Kurban Said

Advantages: A good overview
Disadvantages: Requires a real interest in the topic

...The Routledge text on Edward Said, by Bill Ashcroft and Pal Ahluwalia, is part of a recent series put out by the Routledge Press, designed under the general editorial direction of Robert Eaglestone (Royal Holloway, University of London), to explore the most recent and exciting ideas in intellectual development during the past century or so. To this end, figures such as Martin Heidegger, Jacques Derrida, Friedrich Nietzsche, Paul Ricoeur, Sigmund Freud and other influential thinkers in critical thought are highlighted in the series, planned to include at least 21 volumes in all. Ashcroft and Ahluwalia's text, following the pattern of the others, includes background information on Said and his significance, the key ideas and sources, and Said's continuing impact on other thinkers. As the series preface indicates, no critical thinker... Read review

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Advantages: Strong debut private detective novel.
Disadvantages: The characters could have been developed more fully.

...As Tonight I Said Goodbye was about to be released in mid-2004 I was hearing a lot of publicity and praise for the author, Michael Koryta The buzz began when the book won the 2003 St Martins Press PWA Prize for Best First PI Novel, a terrific achievement but made more notable by the fact that he was only 20 when he wrote the book. I was curious to find out whether the book would live up to the hype. My hopes were high and I'm pleased to say, I haven't been disappointed. Set in Cleveland and told from the first person perspective of Lincoln Perry, this is private investigator novel that runs along the well-worn tracks of many PI books that have come before it. Lincoln Perry is one half of Perry and Pritchard Investigations, the other half being his partner Joe Pritchard. They are a couple of ex-cops who make a good team combining... Read review

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Advantages: Colourful accountof a childhood in Cairo
Disadvantages: none

...Edward Said's autobiography 'Out of place' is Said's life story that spans across continents, cultures and religions. Said, how is a famous professor for Literature and an ardent supporter of the 'Palastinian Cause'has given us a fascinating account of his and his relatives' nomadic life. Having brought up as an Arabic Palastinian with a US passport, little Edward grows up in Cairo, Jerusalem and numerous other places in the post-war Middle East. Not being accepted by the white post colonial British children at his British school nor by his Arabic Muslim neighbours, he soon feels isolated and looks for his identity. Said's account of a childhood in Cairo is fascinating-the reader gets personal as well as historical information about Palastinians after their forced emmigration. The book is well written as the reader gets... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful