Saudi Arabian people are known for their passion for reading and learning about everything new in the various fields of literature. The Saudi society demonstrate great self-awareness and interest in local, Arab and international cultures. This year has witnessed the release of many novels that have influenced the Arab library and have been very popular on the local and regional levels. Here are some of the most important and relevant books that have been released this year:
A Thousand Women in Me – Alf Imra’a fi Jasadi
Written by Rehab Saad, this would be her second novel after Chess Women (Nisa’ al-Shataranj). In this piece, the writer tackles some of the manifestations of injustice suffered by women because of societal ignorance. Saad also reveals other different faces of women in society, and shows their ability to form and adapt to different situations of life.
A Saudi Refugee – Laje’ Saoudi
Adel bin Ali Al-Ghamdi’s novel delves into the depths of the human soul between the contradictions of life, the flanks of the homeland and the diaspora of asylum. As a refugee dies in search for life, alone with no safety or freedom, a stranger with no howling wife or crying daughter.
Supervisor - Almoushraf
This book is the first narrative experience of the journalist Obeid al-Suhaimi, which was published by Meskliani house in Tunisia. This is a piece worthy of celebration, because it celebrates fiction and history together, and the intersection birthed has formed dimensions and connotations, and raised questions of creativity, space, time and reality. The book has also elevated the relationship of history with the story through the visions existing in the minds of the characters within the novel, and the vision of the narrator and its narratives.
When Consciousness Ceases – ‘Indama Youthkab Alwaa’i
The young novelist Malak Al-Ogaili writes about the dream of motherhood, talks about Amal’s (the central character in the book) infertility, and its reflection on her and her husband because of traditional society’s pressure. To escape all this, she starts drawing up a fantasy world, exuding of motherhood. What distinguishes this piece of work, is that the writer makes the reader ask the following intriguing question: Is Amal actually experiencing life or is it all made up in her head? Considering she adopts a free-fall method through controlling the narrative speaker until the end of the novel.
Saudi in Beirut 1955 - Saoudi fi Beirut 1995
Written by Abdul Rahman Suleiman Alnizawi Aljahni, he talks about the suffering of a generation that lived in difficult living conditions, which forced them to move abroad and work outside their countries. The title Saudi in Beirut 1955 was chosen by the writer because the capital was well-known in the region at that time, and many Saudis traveled there to study, start businesses and seek treatment. The writer also touched on the history and important events witnessed in Beirut by linking them to the history of the central character of the Saudi man.
More than Ladders – Akthar min Salalim
The story revolves around two girls, one of whom gets out of a short love experience to a deeper and more mature one, and moves from Riyadh to Los Angeles on a journey of self-exploration. The other goes on a search for her identity, her homeland and her father, who she lost 20 years ago. Their stories intersect, as they each discover the bitterness of reality as opposed to the dream labyrinth.
