Ahlan ya tulab!As the new year draws near, (exactly three weeks remaining in 2007) my thoughts are ever more frequently drawn to Egypt.
I just finished A Border Passage and thought it was really fantastic. There were times I was afraid the book would just be a compilation of accounts but it finally did, in fact, take the reader down a windy path, perhaps similar to some streets in Cairo.
I've also done some un-required reading, including my travel guide and a graphic novel. I heard about the graphic novel, Cairo, on NPR (clearly my source of all good information these days). It is written by G.Willow Wilson, an American convert to Islam, and illustrated by M. K. Perker, a Turkish political cartoonist. Their book tells the story of several characters' adventures into darker corners and the underworld of Cairo. Among them are an outspoken journalist, a young American man who has decided to become an Islamic fundamentalist, a sophisticated but naive American woman, a drug dealer, an Israeli solider, and a genie. It was the first graphic novel I've ever really read and I couldn't put it down. Like A Border Passage, it examines the nuances of Islam and other beliefs that are entangled with, or in competition with, each other in Cairo. I'll bring my copy on the trip but encourage you all to check it out before.
Ma'as salaama,
Brennan
p.s. you can find reviews of the book that are better than mine here: http://www.progressivehistorians.com/2007/12/book-review-cairo-by-g-willow-wilson.html
http://comics.ign.com/objects/142/14216652.html
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