Rating: 
Summary: Great book from & about the Mid-East
Review: A story of total culture shock, I'm surprised this book doesn't have a higher profile here with the current level of interest in the Mid-East. The author was born in Jordan from Saudi Arabian parents, and this particular work has been banned in Saudi Arabia and several other Arab countries. The relationship between the Americans and Arabs is seen from the viewpoint of the desert people, whose land is given away to foreigners by their own local rulers who grow rich from oil exploration.The story begins in Wadi Al-Uyoun somewhere in the desert sometime in the first half of the twentieth century, the reader is transported into an oasis community whose people live much the same way as they did in ancient times, nothing ever changes here, they know very little of the world outside the oasis except the news received from the occasional caravan passing through. One day some Americans arrive, soon many more arrive, then one day all the trees are bulldozed over and the people are moved out and dispersed, and the drilling for oil commences. A few make their way to a place called Harran, and the book follows the development of Harran from an out of the way caravan stop on the coast to a modern oil exporting sea port. Rather than having a main character, the novel is really about the land itself and tells the story of many individuals. So few great books from the Mid-East translated into English, this is in the same class as Mahfouz's "Cairo Trilogy", but this one's better for those interested in the roots of modern problems between the Arab world and the west. The scene where the people watch the Americans come out in shorts to sunbathe, the chapter with the ship of women arriving , also the emir's obsession with one new toy after another, the telescope, the car and the radio - all is told in a way both hilarious and unforgettable, though a tragic kind of comedy.
Rating:
Summary: Great book from & about the Mid-East
Review: A story of total culture shock, I'm surprised this book doesn't have a higher profile here with the current level of interest in the Mid-East. The author was born in Jordan from Saudi Arabian parents, and this particular work has been banned in Saudi Arabia and several other Arab countries. The relationship between the Americans and Arabs is seen from the viewpoint of the desert people, whose land is given away to foreigners by their own local rulers who grow rich from oil exploration. The story begins in Wadi Al-Uyoun somewhere in the desert sometime in the first half of the twentieth century, the reader is transported into an oasis community whose people live much the same way as they did in ancient times, nothing ever changes here, they know very little of the world outside the oasis except the news received from the occasional caravan passing through. One day some Americans arrive, soon many more arrive, then one day all the trees are bulldozed over and the people are moved out and dispersed, and the drilling for oil commences. A few make their way to a place called Harran, and the book follows the development of Harran from an out of the way caravan stop on the coast to a modern oil exporting sea port. Rather than having a main character, the novel is really about the land itself and tells the story of many individuals. So few great books from the Mid-East translated into English, this is in the same class as Mahfouz's "Cairo Trilogy", but this one's better for those interested in the roots of modern problems between the Arab world and the west. The scene where the people watch the Americans come out in shorts to sunbathe, the chapter with the ship of women arriving , also the emir's obsession with one new toy after another, the telescope, the car and the radio - all is told in a way both hilarious and unforgettable, though a tragic kind of comedy.
Rating:
Summary: "The source of the illness and the root of the problem"
Review: CITIES OF SALT is a highly unusual novel because unlike most, its main character is not a human being, but a city, even a country or a culture. Like the great Mexican muralists, Rivera, Orozco, and Siqueiros, Munif paints the painful, colorful, and confused story of the transformation of a whole society---like Chinua Achebe of Nigeria, he shows what happened when "things fell apart". No single character is found in every chapter,the focus constantly changes,yet the direction remains clear. Peter Theroux faced an immense task, I believe, though I do not know Arabic. He either had to capture the flavor of a language that uses proverbs, quotations from the Qur'an, and indirect approaches to topics and risk English speakers' incomprehension ... or turn the Arabic into more familiar English dialogue, based on general meaning, and utterly destroy the special nature of the text. I would say he has done a fantastic job. You have the feeling of being in another world, where people express themselves in ways unlike North America/Britain/Australia in 2002. It is a convention of Western novels that speakers understand each other, but we know, in real life, that that is not so. Munif recognizes that, especially in a situation of rapid culture change, one speaker may not understand what another is saying at all. When the word "colonialism" is mentioned, we usually think of Africa, of India or Southeast Asia, or of the Spanish invasions of Central and South America. Secondarily we may (or should) remember the Anglo-Saxon deeds in North America and Australia. Even if we narrow the focus to the Middle East, our "take" on colonialism there usually derives from the British or French occupation of former Turkish territories. CITIES OF SALT, written in the 1980s, tells a story, in other words, that has seldom been brought to the world's attention, that is very far from twenty first century dialogue. This is amazing, this is tragic, because it seemed to me, by the time I had finished Munif's novel, that here lay so much of the origins of Al Qaeda and of Osama bin Laden. The American oil companies, with the agreement and active cooperation of the local emirs and ruling families, came to a society which was entirely unprepared for their arrival and totally uninformed about the consequences of Big Oil's operations. The novel opens with a description of a backwater oasis with a traditional way of life. After 120 pages, American bulldozers uproot all the trees and the inhabitants of Wadi al-Uyoun are exiled forever. Is this a potent metaphor or what ? A port is built on the coast, an airconditioned American compound erected behind barbed wire with gardens and swimming pools, while the newly-recruited Arab workers live in stifling, fetid dormitories. The relationship between Arab and American, worker and boss, is the usual capitalist one, but this (probably eastern Saudi Arabia) is a deeply traditional Islamic society with entirely different values. The characters that oppose change and so-called modernization most vehemently are driven away or killed, but they remain, like spirits, like echoes of the solid, understandable past, for the many people caught in a whirlwind of change. Like those exiled or murdered princes of medieval Europe, people believe that they may appear when most needed. Munif traces the rise of different classes, the change in mentality owing to new social circumstances, the arrival of doctors, merchants, and transportation companies, and the beguiling of the rulers. [Women play almost no role in the novel, nor do Americans ever appear as anything more than unfathomable aliens.] The Americans came for their own profit, the rulers conspired to allow them a free hand in return for unimaginable wealth, (p.595 "was he their emir, there to defend and protect them, or was he the Americans' emir ?" Munif and his books are banned in Saudi Arabia). Some of the people shared in the new wealth, but they were made to feel outsiders in their own land. Many people got nothing. The long-term result of this colonial penetration, so ably and lyrically portrayed in this novel, is known to us all. CITIES OF SALT, though without love or sex and without strong protagonists, is a lively, colorful, unique novel well-worth reading and free of diatribe. I often thought of the Brazilian writers, Guimaraes Rosa and Amado, who brought whole worlds to life, onto the world stage. Munif has done a similar job. This novel should be much more widely known than it is.
Rating:
Summary: "The source of the illness and the root of the problem"
Review: CITIES OF SALT is a highly unusual novel because unlike most, its main character is not a human being, but a city, even a country or a culture. Like the great Mexican muralists, Rivera, Orozco, and Siqueiros, Munif paints the painful, colorful, and confused story of the transformation of a whole society---like Chinua Achebe of Nigeria, he shows what happened when "things fell apart". No single character is found in every chapter,the focus constantly changes,yet the direction remains clear. Peter Theroux faced an immense task, I believe, though I do not know Arabic. He either had to capture the flavor of a language that uses proverbs, quotations from the Qur'an, and indirect approaches to topics and risk English speakers' incomprehension ... or turn the Arabic into more familiar English dialogue, based on general meaning, and utterly destroy the special nature of the text. I would say he has done a fantastic job. You have the feeling of being in another world, where people express themselves in ways unlike North America/Britain/Australia in 2002. It is a convention of Western novels that speakers understand each other, but we know, in real life, that that is not so. Munif recognizes that, especially in a situation of rapid culture change, one speaker may not understand what another is saying at all. When the word "colonialism" is mentioned, we usually think of Africa, of India or Southeast Asia, or of the Spanish invasions of Central and South America. Secondarily we may (or should) remember the Anglo-Saxon deeds in North America and Australia. Even if we narrow the focus to the Middle East, our "take" on colonialism there usually derives from the British or French occupation of former Turkish territories. CITIES OF SALT, written in the 1980s, tells a story, in other words, that has seldom been brought to the world's attention, that is very far from twenty first century dialogue. This is amazing, this is tragic, because it seemed to me, by the time I had finished Munif's novel, that here lay so much of the origins of Al Qaeda and of Osama bin Laden. The American oil companies, with the agreement and active cooperation of the local emirs and ruling families, came to a society which was entirely unprepared for their arrival and totally uninformed about the consequences of Big Oil's operations. The novel opens with a description of a backwater oasis with a traditional way of life. After 120 pages, American bulldozers uproot all the trees and the inhabitants of Wadi al-Uyoun are exiled forever. Is this a potent metaphor or what ? A port is built on the coast, an airconditioned American compound erected behind barbed wire with gardens and swimming pools, while the newly-recruited Arab workers live in stifling, fetid dormitories. The relationship between Arab and American, worker and boss, is the usual capitalist one, but this (probably eastern Saudi Arabia) is a deeply traditional Islamic society with entirely different values. The characters that oppose change and so-called modernization most vehemently are driven away or killed, but they remain, like spirits, like echoes of the solid, understandable past, for the many people caught in a whirlwind of change. Like those exiled or murdered princes of medieval Europe, people believe that they may appear when most needed. Munif traces the rise of different classes, the change in mentality owing to new social circumstances, the arrival of doctors, merchants, and transportation companies, and the beguiling of the rulers. [Women play almost no role in the novel, nor do Americans ever appear as anything more than unfathomable aliens.] The Americans came for their own profit, the rulers conspired to allow them a free hand in return for unimaginable wealth, (p.595 "was he their emir, there to defend and protect them, or was he the Americans' emir ?" Munif and his books are banned in Saudi Arabia). Some of the people shared in the new wealth, but they were made to feel outsiders in their own land. Many people got nothing. The long-term result of this colonial penetration, so ably and lyrically portrayed in this novel, is known to us all. CITIES OF SALT, though without love or sex and without strong protagonists, is a lively, colorful, unique novel well-worth reading and free of diatribe. I often thought of the Brazilian writers, Guimaraes Rosa and Amado, who brought whole worlds to life, onto the world stage. Munif has done a similar job. This novel should be much more widely known than it is.
Rating: 
Summary: Cities of Salt Turning to Tears
Review: I can see why this book has been banned in Arab countries. Cities of Salt details the transition of an unnamed Arab emirate from how it had apparently been functioning to a current, oil producing state. The story, taken as a whole is heartbreaking. The story begins before oil is discovered, and tells a tale of a generous, yet human, people. Their Emir, unbeknownst to them, allows some Americans into the country to test for oil and eventually, drilling takes place. On the way, people are driven out of their homes, villages are leveled, lives irrevocably, irretrievably changed. The old way of life is gone, and with it, the general pleasantness and generosity that had once been prevalent. The story is of mainly of a place, the characters only secondary, for their is no true protagonist, save the land. Characters play the lead for a time, but soon something happens, someone leaves, someone arrives and things change again. Cities of Salt is a moving and bittersweet story told in a matter-of-fact manner, a story which mourns the passing of a way of life, without being mournful itself.
Rating:
Summary: Cities of Salt Turning to Tears
Review: I can see why this book has been banned in Arab countries. Cities of Salt details the transition of an unnamed Arab emirate from how it had apparently been functioning to a current, oil producing state. The story, taken as a whole is heartbreaking. The story begins before oil is discovered, and tells a tale of a generous, yet human, people. Their Emir, unbeknownst to them, allows some Americans into the country to test for oil and eventually, drilling takes place. On the way, people are driven out of their homes, villages are leveled, lives irrevocably, irretrievably changed. The old way of life is gone, and with it, the general pleasantness and generosity that had once been prevalent. The story is of mainly of a place, the characters only secondary, for their is no true protagonist, save the land. Characters play the lead for a time, but soon something happens, someone leaves, someone arrives and things change again. Cities of Salt is a moving and bittersweet story told in a matter-of-fact manner, a story which mourns the passing of a way of life, without being mournful itself.
Rating:
Summary: A conflict of power ...
Review: It is about the discovery of oil in Saudi Arabia, how it started and its affect on the people of that country. You read almost the first 100 pages just of the description of the oasis -like Wadi Al-Uyoun in the middle of the desert and its people how they live and what they do, just Bedouins living their life peacefully disconnected from everything and everyone around them except for the caravans that brought them sugar and flour and news of those who chose to work in other towns. The title refers to what they used to do before the discovery of oil, which is extracting salt from the sea. Then, the gradual changes start with the arrival of the Americans, the demolition of their homes and tents, the digging for oil and the construction of the first pipeline. The ruthless greedy rulers who all they want is money and richness demonstrating their power over their own people favoring the Americans and giving them the green light to work and live on their own land as they wish. The story is not about one character rather than about the city Harran which the Americans created out of nowhere to a famous and rich city deploying its people and all the Arabs around it. What is sad is those Bedouins who know absolutely nothing about the world around them. Even the Arabs from other countries are shown as educated civilized people, but not the Arabs of Saudi Arabia who were introduced to the necessities and accessories of life through the Americans and their neighboring Arabs. Harran itself is divided into American Harran and Arab Harran emphasizing the cultural and religious differences and the way the foreigners looked at the citizens. Munif describes those situations in a very subtle way that you don't know whether to laugh or cry! He takes you into the heart and mind of each character so you really know how and what they feel and think about what is happening around them. They go with the flow wherever it takes them without any questioning or understanding; at the beginning they don't even know that they are actually building a pipeline!! Even their reaction at the end is not ultimate and decisive! I think that Theroux delivered the feelings and the impact that Munif intended of his story. He also maintained the essence of the Arabic language and the implied meanings intended. A great book on the conflict of power and money!
Rating:
Summary: Munif's book illuminates modern Saudi history in new ways.
Review: Munif's book illuminates modern Saudi history in new ways through a beautiful translation by Peter Theroux. He takes the tale of indigenous people's exploitation and subtle oppression by corporations and colonialists and uses it as a compelling story of the dynamic identity issues affecting the modern Middle Eastern peoples.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding! A perfect book for these war weary times!
Review: Our lust and dependence on oil has blinded us to the effects that we have on beautiful and simple cultures that in many ways seem more advanced than our western cultures. Especially in terms of relationships between people etc. There are so many cherished conversations in this book about the value of love and respect between people versus the value of oil and wealth. I find myself rereading paragraphs of dialogue that I never want to forget!
Our western culture has made our quest for oil and the justice of war (and all the rest of it) such a complex topic that we have missed the very basic, simple questions. However, the book doesn't solely blame the West; it also addresses the betrayal of Arab governments against their own people.
This book starts during the 1930s when the discovery of the many uses of oil seduced our government into exploiting other countries resources and peoples (with the help of those governments). It is not just an eye-opening book but one that is heart-opening as well!
Warning: Don't expect a fast paced, action packed Hollywood style reading. This book has been translated into English from Arabic. It demands that you savor the text! Something we as westerners don't seem to know how to do any more. Unless you are willing to face your own prejudices you may not be able to appreciate this novel!
Rating:
Summary: how arabs don't relate to each other
Review: There are no fewer than 50 instances in this book in which one Arab has no idea what another Arab is saying, and it has nothing to do with language or dialect. In these instances they just plainly do not understand what the other guy is talking about. This reads very well in English thanks to Peter Theroux, whose book "Sandstorms" is also an excellent insight into that region and its people.
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