but in the letter she tells him that basically everything she has told him has been a lie, but she does have good reasons for lying.
She is afraid of what is to come when he gets done with the letter. Surprisingly, he is impressed with Fawziya that she would tell him all this truth, and knows it must have been very hard for her to be so honest. Bedeir ends up coming home and freaks out that Fawziya is there. He ends up kicking them out; now Hamza knows that Bedeir is in love with Fawziya as well. When they both leave he swears he hears crying and moaning in Bedeir's apartment.
The Bridegroom was a dog
The main character Mitsuko is the school teacher of a "cram" school. I think a cram school is a school that all the kids in the neighborhood go to no matter what grade their in. At first they describle her as being pretty but then some of the other mothers say that she isn't really pretty. So the description of her confused me. It was really strange how the kids would walk by her house all the time and visit her. Usually students aren't suppose to go to their teachers house. Then, when she was showing the girls her breasts and they act like they like it. Then she knows that the boy students are watching as well, but doesn't seem to care.
A man named Taro comes out of nowhere and lives with her. I'm pretty sure he is just with her to have somewhere to stay and because she lets him do whatever he wants to her, and again, she doesn't seem to mind. I thought it was pretty off character for the man to be cleaning and cooking thought, that should have given off the first instinct that he was gay. Then when some of the students' families drop by her house out of nowhere, he doesn't even bother to say hello or introduce himself to them. He is truly an odd character.
We then find out that Taro has a wife and that she knew he was cheating on her, but yet she is still upset about him not living with her? It seems like she should be happy about something like that. We also find out that Taro is messing around with a man as well. Mrs. Oita tries to warn Mitsuko about the aids virus, but she acts like she doesn't care what he does. She also doesn't seem to understand what Taro's wife meant when she said he hung around with Fukiko's dad. Fukiko was a student of hers who gets picked on a lot, but after she learns about Taro, she takes her under her wing. The end of this story was really confusing. I guess Taro ran off with Fukiko's dad, and Mitsuko ran off with Fukiko??
Missing Heels
When I first started reading this story I was assuming the main character was a man. Then, later she talks about how she is a maid order bride and then beginning of the story was her taking about her journey to her new husband. I wish they would have told us where she came from that we could get a better mental image of what she looked like. She does complain about people starting at her feet thought, so I suppose some part of her must be deformed in some way. When she's on her way to meet her husband, she stops at a squid stand to eat some food. She talks about how she volunteers to help the man and pulls off the squids' ears? Im not sure if squids have ears.
When she finally arrives to her destination, (her new home) there is no one there. Then she sees someone peaking through a big black door. She assumes this is her husband and that these actions are normal for married couples. She has a weird dream her first night there, and wakes up to a few dollars on a table in her room. She decides to start taking gernal training classes. These classes are very strange, they show her how to bathe and in general how to be a good house wife. Every day she comes home her husband is never there but she knows he is watching her. She has a suitcase with her full of boiled eggs, another strange thing about her.
After reading for a while, we start to learn that she is in and out of dreams quite a bit in the story. Some of the dreams even have certain things that end up really happening . One morning she wakes up to find out that she has a doctors note on the table with a few dollars of course. When she is waiting in the emergency room she talks to a woman who is very independent and talks to her about how she has her own job. Somehow the woman knows that she is a main order bride? How can someone know that with out actually knowing that person? When she is in the doctors office he tells her to go see the head nurse because she needs surgery one her feet. She ends up not having to and returns home. She has a dream that night about a locksmith and the head nurse. The next day she goes to get a locksmith to open the big black door. When the door is opened the only thing in there is a dead squid on the floor? Not sure what this means.
The Gottard Railway
This story was pretty hard to follow along. At one point the main character would be doing something, like sitting on the train, and then all of a sudden he would be remembering another thing. It took a while for me to catch on that he was going back and forth from present to remembering certain things. Some of the things he would remember were pretty strange to. Him and his friend would do some pretty weird things together. Like the time he remembers when they were on the beach together and he flipped his friend over and he started to sink into the sand with only his penis poking out? This is just something I would not prefer to read about.
At first I thought the story was going to be about a refugee taking the Gottard Railway to like a camp or some thing like that, but to me the story didn't really have any specific significance. It was just the main character on a train looking for some tunnel that he always dreamed about. The things that show up in his mind are truly out of the ordinary. He wants to stay in the one city that no one wants to live in. He says the city his gloomy and the dirtiest city there is in Switzerland, yet he likes it.
I really think that main character was suicidal. I think he liked the weird city and this tunnel because they were dark ugly places just like him. In the end he talks about almost slipping into the snow which is hiding a lake. He wonders about the sign that says no walking and then comes to find out its because there is a lake there but he still wants to see what it would be like to sink all the way into the lake. Therefore, I came to the conclusion of him being suicidal. I dont think he kills himself in the end but he does find himself in the tunnel he was searching for. I did think that maybe he did sink into that lake though and the rest of the story was just him dead and dreaming of finding the tunnel; I'm not quite sure.
A Beggar at Damascus Gate
The story takes place in Palestine, the first chapeter is about an archeologist traveling and finding two lovers' journals that stayed in his room before him. The first chapter starts the introduction of the next chapter. I dont think its weird that the guy read their journals, I think anyone would if they found them interesting. This book is starting to remind me a little of Romeo and Juliet though because their different beliefs in government and politics. There is always something wrong with a relationship, I'm excited to find out if they can withstand their differences.
Another thing I thought that was strange was how the author didn't explain how the main character is an archeologist but yet he has no team with him? The author actually didn't explain about the main character much at all; he didn't give a lot of information and background on him. So it kind of had be confused in the beginning because I couldn't tell when he was reading the journals and when he was explaining present time.
The author did seem to do a goob job when it came to explaining the setting of where the main character was traveling too. Like when he explains the ruins of the ancient cities. I thought the parts about the two lovers stories were kind of hard to understand. I guess they were written along time ago becuase it sounded funny how they talked like they were from shakespeare time.
This next section of the book is the two writers of the journals Alex and Rayya talking back to one another. Rayya is actually an activist for Palestine so when Alex starts to speak in Arabic her suspicions arise. Can she really trust this British man? She isn't sure so the plot seems to thicken.
This chapter really show the passion and all the different kind of emotions these two are feeling for each other. In the beginning of the chapter it's almost like Alex wants Rayya to think he is a spy even though he isn't. This book has a lot to do with the mixed emotions and conflicts of these two but is also has a lot to do with Palestine. If Rayya would't have had to leave her hometown then maybe she wouldn't be so anal sometimes towars Alex.
Most of the time in this chapter it seems like they are both too stubborn to try and be together, but then they keep at it. Something unkown is between them and I think maybe the excitement of it is what keeps them going. If this story ends in one of them dying though then this book is truly like Romeo and Juliet.
In the third section of the book, confliction between Rayya and Alex continues. One day, Rayya comes home to find Alex on her bed surrounded by all her journals. She wrote all of them in Arabic thinking he doesn't know how to read it but she finds out that he does. Then he all of a sudden starts to have a panic attack? She almost calls the ambulence but he tells her that all he wants to do is sleep. Then he mentions somthing about suicide, I'm not sure what he meant by it though.
One day Rayya comes home again to find Alex extremely upset. Even though he has not truly told her that he knows how to read and speak Arabic, he starts reading from her journal screaming the words that he reads. He finds out that she has had another lover before. The way she handled that situation was a pure act of weakness. Then she realizes she can play this off and act like she just made it up though the damage to Alex had already been done, she got to see his side of pure jelousy.
Again, Alex reads another story in Rayya's journal. You would think by now he would learn his lesson and realize that these stories are mostly made up, but his jelous side takes over him and believes she has other lovers. Alex starts thinking who this woman really is? How can he love someone he truly doesn't know? Are her stories fact, fictions, or poems? Does she just want to be like the people in her stories? Would she die for her beloved Palestine??
