CAIRO MODERN by Naguib Mahfouz

Set in the 1930s and published in 1945, CAIRO MODERN is, by turns, ironic, satirical, farcical, and, ultimately, cynical, as the author creates a morality tale which takes place in a country where life’s most basic guiding principles are still uncertain. World War II has kept the British on the scene as a foreign power, a weak Egyptian monarchy is under siege by reformers, and the army is growing. As the novel opens, four college students, all due to graduate that year, are arguing moral principles, one planning to live his life according to “the principles that God Almighty has decreed,” while others argue in favor of science as the new religion, materialism, social liberation, and even love as guiding principles. None of the students have any respect for their government, which they see as “rich folks and major families.”

December 28, 2009 В· Judi Clark В· No Comments
Tags: ,  В· Posted in: Class - Race - Gender, Classic, Egypt, Nobel Prize for Literature, Satire, World Lit, y Award Winning Author

UNDER THIS UNBROKEN SKY by Shandi Mitchell

UNDER THE UNBROKEN SKY is the story of two related families living on the prairie of Western Canada in the 1930s. They are part of the diaspora of the Ukrainian agrarian settlement to that region that began in the late 1800s and continued through the First World War.

September 11, 2009 В· Judi Clark В· No Comments
Tags: , ,  В· Posted in: Canada, Commonwealth Prize, Debut Novel, Family Matters, y Award Winning Author

SHANGHAI GIRLS by Lisa See

Shanghai China in 1937 is known as the “Paris of the East.” It is a thoroughly modern, international city, with a large foreign community. There is also a heavily populated Little Tokyo section, where Japanese residents promote “Friendship, Cooperation and Co-prosperity between China and Japan.”

May 26, 2009 В· Judi Clark В· One Comment
Tags: , , ,  В· Posted in: China, Facing History, World Lit