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    Zeina
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    Zeina
    Unavailable
    Zeina
    Ebook284 pages6 hours

    Zeina

    By Nawal El-Saadawi

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Distinguished literary critic Bodour is trapped in a loveless marriage and carries with her a dark secret. She fell in love in her youth and gave birth to an illegitimate daughter, Zeina, whom she abandoned on the streets of Cairo.

    Bodour doesn't know that Zeina has blossomed into one of Egypt's most beloved entertainers. Pining for her estranged daughter, she writes a fictional account of her life in an attempt to find solace. But as the revolution in Cairo begins to gain fire, the novel goes missing and Bodour must find who has stolen it. Will her hunt for the thief bring mother and daughter together? Or is Bodour destined to lose her daughter to Cairo forever?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSaqi Books
    Release dateAug 20, 2011
    ISBN9780863564499
    Unavailable
    Zeina
    Author

    Nawal El-Saadawi

    Nawal El Saadawi (1931-2021) was an internationally renowned feminist writer and activist from Egypt. She founded and became president of the Arab Women’s Solidarity Association and co-founded the Arab Association for Human Rights. Among her numerous roles in public office she served as Egypt’s National Director of Public Health and stood as a candidate in the 2004 Egyptian presidential elections. El Saadawi held honorary doctorates from the universities of York, Illinois at Chicago, St Andrews and Tromso, and her numerous awards include the Council of Europe North-South Prize, the Women of the Year Award (UK), Sean MacBride Peace Prize (Ireland), and the National Order of Merit (France). She wrote over fifty novels, short stories and non-fiction works which centre on the status of Arab women, which have been translated into more than thirty languages.

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    Reviews for Zeina

    3.5/5

    16 ratings8 reviews

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    • 4/5
      The pain of women living in a brutal patriarchal society is not an easy subject but this author writes with passion and courage and I was grateful to have received this book from early reviewers. From time to time, the author quotes from the Koran, the Torah and the Bible and such filth and hatred would be difficult to match in your local pornographic bookstore. I shuddered to read it. The women in Zeina live in a twilight world similar to the dystopian Christian world in Margarat Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale". Egypt is one of the more civilized midddle-eastern countries but women live in the shadows and as we are seeing, the Arab spring was certainly not about freedom for women. As others have ably described the story, I will not do that, but only say that there is a good story along with the pain. I will certainly look for more books by this author.
    • 4/5
      This is the story of Bodour, an Egyptian woman who gave birth out of wedlock and abandoned her child. It's also the story of that child (Zeina) and of Bodour's legitimate daughter Mageeda. It is the story of women oppressed by a patriarchial society and religion.The narrative is hard to follow. The author shifts among different characters' perspectives, from first person to third person, and forwards and backwards in time, often within a single page. There are no chapters and few "breaks" in the text to help guide the reader.In spite of that, the writing is superb. Images of the lives of women and street children come through vividly and the story of Bodour and her daughters manages to emerge from all the confusing narrative.
    • 4/5
      Nawal El Saadawi is a leading spokeswoman on Arab feminism and an excellent writer.In this latest novel to be translated into English, readers are given a glimpse of the status of women in the Arab World as we step into their lives.Interesting characters and storyline but a little cliched at times.
    • 2/5
      This book looks great - and I love reading translated books and books about other cultures. However, I just couldn't get through this one.I was often unsure who was speaking - seems like the author switches narrators/narration often and sometimes it is first person from the daughter Mageeda, sometimes it is third person about the mother, Bodour. Also, the mother has written a novel that parallels her life, and sometimes the book goes off on a long tangent about the main character of the book. I couldn't make any sense of it.It's possible that it is a translation problem...?
    • 4/5
      This book provides an interesting backdrop to the events of 2011--the "Arab Spring"--particularly as it occurred in Egypt. The novel charts the life of a successful woman, Boudour, married to a successful man in contemporary Egypt. Their individual successes, however, do not make up for the troubles that plague their marriage and society as a whole. The title character, Zeina, is the daughter of Boudour who was given up for adoption because she was born out of wedlock. Boudour ends up in a "respectable," marriage, but she suffers as she watches her daughter become a famous musician, and she cannot forget the love she had for Zeina's father who was killed for his involvement in anti-government protests.El Saadwawi uses this plot to address the struggle women face in modern Islamic cultures, particularly women who are also artists. Her main character, Boudour, is a successful literary critic who longs to be a novelist. Zeina is a kind of "natural artist," born with talent that makes her music teacher proclaim that she is destined for great artistry. At the same time, there are men who long to "tame" Zeina and make her take her "rightful" place in Islamic society.El Saadawi's feminism in this novel comes across as a bit heavy-handed, but she may need to be that obvious and forthright to make her point in Egypt. To a person accustomed to feminist thought and writing, though, it tends to detract from the characters and the novel. Still, I think this is a good book that provides an interesting view into the recent history of Egypt which led so recently to revolution.
    • 3/5
      I found the story of Zeina difficult to follow. The author transitions from one character to another, from one time to another with no clarification. Although it is a perspective of the unequal standing of women in Middle Eastern cultures, and in Egyptian culture where it was set, I found it more difficult to grasp the point of the story. I did put my difficulties in this respect down to not knowing enough about the plight of women raised in this culture. The character I had the most respect for, and who I might have wanted to learn more from, Zeina, seemed more a bit player...a supporting role, even tho the book is called Zeina. Some will like this book...some will not. I leave it to you to decide.
    • 4/5
      Bodour is now a successful literary critic but as a first-year university student was attracted to Nessim, a political activist. For two years any relationship with him existed only in her dreams but they finally spent a night together but, before they could legitimise their relationship he was imprisoned. Finding herself pregnant, when she had the baby, Zeina, she felt forced to abandon her to a life on the streets of Cairo. She then married Zakariah, an ambitious journalist, and they had a daughter, Mageeda but guilt and regret eat away at Bodour and, pining for her abandoned daughter, she starts to write a novel, as a fictionalised means of understanding her past. However, during the revolution in Cairo, the novel goes missing and, hoping to be reunited with Zeina, she must find out who stole it. This powerful, complex and disturbing story is set against the background of a deeply entrenched patriarchal society, one which is rife with religious hypocrisy (there are long quotes from the Qur’an to demonstrate how control over women is exerted), political corruption and the struggles faced by any woman who either harbours any ambition or questions the status quo. With no conventional chapters, multiple, constantly-changing points of view and shifts between past and present, much of the narrative has a dream-like quality, a metaphorical reflection of Bodour’s disturbing descent into psychosis. Initially I found this rather confusing and frustrating but once I allowed myself to just “go with the flow” and to lose myself in the elegant, lyrical language, I felt emotionally connected to this dark, haunting story. Once I’d finished it I felt that not only had I gained insights into a very different culture, but felt huge admiration for the author’s real-life brave activism in the face of so many challenges.
    • 2/5
      I’ve been wondering what to say about this book for over a week now.

      While I like reading translated books (and I made it my personal goal this month to read more translated works – quick update: I am not doing very well, having only read 5 translated books so far), many of these books tend to be serious, heavy reads. Zeina is no exception. It is such a heavy hitter. It took me nearly the whole library-sanctioned three weeks to read. And every time I put it down, I was exhausted, my brain nothing more than scrambled eggs.

      And so I present to you, the synopsis from Goodreads. Because that was what made me decide to pick it up:

      Bodour, a distinguished literary critic and university professor, carries with her a dark secret. As a young university student, she fell in love with a political activist and gave birth to an illegitimate daughter, Zeina, whom she abandoned on the streets of Cairo.

      Zeina grows up to become one of Egypt’s most beloved entertainers, despite being deprived of a name and a home. In contrast, Bodour remains trapped in a loveless marriage, pining for her daughter. In an attempt to find solace she turns to literature, writing a fictionalized account of her life. But when the novel goes missing, Bodour is forced on a journey of self discovery, reliving and reshaping her past and her future.

      Will Bodour ever discover who stole the novel? Is there any hope of her being reunited with Zeina?

      It sounds like a potentially great story, doesn’t it?

      Zeina starts out ok enough. Bodour, despite her hard life, is a decent character. She had to abandon her daughter and see her grow up right in her very neighbourhood, and play with her legitimate daughter Mageeda. Her daughter Zeina has this goddess-like aura about her, her gift for music enabling her to blast past her humble background and into the hearts of everyone. Bodour’s husband, a newspaper columnist, is such a loathsome man who cheats on her. Mageeda inherits her writing skills from her parents (if that is possible) and becomes a journalist but seems to be filled with self-loathing. It’s an ugly life.

      But the narrative switches too quickly from one character to another, and from childhood to present, and with little warning. I suppose this must be some kind of psychological tactic. To create the confusion in the reader’s mind that Bodour probably feels. There are parts that are repeated and the general feeling while reading it is one of disconnect, of an uneasiness, a disconcertedness. It is an uncomfortable, difficult read. Perhaps it needs someone with better literary understanding? I don’t know. I’m at odds with this book. Is this something that Nawal El Saadawi does with all her fiction? I’m hesitant to pick up another of hers now….