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View Poll Results: North Africa & The Middle East Vote • November 2013, Multiple Choice | |||
The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, Iran | 6 | 37.50% | |
Leo Africanus by Amin Maalouf, Lebanon | 5 | 31.25% | |
A Tale of Love and Darkness by Amos Oz, Israel | 8 | 50.00% | |
Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz, Egypt | 6 | 37.50% | |
Lyrics Alley by Leila Aboulela, Sudan | 5 | 31.25% | |
In the Country of Men by Hisham Matar, Libya | 5 | 31.25% | |
Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits by Laila Lalami, Morocco | 2 | 12.50% | |
The Yacoubian Buidling by Alaa Al-Aswany, Egypt | 5 | 31.25% | |
Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 16. You may not vote on this poll |
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11-06-2013, 12:32 AM | #1 |
languorous autodidact ✦
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North Africa & The Middle East Vote • November 2013
Help us choose the November 2013 selection to read for the MR Literary Club! The poll will be open for three days.
The vote is multiple choice. You may vote for as many or as few as you like. A discussion thread will begin shortly after a winner is chosen. In the event of a tie, there will be a one-day non-multiple-choice run-off poll. In the event that the run-off poll also ends in a tie, the tie will be resolved in favour of the selection that received all of its initial nominations first. Select from the following works: The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, Iran Spoiler:
Leo Africanus by Amin Maalouf, Lebanon Spoiler:
A Tale of Love and Darkness by Amos Oz, Israel Spoiler:
Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz, Egypt Spoiler:
Lyrics Alley by Leila Aboulela, Sudan Spoiler:
In the Country of Men by Hisham Matar, Libya Spoiler:
Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits by Laila Lalami, Morocco Spoiler:
The Yacoubian Buidling by Alaa Al-Aswany, Egypt Spoiler:
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11-06-2013, 08:53 AM | #2 |
o saeclum infacetum
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We've had exceptionally strong slates lately and here's another. My choices were next thing to random, because I'd love to read any of them.
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11-06-2013, 10:36 AM | #3 |
Grand Sorcerer
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I voted based on length, choosing three or the four shortest books, all of which are on my potential list of reads for next year. I may not read this month's winner until next year some time,but it is a very strong list of candidates
I didn't vote for Hope as it doesn't strike me as from the region as much as the summary says it is about Moroccan's experiences in Spain. I'm finding that the hardest thing in finding books for next year that I want both the author and the subject to be from the country. In some cases, like the US I will skip that as I've read enough, but for most countries I want something that speaks of the country. In the end, I will probably end up being a hypocrite. I look forward to vilolating my own rules on a daily basis. |
11-06-2013, 11:31 AM | #4 | |||
languorous autodidact ✦
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A quirk I noticed while putting the poll together is that the first seven nominations are, from east to west and from north to south when necessary, in order geographically.
Quote:
Quote:
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11-06-2013, 11:56 AM | #5 |
Wizard
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Ooh, this is exciting as I'm Middle Eastern, interesting choices there sun surfer. I voted for Palace Walk. It took me a while to figure out which book that is as the author's name is a bit different in English since the name contains Arabic letters non existent in the English language. Also the Arabic title translates to Between Two Palaces, but when I read the spoiler I figured it out. I have read the Cairo Trilogy in Arabic but would love to read it in English as well.
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11-06-2013, 02:37 PM | #6 | |
Grand Sorcerer
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Quote:
I based my vote on reading GoodReads description which started with "an authentic look at the Muslim immigrant experience today" which left me wondering how much of the book was about Morocco and how much was about where they ended up. Oh well. The book did sound interesting to me, but I voted as a randomly voted based on quick perusals. Last edited by HomeInMyShoes; 11-06-2013 at 02:37 PM. Reason: fix some spelling. |
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11-06-2013, 06:13 PM | #7 |
Snoozing in the sun
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I agree it's a terrific selection. I ended up voting for the four I can get from my library.
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11-08-2013, 09:42 AM | #8 |
Nameless Being
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So A Tale of Love and Darkness pulls ahead slightly. I was hoping that Palace Walk would come out on top and I could cross another Nobel author off of my list.
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11-08-2013, 12:03 PM | #9 |
o saeclum infacetum
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It ain't over till it's over.
I picked up the Oz book with the recent Kobo magic code, so I'm good to go with that, but some stalwarts have yet to vote. |
11-08-2013, 12:34 PM | #10 |
Grand Sorcerer
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It's certainly up in the air. I'd like to thank everyone for all the nominations that made it and those that didn't, it has served me well in filling in some more potential countries for my reading list for next year.
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11-08-2013, 05:18 PM | #11 |
Snoozing in the sun
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Unfortunately Kobo in Australia doesn't seem to think we want to read most of these books, and my library has only some of them, but I'm certainly going to explore the authors that I can get hold of.
I love this Book Club! |
11-08-2013, 10:19 PM | #12 |
Indie Advocate
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I didn't vote this time around. I strongly suspect I would not get around to tracking the book down and reading it in any reasonable time frame. So I've left the voting to those more likely to participate.
Looking at the status it doesn't appear my vote would change the final result anyway so no great loss. I love the region theme as it gives me a chance to read authors and works outside of my normal reading parameters. Unfortunately this also means that it consists of authors and works outside of my normal reading parameters. So sometimes it works for me and other times it doesn't. |
11-09-2013, 07:39 AM | #13 |
Nameless Being
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Fortunately my local library system has the selected book. On request.
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11-09-2013, 01:58 PM | #14 |
Wizard
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It is a very fine selection. The only down side is that some are so difficult to get {especially in the West of Ireland }. The present leader is one of the most accessible, and I can easily get it. But whatever wins, I'll make a major effort to obtain it.
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11-13-2013, 11:50 AM | #15 |
Home for the moment
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An excellent selection!
A pity I couldn't vote, as this is the region I love. I would have gone for Omar Khayyám as I am rather attracted to Persian poets. A few years back in Iran I visited the tombs of two famous Persian poets and was very impressed by the youngsters that recited poems near these tombs and laid roses on it. Spoiler:
I'll happily read all, except for Mahfouz of which I read most last year. |
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