Jean Jacques Swartz
Student number- 201302962
History 421
Book Review
Title of book: The Corsair
Author of book: Abdulaziz Al-Mahmoud
Interesting fact- The book was originally written in Arabic, but for the praise it received across the Arabic community, it was translated to English by Amira Nowaira. She did a perfect job in her efforts. The translation read pretty smoothly without it being choppy in any way, which most translated books usually fall victim too.
Setting:
This book is set in the early 19th century, when the British Empire was encompassing its reach across the globe.
Theme:
The book speaks the story of the tussle for control of the trade routes in the Persian Gulf. Urged into action by the region’s growing number of swashbucklers or corsairs, amongst them, the notorious Erhama bin Jaber, as well as the British Government or at that time, His Majesty’s Government, which travels across the Persian Gulf to protect its interests, sending honourable men such as the noble Captain Loch and the stroppy Major George Sadleir to the Gulf to protect the conveyance of British cargo through negotiation or armed forces action. But the British have always appeared on top, despite the intricate web of rivalries and loyalties that spans the Gulf.
As the story develops traveling between the UK, India, Bahrain, Qatar, Madeira and numerable places that exist in between , it becomes clear that the representatives of the small nation that at one point in time controlled a vast quantity of the planet were out of their depth.
The author’s 19th century Gulf region is a rich, cruel and bewildering place. From the luxurious and extravagant palaces of the Sultan of Oman to the infertile and blood spilt plains, where Ibrahim Pasha indicts...
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...way of moving forward.
Overall, this is an outstanding and captivating book. Every avid reader and book lover must have an entry way into the book of choice. And in this book, the author thoroughly introduces you to a world, where you as a reader, may feel that you are in that setting, hovering above each chapter presented in the book. The author amazingly exploits our imagination to see what he sees and he does it flawlessly. He manages to get readers to experience something of what it means to think differently, because in the end I found myself cheering for Erhama bin Jaber and his followers against the British.
As Bashir said: ‘ You would think differently if this land was your land and if these people were your people. ’ The truth is in the eye of the beholder and that we must treasure those with the vision to distinguish between the other side of the story.
Horwitz’s Baghdad Without A Map and other misadventures in Arabia gave readers a tour of the Middle East based on his experiences. The books give in depth details beyond what is known in America. After reading, readers can easily tell that the authors of the two books grew closer to their specific heritage and learned more about it.
Strayer, Robert W. An Outsider's View of Suleiman I. Ways of the World: A Brief Global History with Sources. 2nd ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2013. 655-57. Print.
My overall opinion of this book is good I really liked it and recommend it to anyone. It is a good book to read and it keep you interested throughout the whole book.
The story begins by Shlaim breaking down the conflict into four periods: the Ottoman, the imperial (British/French), the Cold War (US/USSR), and American (present day). He then traces how these foreign powers have shaped the region and intruded in the relations among the local states. He argues that the post-Ottoman syndrome refers to the inability of the Middle East countries to achieve peace following the onset of imperialism.
Joyce, James. “Araby”. The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction. Eds. R.V. Cassill and Richard Bausch. Shorter Sixth Edition. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2000. 427 - 431.
have chosen it for my report. Finally, I will give my reactions to the novel
It is difficult to face anything in the world when you cannot even face your own reality. In his book The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini uses kites to bring out the major themes of the novel in order to create a truly captivating story of a young boy’s quest to redeem his past mistakes. Amir is the narrator and protagonist of the story and throughout the entire novel, he faces enormous guilt following the horrible incident that happened to his closest friend, Hassan. This incident grows on Amir and fuels his quest for redemption, struggling to do whatever it takes to make up for his mistakes. In Hosseini’s novel, kites highlight aspects of Afghanistan’s ethnic caste system and emphasizes the story’s major themes of guilt, redemption and freedom.
Hourani, Albert. A History of the Arab Peoples. Cambridge, MA: Belknap of Harvard UP, 1991. Print.
Haddawy, Husain. The Arabian Nights. Rpt in Engl 123 B16 Custom Courseware. Comp. Lisa Ann Robertson. Edmonton, AB: University of Alberta, 2014. 51-64. Print.
Watts, Ruth, “Education, empire and social change in nineteenth century England” Paedagogica Historica 45. 6 (2009): 773–786
Joyce, James. “Araby.” The Norton Introduction to Literature, Shorter Eighth Edition. Eds. Jerome Beaty, Alison Booth, J. Paul Hunter, and Kelly J. Mays. New York: W.W.Norton.
This book is a very interesting read, if you have some self discipline. I mean that you need some self discipline because this book didn’t really captivate me in the sense that I couldn’t put it down. But after reading it for a while, I started to appreciate the author’s way of describing the characters and actions in this book.
I found this book to be a rather interesting read. I enjoyed how Levathes researched this book and wrote it to try to explain about this specific period of time and how it is very non-fiction.
Joyce, James. "Araby." 1914. Literature and Ourselves. Henderson, Gloria, ed. Boston, Longman Press. 2009. 984-988.
The Victorian Era in English history was a period of rapid change. One would be hard-pressed to find an aspect of English life in the 19th century that wasn’t subject to some turmoil. Industrialization was transforming the citizens into a working class population and as a result, it was creating new urban societies centered on the factories. Great Britain enjoyed a time of peace and prosperity at home and thus was extending its global reach in an era of New Imperialism. Even in the home, the long held beliefs were coming into conflict.