'Cities of Salt'

Paper Summary:

This paper reviews and discusses the book "Cities of Salt", by Abdelrahman Munif, first published in 1984 in Beirut. According to the paper there are many politics issues that are introduced in the book, and it is important to understand how the novel enhances the understanding that others have of both politics and society within the Middle East. The paper discusses and addresses these issues in order to
show how the novel brings new insight for those that do not live in the Middle East and may not be aware of the society and politics of that country.

From the Paper:

"The technology that the Americans bring is a problem for the Bedouin residents, because they have never seen it before and do not understand it. Because of this, they are very suspicious of the Americans and the equipment, which includes telephones, automobiles, bulldozers, and radios, among other things. Many of the residents see these items working off of 'magic' and this makes them frightened and confused. This is one of the ways that the author shows how the clash of cultures and societies can cause problems and misunderstandings, and is therefore very important to the central theme of the novel.
Since the story moves along at a strong pace and covers many years, there is a virtually endless group of events and characters that can be examined, and the plot threads all connect in such a way that the story remains very interesting throughout. There are many nuances and ambiguities that can be seen in the Arab culture, and quite a large number of them are rather subtle. The translation of the book by Theroux shows that there is an understanding of the language and culture of the Arabs and all of the subtleties that go along with it, which is important for capturing the 'voice' of those that are seen in the novel and the way that the Arab society works."

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