A Novel Reality

It was quite unexpected how the Saudi Arabians suddenly became the talk of the town. Saudi songs, television series, sports matches and books have come to engross Arab audiences for a number of different reasons.

On a literary level, a large collection of novels has been published, some of which are compelling while others are substandard.


Substandard??? Never!!!

However, a considerable amount of these publications has achieved wide circulation, facilitating their accessibility to a broad range of audiences. It is common knowledge that one of the most prominent reasons behind this dissemination is that many of these works of fiction have tackled numerous taboos - some writers have exhibited an ingenuity in handling such issues, while others did not quite succeed as well.

A review of such a book can be viewed here, here and here. I specially like this review which starts with : "THIS IS A NOT A GOOD book, but it is a brave one – and deserves to be read for that reason." Brings us right back to substandard doesn't it??