'Hubb' is love, 'ishq' is love that entwines two people together, 'shaghaf' is love that nests in the chambers of the heart, 'hayam' is love that wanders the earth, 'teeh' is love in which you lose yourself, 'walah' is love that carries sorrow within it, 'sababah' is love that excludes from your pores, 'hawa' is love that shares its name with 'air' and with 'falling', 'gharam' is love that is willing to pay the price.
I have learned so much this past year, I could not list all the things I have learned.
-Ahdaf Souief, Map of Love
I love it when I read works of new authors, the ones I have never read before as it helps me broaden my knowledge on different genres of novels/authors on the block. The same goes with Map of Love by Ahdaf Souief, we were prescribed this book for our term 2 gender paper and it got me pretty excited. Initially when I started to read this book, I was a little bored since I didn't have a clue of what was happening but as I kept on reading, it was hard for me to put down.
The title of the novel is very apt as Souief literally tries to map love. It is an extremely fascinating love story of two different generations, one taking place during the colonial times and the other in the modern era. Set against the colonial backdrop and the impact of European colonialism on a nation with thousand years of culture and history, Anna Winterbourne who is recently widowed finds herself enchanted with Egypt and simultaneously falls in love with Sharif Pasha al-Baroudi. We see history repeating itself years later when Isabel Parker (descendant of Sharif and Anna), recently divorced American journalist, falls in love with Omar al-Ghamrawi. As the novel shifts to the present, it describes the modern-day aftermath of that period of history in the continuing interference of the West in the Middle East.
What I really love about the novel is its structure. It doesn't have a normal narrative structure but interweaves Anna's journal entries, newspaper clippings from the past and merges it with the present narration.There is a constant shift from the past to the present and hence makes the readers quite active.The novel can be considered as feminist as mainly women contribute their voice to the story. It is also a post-colonial novel not only because of its fragmented nature but also because it tries to re-shape the past. There is a lot more to the book than what I shared. Being a complex novel, it has multiple layers to it. People with zero knowledge of Eygpt's political scenario might find it difficult to catch up as there are many parts in the novel which goes on to talk about it in detail, but nonetheless you get a hang of it.
The book is a perfect mixture of history and romance, politics and culture and past and the present. Best I recommend you all to read this novel and experience it yourself. I can guarantee you guys will have a delightful time reading such a detailed novel. For those who have already read the novel, you are free to discuss this book with me and share your thoughts on it.
Happy Reading until my next post :)
