The Kindness of Enemies

Leila Aboulela

The Kindness of Enemies by Leila Aboulela weaves two interlocking stories set approximately 150 years apart. Beginning in Scotland in 2010, one story is of Natasha Wilson (aka Hussein), a professor of mixed Sudanese and Russian heritage, torn between her two cultures and trying to define her place in the world. The second story is of Imam Shamil, a Muslim leader and member of the Naqshbandi Sufi order, who lead the resistance to Russian occupation of the Caucasus in the mid-1800s. The thread that connects both stories is Wilson’s research on Imam Shamil and her discovery that one of his descendents is a student in her class.

Aboulela skillfully weaves in and out of both narratives, taking the reader along with her at a breathtaking pace. There are twists and turns in the narrative, some of which are predictable. For me the value of the novel lies in its realistic portrayal of characters struggling to live according to their convictions and their subsequent disparagement by those who perceive reality through a different set of lenses.

Aboulela reminds us the issue of truth and justice is seldom a simple question of either this way or that. Instead, it frequently straddles between the two paths and one has only to use a different set of lenses to begin to see the possible merit of an opponent's point of view. 

The novel is well written, moves at a rapid pace, and sheds light on the challenges facing Muslims post 9/11.

Baghdad: City of Peace, City of Blood: A History in Thirteen Centuries

Justin Marozzi

Justin Marozzi’s Baghdad: City of Peace, City of Blood: A History in Thirteen Centuries is a well-researched and well-documented history of that troubled city. Written in a style that is engaging and accessible, Marozzi peppers his sentences with occasional humor and irony. He traces the decline of a city once known as the center of the world and the cradle of civilization.

Beginning with the caliph Mansur who established it as his capital in 762 C.E. and concluding in 2007 with the fall of Saddam and the aftermath of the invasion, Marozzi shows us how Baghdad lives up to the title of his book: it rotates from being a City of Peace where scholarship, culture, and the arts flourished to a City of Blood, violence, and the massive slaughter of innocents at the hands of one conquering army after another.

Marozzi does not shy away from describing some of the horrors inflicted on various segments of Baghdad’s population throughout the centuries. In chilling detail, he also narrates some of the gruesome tortures perpetrated on Iraqis by Saddam Hussein, his sons, and his henchmen.

Marozzi concludes his history on a hopeful note as expressed by a retired diplomat: “The cycle that sees Baghdad lurching between mayhem and prosperity has been long and gory, but of course we must have hope. May the City of Peace live up to its name before we ourselves depart to eternal peace.”

To paraphrase Hamlet, "'Tis a circumstance devoutly to be wished." 

Woman at the Window: Biblical Tales of Oppression and Escape

Nehama Aschkenasy

Woman at the Window: Biblical Tales of Oppression and Escape by Nehama Aschkenasy is an engaging read for anyone wanting to explore the portrayal of women in the Hebrew text.

Through close textual analysis of several events involving women, Aschkenasy illuminates the woman's role and position. She reframes the text, discussing it from the perspective of the woman whose voice has been muffled or completely silenced in the biblical narrative. By repositioning the female from the margin to the center, Aschkenasy opens the text to a wealth of interpretations that are fascinating and insightful. She gives voice to the female and speculates possible motives for her behavior and her silence. She breathes life into these otherwise nebulous women, reconstructing their lives and their personalities, thereby allowing them to materialize from the shadows of the patriarchal context in which they have been submerged.  

Chaucer's Tale: 1386 and the Road to Canterbury

Paul Strohm

Paul Strohm’s Chaucer’s Tale: 1386 and the Road to Canterbury charts Chaucer’s growth as a writer from his time as a bureaucrat living in very modest quarters in London’s Aldgate Tower to his banishment in Kent. Chaucer wrote at a time of transition in manuscript production, increases in circulation, and expansion of audiences.

Strohm walks you through Chaucer’s London: a time of political intrigue; unscrupulous merchants; traitors’ heads dangling on the tower scaffold; streets teeming with life; church bells peeling at regular intervals; people shouting and jostling through narrow, cobbled streets; strangers accosting each other, eager to share the latest gossip; and the stench of open sewers wafting through the atmosphere. Incredibly, against this chaotic and noisy and smelly background, Chaucer somehow managed to carve out time and space to write.

Strohm's lively portrayal of London while charting Chaucer's progression as a literary genius is a must read for lovers of Chaucer and his Canterbury Tales.

Dear Committee Members

Julie Schumacher

Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumacher is a series of letters written by Jason Fitger, a beleaguered English professor in a small liberal arts college. Prof. Fitger writes letters of recommendation on behalf of his students as well as letters pleading for help from administrators and colleagues. 

The novel is laugh out loud hilarious. The bizarre experiences, outlandish events, and colorful characters resonate with anyone familiar with the inner workings of higher education.

The novel is also very poignant: Those same experiences, events, and characters are a reminder of the marginalized status of Humanities and Fine Arts departments in higher education. Prof. Fitger’s attempts to obtain funding and resources for his department as well as his valiant requests for financial support for his students sound like cries in the wilderness.