RIP MUNIF.

February 2, 2004 by languagehat 4 Comments

The great Arabic writer Abdelrahman Munif (more here) died in Damascus on January 24 at the untimely age of 71. Had he lived, he might well have gotten the Nobel. I highly recommend Cities of Salt to anyone who wants to understand how Saudi Arabia got where it is today.

Update. Abdul-Rahman Mounif: the Guardian obit, by Abdul-Hadi Jiad. (Via MoorishGirl.)

Comments

beth says

February 3, 2004 at 8:00 pm

RIP indeed. I hadn’t heard that he had died; I’m glad that I had his company throughout the marvelous “Cities of Salt” that you recommended to me earlier this year.
Dave says

February 4, 2004 at 2:12 pm

I second the praise for Cities of Salt. But were you able to get much out of the sequels? I got bogged down among all the palace intrigue – I think it would’ve helped if I’d had more of a background in Saudi history…
beth says

February 4, 2004 at 5:29 pm

What were the titles of the sequels? Worth it or not?
language hat says

February 4, 2004 at 6:35 pm

Variations on Night and Day and The Trench, and I haven’t read them myself yet.

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RIP MUNIF.

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