Feb 20, 2011 Posted by Joelle

Investigating “The Shaking Woman”

I first learned of Siri Hustvedt when a friend of mine told me she was reading her fourth novel, “The Sorrows of an American“, in which the author explores family connectedness, loss, grief and art, through the eyes and voice of a New York psychoanalyst. To entertain my ever-growing fascination with psychology, my friend ended up gifting me the book, foregoing her initial hesitation due to... read more

Jan 22, 2011 Posted by Joelle

A Meeting With Rabih Alameddine

In May 2010, I attended “A Meeting with Rabih Alameddine”, organized by the Anis Makdisi Program in Literature and ASSABIL, Friends of Public Libraries, which also coincided with the publication of his latest book, “The Hakawat”. At the time, I was reading his novel “I, the Divine: A Novel in First Chapters”, after one of my closest friends introduced me to his writings by way of gifting me... read more

Nov 21, 2010 Posted by Joelle

What Do The Stories We Tell Say About Ourselves And Others?

“[...] As Adrianna Cavarero contends, we are dependent on each other to narrate our lives (1997) … The stories we tell about ourselves, about others, about world events, about the past, about our political beliefs, about our identities are not just simply social and political constructions but elaborations of our psychic dramas. Also, if our stories always implicate the other – because... read more

Sep 28, 2010 Posted by Joelle

A Little Gem From The “Afterlives”

I don’t think I’ll ever stop singing the praises of David Eagleman’s superb collection of short-stories, “Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives.” I remember when I bought it, I was wandering the aisles and stacks of books at Virgin and it stood out with its smart cover and catchy reviews. When I started reading the jacket and flipping through the pages, there was no way... read more

Sep 12, 2010 Posted by Joelle

If God Existed, Why Doesn’t He Show Himself To His Creation?

A few weeks ago, I was having a Twitter conversation with my friend @Seleucid about god and the creation of the universe. The discussion grew from British physicist Stephen Hawking’s claim in his new book, “The Grand Design”, that god didn’t create the universe and that the Big Bang was inevitable due to the law of gravity. @Seleucid asked: Why does a God who runs the world so... read more

Aug 23, 2010 Posted by Joelle

By The River Ibrahim I Sat Down And Read…

By the River Ibrahim I Sat Down and Read… “Death at Intervals” by Jose Saramago “Death at Intervals” is set in an unnamed country where on the first day of the new year, people stop dying. Death is on strike. The residents are jubilant at first, but soon enough they being to suffer. Death does return eventually, but with a new courteous approach – delivering violent warning letters to... read more

Aug 22, 2010 Posted by Joelle

When Will There Be No More Strangers in the House?

Last Friday, I finished reading the autobiography-cum-historical account “Strangers in the House” by Raja Shehadeh. Drawing from the jacket, “Shehadeh was born into a successful Palestinian family with a beautiful house in Jaffa, overlooking the Mediterranean. When the State of Israel was formed in 1948, the family were driven out of the provincial town of Ramallah. There Shehadeh grew up... read more

Mar 3, 2010 Posted by Joelle

Favorite Quotes: The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society

A very good friend of mine gifted me this book on my 29th birthday. Don’t be put off by the long and odd title. The book is a gem and one of my all-time favorite books. The story goes like this: It’s 1946 and author Juliet Ashton can’t think of what to write next. Out of the blue, she receives a letter from Dawsey Adams of Guernsey – by chance he’s acquired a book that once... read more