Gate of the Sun
About the book
At a comatose man’s bedside, a doctor reconstructs stories of Palestinian exile and lost places.
Original title: باب الشمس (Bab al-shams)
Asia · A READING GUIDE
Lebanon
Lebanese writer Elias Khoury also addresses Palestinian refugee history. Gate of the Sun builds a collective memory from stories exchanged and questioned by its characters. Amin Maalouf and Rabih Alameddine lead through travel histories, multilingual lives and storytelling. Hanan al-Shaykh, Etel Adnan and Hoda Barakat introduce women's perspectives on war, relationships and social divisions.
WHERE TO START
- Gate of the SunElias Khoury
- The HakawatiRabih Alameddine
- Leo AfricanusAmin Maalouf
Books to begin with
An editorial selection · not rankedNo matches. Try another language or search term.
The Hakawati
About the book
Osama’s return to Beirut and vigil at his father’s deathbed open a treasury of family stories and ancient legends.
PolishTranslation
Hakawati, mistrz opowieści
Znak · 2009
Translated by Mateusz Borowski, Anna Gralak i Maria Makuch
Edition source ↗
Leo Africanus
About the book
An imagined autobiography of traveller Hasan al-Wazzan moves from Granada through North Africa to Renaissance Rome.
Samarkand
About the book
The fate of Omar Khayyam’s manuscript connects medieval Persia with a twentieth-century voyage on the Titanic.
Women of Sand and Myrrh
About the book
Four women seek independence and intimacy in the restrictive society of a desert country.
The Story of Zahra
About the book
Zahra’s life, marked by family violence and exclusion, is overtaken by Beirut’s civil war.
Sitt Marie Rose
About the book
A woman abducted by militiamen becomes the centre of a story of sectarian violence and solidarity during Lebanon’s civil war.
The Tiller of Waters
About the book
A solitary man in devastated Beirut reconstructs a history of family, textiles and lost love.
Dear Mr Kawabata
About the book
A narrator addresses the Japanese writer as he reckons with his past and Lebanon’s war.
June Rain
About the book
A return to a home town uncovers conflicting memories of a bloody confrontation decades earlier.
An Unnecessary Woman
About the book
An older Beirut woman creates a private world through books, translations and memories.
The Wrong End of the Telescope
About the book
An Arab American doctor helps refugees on Lesbos while confronting her own history.
Context and sources
Sources on authors and their connections to this country. Specific edition details appear beside each book. Polish and English originals are not labelled as translations.
- Wydawca / biogram autora ↗
- Rabih Alameddine — biogram wydawcy ↗
- Amin Maalouf — wydawca / katalog biblioteczny ↗
- Amin Maalouf — wydawca / katalog biblioteczny ↗
- Hanan al-Shaykh — wydawca / katalog biblioteczny ↗
- Hanan al-Shaykh — wydawca / katalog biblioteczny ↗
- Etel Adnan — wydawca / katalog biblioteczny ↗
- Hoda Barakat — wydawca / katalog biblioteczny ↗
- Rashid al-Daif — wydawca / katalog biblioteczny ↗
- Jabbour Douaihy — wydawca / katalog biblioteczny ↗
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