In what way or ways do you "connect" with the book The Rock of Tanios by Amin Maalouf? In what way is it accessible or familiar to you?
I find that I connect with the novel in several ways. For one, the writing style is very matter-of-fact, as if explaining a historical event based on documents and facts. This journalistic style of story-telling can get dull, but is always easy to read. Kfaryabda itself is aan actual village in Lebanon today, with an actual rock of Tanios. Also, throughout the novel, Amin Maalouf frequently uses Arabic terms such as kishk and binti. As an Arab reader, I understand what these words mean and hence have a better/fuller understanding of the plot and the different messages of the novel. Referring to the example of kishk, I immediately new that kishk was a certain food eaten by the Lebanese, and therefor had a shallow but certainly existant understanding of what Tanios-kishk might mean, even without reading further into the novel. Also, I can very much relate to the culture of the novel; the heirarchy, customs and rituals. The cooking of mighlieh for example is still practised today after the birth of a child. The way the Sheikh gets away with his sexual affairs is also a very cultural matter; it seems in the middle east, till today, the fault of the man is considreded far more acceptable than the fault of the woman. In that sense, i connect to the novel culturally and linguistically.
1 comment:
I agree with most of the points you have mentioned.
First of all the style of writing that he used is at certain levels very dull and therefore makes it hard for the reader to get into the story. When it comes to me, I did not like the novel and I did not find the "catchy" part of the novel i.e.: I just can't get myself to read it, unlike many other people who found the story amazing! Amin Maalouf is too much trying to show the world his exotic roots in his novel yet he is missing something out that gives the realistic touch (although some people might disagree and say that he made up so many things that the story seems real). Amin Maalouf used a lot of Arabic words indeed and therefore it is easy for me too to understand due to my Lebanese background and consequently I can also connect with the novel!
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