Review of The Unfurling - Saudi Aramco World
- Lifestyles
- Special Interest
Author: Robert Lebling
Released 20 October 2004
Saudi Aramco World - September/October 2004 Issue
Western readers with preconceived notions about what it means to be a woman in today’s Saudi Arabia will find this book an eye-opener. Those without preconceptions will find it a most pleasurable learning experience. Those who know Saudi Arabia will nod in recognition as they read these poems.
Nimah Nawwab, a Saudi poet (as well as essayist, editor and photographer) writes fluently – and fluidly – in English. She employs poetry to share her thoughts, her emotions, her important life experiences. She speaks of her identity as a Saudi woman, of her family, of her personal joys and frustrations, and of the fractious and fascinating world beyond her own circle. She is surprisingly at ease in juxtaposing the traditional and the modern. With poetry, she explores the horrors of war and terrorism, and somehow manages to find in the wreckage of violence those precious remaining scraps of humanity.
Ms. Nawwab deals realistically with life’s problems, yet she emerges from it all an optimist, a champion of the human spirit. Her poems are refreshingly honest and unafraid. Even if you don’t normally read books of poetry, it’s likely you’ll want to read this one.