Wild Thorns (English and Arabic Edition) - Softcover

Sahar Khalifeh

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0940793253 ISBN 13: 9780940793255

Publisher: Olive Branch Press, 1989

Synopsis

Wild Thorns is a chronicle of life in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. As the novel opens, Usama, a young Palestinian, is returning there from the Gulf, where he has been working as a translator. A supporter of the resistance movement, he has come home on a mission: to blow up the buses that transport Palestinian workers into Israel every day. But Usama finds a far more complicated reality than he had expected; he is shocked to discover that many of his fellow citizens have adjusted to life under military rule. Bruised by harsh exchanges with friends and family, his mind now torn, he sets out to accomplish his mission anyway - with disastrous results. Written in Arabic in the West Bank and first published in Jerusalem, Wild Thorns, with its panorama of characters and unsentimental portrayals of everyday life, is the first Arab novel to give a true picture of social and personal relations under the occupation. Its convincing sincerity, uncompromising honesty and rich emotional texture plead elegantly for the cause of survival in the face of oppression.

About this title

About the Author:

Sahar Khalifeh was born in Nablus in 1941. She entered into a traditional arranged marriage at 18, and after 13 years left her husband and began writing. Her first novel was confiscated by the Israelis, the second was first published in Cairo. She taught at the University of Iowa and Bir Zeit University, the premier institution of Palestinian higher education. She founded the Women's Affairs Center in Nablus, with additional branches in Gaza City and Amman. Wild Thorns is her third novel.

Language Notes:

Text: English, Arabic (translation)

About this edition

• Publisher: Olive Branch Press
• Publication date: 1989
• ISBN 10: 0940793253
• ISBN 13: 9780940793255
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 207