Desert Royal

All three books in Princess Sequel are shocking, thought provoking and fascinating. However, Desert Royal is the weakest one. The proverb the appetite grows with what it feeds on describes so well my experience with Jean Sasson’s work. I expected Desert Royal to be at least as good as Princess and Daughters of Arabia, but what the author offered was disappointing melting pot of various stories…Jean Sasson did not satisfy my booklover’s appetite this time.       

Despite my feelings about the quality of the third book, I deeply appreciate the author for revealing cases of appalling brutality against women in Saudi Arabia. She broke salience on unbelievable suffering that still so many women experience in their lives. In Desert Royal, through Jean Sasson, Sultana tells about another case of forced marriage. This time, her heartless brother Ali, married his own daughter to…Hadi!!!!! Yes, yes, the same obnoxious Hadi, who raped eight-year-old girl in Egypt in first book of the sequel.  Although he was trained to become mutawwa, according to Sultana he “had absorbed none of the goodness called for in Holy Koran”. Young and shy Munira, who decided to become a social worker and assist the handicapped, was forced by Ali to marry an evil man, a hater of the female gender. There are no words to describe how I feel about men like Ali, who do not deserve to be considered human being.

I also truly appreciate that Jean Sasson raised the subject of intermarriages between non- Muslim women and Saudi men and situation of kidnapped children. Another important issue discussed in this book was using women and children as sex slaves.

The author had interesting ideas for Princess and Daughters of Arabia. The first described childhood and the beginning of Sultana’s adult life, and the later focused on her three children. Desert Royal lacks any focus. It is a melting pot of various stories, as though the author did not have any specific idea for third book. I would even say that Jean Sasson forced herself to write it. Frankly speaking, I expected third book to be about Sultana’s actual “fight for woman’s rights”. In fact, only at the end of the third book we read about creating “Sultana’s circle” for the reason that her own nephew brought sex slave from Pakistan and brutally raped her during family trip.

The most pathetic thing about Sultana is that she actually wasted whole her life on complaining, crying and buying expensive clothes. It was not Sultana but her son Abdullah who took the matters into his own hands and started to support poor families in Pakistan. Sultana would not be herself if she did not put herself in the centre of the universe: “my legacy of assisting women will shine through my son.” What kind of legacy she was talking about? I am waiting somebody to explain me what was Sultana’s legacy of fighting for women’s rights.

There was one scene that engraved in my memory… Sultana travelled with her husband and her sisters to New York, where she “could take pleasure in the freedom for women that she saw all around her”, and where Saudi religious police would not appear with their sticks to strike any woman wearing in “immoral” way. So they took off their vails, dressed up and then they were walking through Manhattan. I immediately reminded scenes from Sex and the City, in which Carrie Bradshaw and her friends were getting-together on the streets of New York.  In Sultana case, it was Sex and the City a la Arabia.

Although Desert Royal disappointed me deeply, I still think that Princess Sequel is very much worth reading. Especially now when whole world has watched historic elections in Saudi Arabia with great curiosity.

Booklover's favourite places in Dubai

There are several places where readers can buy new and second- hand books in Dubai. In my opinion, some of those places are particularly noteworthy because of offered collections and great atmosphere.

Book World by Kinokuniya at Dubai Mall        

                                         

This marvellous and the biggest bookshop in UAE is located at Dubai Mall. Although the Mall is like a jungle and I always get lost, it is a booklover’s instinct that leads me straight to the Kinokuniya. Ever since I bought my first book there, I feel nostalgic about this place. Honestly, this is heaven on Earth for every bibliophile! Kinokuniya is so spacious that when you enter you cannot see the end of it. Place is also sophisticated, bright and very well- organized.

You can find any genre you like and extremely nice staff is always helpful and courteous. You can always ask whether particular book is in the stock; they even order books which are not available at the moment. Over half a million books are offered in several languages. In other words, Kinokuniya provides excellent selection of books of all sorts. In addition, you can purchase gifts vouchers, comics, magazines, action figures, stationary, and games.

Although I truly admire this place, books cost arm and leg there! Some books can be found cheaper in other stores around Dubai. I am particularly interested in history and social sciences books but horrendous prices make be dizzy sometimes. Too bad that Kinokuniya does not make any special offers and sales. Actually, I have never seen any book on sale. I would expect bookstore like Kinokuniya to make nice deals from time to time.

Personally, I do not buy books online because I could not miss the pleasure of exploring all the shelves filled with thousands of beautiful books, but for those who do not have time or do not like crowded shopping malls Kinokuniya offers online store.

In overall, it is heaven for booklovers, 4- 5 hours is not enough to explore everything what Kinokuniya offers.

House of Prose at Jumeirah Plaza Shopping Centre and House of Prose at Garden Centre

The House of Prose first started in Muscat, Oman 23 years ago. Then Mr. Mike McGinley, in 1997 established a shop at Jumeirah Plaza Shopping Centre on the Beach Road  in Dubai. This tiny and lovely second- hand shop offers variety of books at very affordable prices. Furthermore, if you return book in good condition you will get 50 per cent refund. Since each of book is stamped with House of Prose stamp you can return to either of their locations. With loyalty card, after buying nine books you can claim a complimentary book, or coffee. When I first visited that store I was amazed with variety of books; some of them really good tittles in perfect condition, and still at a fair price. In my opinion, it is senseless to spend a fortune on the same books in stores in the shopping malls. But, what I really like about House of Prose is that you can find interesting old books, which new book stores do not offer.

Second store is located in Garden Centre, Al Quoz, on Sheik Zayed Road. Although tiny in size, it is really charming corner where you can sit on little chairs and look through the collection. Both places have souls and characters. I have been visiting them regularly ever since I arrived to Dubai almost two years ago.

You can follow House of Prose on Facebook to check out new arrivals and you can book by phone those items you are interested in. I recommend to visit the store’s website and watch short book reviews by Mr. Mike McGinley.

I think that House of Prose is a great project and I hope to see more place like this around Dubai in the future.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Finally I have started my adventure with Stieg Larsson’s series. I must admit, the beginning of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is so slow and boring that I almost gave up on it. However, usually I do not abandon books so easily and after day or two I picked it up again. Soon I got so caught up with the book that I could not put it down. Shame on me! It was such a great read, I should have read this years ago!

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the first part of Millennium Trilogy, starts slowly with quiet boring description of illegal practices of one of the Swedish companies. The book gets really interesting when financial journalist Michael Blomkvist, convicted of libelling, is offered a job by one of the richest man in the country. The elderly Henrik Vanger wants Blomkvist to investigate what happened to his beloved niece Harriet, who dissolved into thin air 36 years ago. The journalist very soon gets to know the complicated relations between family members and realizes that magnates are hiding dark secrets. Lisbeth Salander, a 24- year- old computer hacker, joins the investigation and together with Blomkvist solves the mystery of Harriet’s disappearance.

The most gripping subject of this book is appalling sexual violence against women. The author shows crimes of sadist and misogynist men, who use their positions and power to make women fully submissive. So the question arises…why women are targeted? We find out an explanations of one of the oppressors: “Because it is easy. Woman disappear all the time. Nobody misses them”. What I really like is that Larsson included statistics on violence against women in Sweden, which makes you realize that stories of abuses in this book symbolize tragedies of many real women.

Although Blomkvist is a positive protagonist- a journalist with strong work ethics, he is a womanizer that cannot resist to sleep with every woman that enters his life. However, a memorable character is not Blomkvist but Lizbeth Salander, who got all of my attention. Damaged girl, with tattoos and piercing all over her body; a social outcast that does not follow any rules. She always solves problems on her own and never shares the details of her life with others because ‘every time she tried to make someone aware of something in her life, the situation just got worse’. Although regarded as weirdo by those around her, Salander is extremely brilliant young woman.

I really enjoyed reading and I found Larsson’s writing very clear. The book is extensive but I did not get confused with multiple plots. Some descriptions were needless though. I did not understand why the author put so much attention, for instance, to what the protagonists were eating.

In overall, Larsson deserves all the praise he gets for his work. I cannot wait to read second book of Millennium Trilogy.

Purge- an outstanding novel

Without any shadow of doubt, Purge by Sofi Oksanen is an extraordinary ambitious work that deserves to be given the highest consideration. In very sophisticated manner, the author combined complicated family issues with difficult political history of Estonia.

The novel is set is 1992. Aliide Truu, is an elderly widow who lives in countryside in Western Estonia, where people despise her due to her communist past. One day, bruised and terrified girl appears in Aliide’s garden and looks for a shelter. Zara, a prostitute and murderer, is on the run from her inhuman captors. From the very beginning of the book, you feel that both protagonists have deep dark secrets and try to hide their shame. Suspicion and fear characterize relationship between two women.

The book moves back and forth in time and steadily unveils stories of both women. When communists took power in Estonia, Aliide did everything to save her sister’s husband. Consequently, Aliide experienced sexual abuse during interrogation by the communist militia and the shame became inseparable part of her life. By marrying local communist, she got a chance to live relatively normal life. Her sister Ingel was less fortunate, she was sent with her daughter to Siberia. The story of sexual violence and shame repeats with young Zara, who became a victim of human trafficking. Her oppressors, the Russian mafia, made her believe she was nothing more than ‘a stupid girl, a hopeless idiot’. In very realistic way, the author describes what Zara went through and what she did in order to survive. Finally, it is revealed that Zara did not choose Aliide’s house by accident. In fact, she was a granddaughter of Ingel.

Both women experienced sexual abuse but from hands of different oppressors. Aliide was a victim of the communists who possessed unlimited power over people’s lives, while Zara became a sex slave of mafia in post- Soviet period. Those men tried to dehumanize and deprive women of dignity. Aliide and Zara symbolize millions of women around the world- the victims of sexual violence.

Purge is also about great desire to live. The choices that Aliide and Zara made show what people in order to survive are capable of.

Equally important, Purge tells about Estonia’s complicated history. In this book Estonia can be a symbol of every post- soviet state. Description of life in Estonia under communist rule and problems that young independent country had to cope with, might refer to all Central and Eastern European countries. I think that nowadays, many atrocities of communist regime are conveniently forgotten. Purge is a masterpiece of presenting difficult political history through lives of the people. Sofi Oksanen exposed those aspects of life during and after communist era that many people are not aware of, or they forget about. I would recommend this book to everyone who is interested in history of the region.

The only thing that undermines the book is a very unfortunate cover. When I saw it, I assumed Purge was a typical criminal novel, but then, I realized it was much more than that.

This is the best book that I have read in the last few year. There are lots of good books, but there are just a few outstanding books that truly impact people. It has been a great reading experience.