I was confused when I started this book because I was expecting a more conventional narrative. However, the style and beauty of the writing was captivating. Full of flashbacks, trains of thought and bits of remembered conversation, if you read it with the view of immersing yourself in the world of the heroine, the story makes complete sense and stays hauntingly in your memory. One of the surprises is that, though you think the heroine is the only one harmed by the religious conventions of her day, you come to realize that her husband has been equally harmed. Terribly sad and beautiful, but vivid and fascinating.

I think it was very good bok, i 'd like to have informasjon about tis bokk and women on the zero point

This is an amazingly strong, moving novel written by a woman who has been exiled from her country because of the glimpses she provides through her writing of women's lives in Arabic society. Two women in One is a haunting work of the choices one woman makes and her struggle to find agency under the power of people who would deny her this, and herself.

In most societies in this world, it is a positive to be born a man. Being born a man will automatically give a person more chances in life than being a woman. 'Memoirs of a Woman Doctor' is the story of an Egyptian girl planning to become a doctor. She lives in a society where a woman's chances of becoming something are slim to none. Being the only woman in her medical school, she constantly tries to denegrate men and sometimes humanity in general. She feels men are not the "Gods" that her mother thought they were. She tries to rationalize humanity saying they are no better than animals. In all this time, she seems to have no attachment to humanity, just her studies and her career. The ending of the book can be interperted in two ways. Some will feel it is a cop out (like I did) and others will feel she learned a very important lesson about this life. Nonetheless, it is a facinating read into the heart and mind of a smart, but frustrated woman living in a socitey dominated my males.

This is a heart rending book as one reads about the sexism that pervades Middle Eastern culture. el Saadawi is a courageous woman who dared to fight against the system. This book was no doubt a great controversy in her homeland of Egypt and quite possibly still is. The autobiographical tones are apparent which makes it an ever sadder tale. Freedom as she argues should exist for all--both men and women. The way her upbringing taught her to feel ashamed and inferior is horrible. But it is equally inspiring that she had the courage and fortitude to triumph over these overwhelming odds. Occasionally humanity does rise above the ugliness. This is one such triumph. It is poigant but also a worthwhile read.

A short novel on an Egyptian woman defying odds, going against family and culture in order to seek truth and equality in her life. Somewhat like Hermen Hesse's Siddhartha, but in a more realistic, modern day setting.

it's the only book i've ever read that has something 'explosive' at every turn. an amazing acount of the lives of muslim women in egypt.

The treatment is savage and exact--the only manner of writing that could do justice to the material. Because of this, the novel is a quick read, but it is not a light one. Admittedly the style isn't Victorian, but I haven't read a minimalist prose style this beautiful since Les Guerilles (Wittig) or Carver's "A Small, Good Thing." Combined with this, her understanding of the neurotic (and its origins) outpaces Margaret Atwood by leagues. Sadat imprisoned her for her writings, and I can see why. It's striking.

I disagree with other reviewers who write that this book is an eye-opener to the terrible lives of Muslim women, or oppressed women in other places. This is absolutely true--it does give the reader a glimpse into the limited and terrifying lives of some Egyptian women; however, the book is much broader in scope than this aspect. This is a book for all women everywhere.

The specifics of the story involve an Egyptian woman who works as a prostitute, who kills a pimp and is executed. However, if you read this book and come away feeling that you are so lucky, or that the lives of "those" women over "there" are really oppressed, you have missed the bigger picture. Although the specifics mentioned above are true, the point of the story is much larger. This short novel is gut-wrenching at the superficial level, and life-wrenching if you read it more deeply. With spare prose and powerful imagery, it forces you to think about yourself and what you are doing with your life. It forces you to question for what you are selling your life. Although the main character is a tragic one, her journey and her intelligence teach her the meaning of freedom. This is one of the most profoundly existential books I've ever read.

This is not an easy read. It is not luxurious, or beautiful. It packs a punch, like a practiced boxer with a powerful left hook. A new friend recommended it to me and offered to lend me her copy. I agreed to borrow it and she ran to her bag and pulled it out--turns out she always carries it with her as an inspiration, although it's probably not the kind of inspiration you're thinking. Read this book. Challenge yourself. I'm ordering my own copy right now and will always have it with me, ready to lend to new friends or old friends.

This is a strange book. It was obviously written in Arabic originally but aiming almost exclusively at a western readership. The translator, El Sadawi's husband had the role of translating the book and increasing its appeal for a western audience.

I found the first third of the book dreadfully boring and repetitive. The first page was gripping then it went downhill fast. El Sadawi, an ultra leftist spends most of the first third of the book trying to establish working class connections. That despite of her family's land owning origins and indeed her grandfather's aristocratic heritage and even a title too!

El Sadawi along with Doris Lansing (on the back cover) try to have us believe that she came from such a background that would have married her off at the age of 10 and discriminated so much against her. While I don't for a minute suggest that gender discrimination is not a serious issue in Egypt, then and now. The story as told by El Sadawi appears so contrived, exaggerated and mostly made up. It is hard to believe a father so liberal as to send his daughter to middle and high school away in Cairo in the big city, a father who was the inspector of education, who washed dishes (in 1930's Egypt) from a quasi-aristocratic family considering marrying off his daughter to the "wrong" class let alone at that age. Even if that was the case, what happened to him to turn him into the modern father who then goes on to send his daughter to Cairo alone!

The book gets less painful to read as things move on a bit and Nawal goes to Cairo. Here we have an ungrateful bitter human being who has nothing good to say about anyone. The self-righteousness is nauseating. Her rich aunt's house was no good, her poor uncle's house was also no good, and the schools were no good. You get the impression of the whole world actually trying to help Nawal, yet she has not a good word to say about any of it.

There are occasional parts of the book that are really interesting, very human and / or down right funny. The life of the various aunts in Cairo and their fates was well written and moving.

The treatment of religion was very superficial. El sadawi lashed out on Christianity and Judaism, but saved most of her venom for Islam. El Sadawi presents mostly interpretations of her poorly educated paternal grand mother as the definition of Islam then proceeds to attack them. In doing so, one never really understand her views as a mature person, but only senses her anger at the religion. Parts of the Quran quoted in the book were so badly translated and the interpretation was so poor and narrow to almost feel like a propaganda rag.

The pretensions continue all the way through the book. We are expected to sympathize with the El Sadawi's family following their move to Cairo. Here we have a family of nine kids with her attending the expensive medical school in the middle of World War II and complaining about her diet of daily meat sandwiches!!! And throwing them away! Yet poor family is being discriminated against because of the father being very clean and above politics. And in 1943, right in the middle of Hitler's atrocities, her only thought towards the Jews is hate! What a shame!

This book is doubly irritating because of the huge amount of mistakes, editorial inconsistencies and very intrusive translation. The book was obviously written in Classical Arabic, but Egyptian Arabic was used in quoted dialogue. The translator, revealing more lofty origins, felt the need to apologize for the use Egyptian Arabic, the sopken language of Egyptians, and to explain the origin of the various Egyptian words. Also the translator felt the need to translate place names right in the middle of the text such as Koberi Al Lemon, being Lemon Bridge, he could have used either. Whenever it got to the Quran, the author was really ignorant and offensive, so a chapter in the Quran (Yassin's) he dismissively says it is a part that is meant to chase the evil away, rather than what it is.

The translator also confuses us greatly with inconsistencies, we have Hegaz, the area where Mecca is and we also have setti el hajja! We have "el" for "the" in the author's name and sometimes in other parts of the book, but he often opts for the more Classical Arabic sounding "al". We have the feast after Ramadan defined as the Sacrifice feast.

There is no doubt that the author and the translator anger at the circumstances that led them into exile away from Egypt largely colored the book. It is a shame that she was unable to stay safely in Egypt holding and defending her views, albeit misguided. It is ironic though that her host, Duke University, didn't escape attack even though it was a minor attack against its namesake.

I was so pleased to get to the end of the book so I can start reading something else. Finally! Thankfully the next book was Alan Lightman's Diagnosis so I now enjoy reading again!

Dr. Nawal ElSaadawi is an outstanding author. The autobiography of her childhood and adolescence is both moving and horrifying. I compared it with the autobiography of Fay Afaf Kanafani [Nadia, Captive of Hope]. Both women grew up in the Middle East and it was very enlightening to see the societal differences of Egypt and Lebanon/Palestine. [If you look further at the autobiography of Edward Said you will see pictured yet another class - Christian Palestinians living in Egypt].The brutality with which Egyptian women were treated by villagers, as opposed to what is seen in Egyptian old films and what we read in Mrs. Kanafani's book. Part seems to be class differences, part society differences, part rural vs urban. The physical brutality described in her book, which we know to be true even today to a lesser degree, is heart-rending. Her fight to give her intelligence a chance to help society in several ways is very important. First as an example to other girls and women, then to her extended family, and lastly as a doctor in villages where doctors are non-existence or scarce. Dr. ElSaadawi must be respected for her resistance as a child to backward standards and to what she accomplished in getting women an equal role in Egyptian society.

I think the book is a must for studies of women's rights.It is very important as it brings to light fearlessly the harsch treatment of women. We should all thank Dr. ElSaadawi for her fearless book.

A Daughter of Isis is an autobiography that reveals much more than the tumulteous life of its author in a very thrilling and gripping style. The book is a document about the status of women in Egypt as well as all of the Middle East. From an Arab or Islamic point of view, the book is simply shocking and subvertive. But despite its scathing virulence, the book is authentic and is based on a sad reality in its depictions. Virulence, however, skews its objectivity, clearly antagonizing some of its readers, and alienating others. The book is a must read for people with a good background about Egypt and the Arab World. However, the book is not a good introduction because of its heavy polarization toward a frustrated feministic diatribe against a culture. It is important to note that the majority of Egyptians would not agree with the author's hostile feministic wholesale denunciation of Egyptian sosiety. Personally, I take issue with the author's approach to culture. Other cultures could be objectionable to us in some of their practices, but they are never totally 'evil'. Good and evil are irrelevant in a genuine critique of a culture, especially of a culture with an identity crisis.

Although I like Sadawi's fiesty, rebellious spirit, I must say that I was HIGHLY disappointed in her work! I rarely come across a book that I don't finish and to tell you the truth, she made me return the book. Her bland and simplistic writing style didn't go well with me. At times, this book even put me to sleep. Anyway, the real significant drawback of this book is that it is written in an extremely narraw perspective! The whole book is about her and her memoirs, you don't even know what the other person is thinking. Hence, if you ask me I would say: SAVE YOUR HARD EARNED CASH!!!

Nawal El Saddawi is one of the most prolific and poignant writers of our time. Both her fiction and non-fiction writing is beautiful and insperational. I highly recomend this book.

This is one of my favorite books of all time. I had to read it for a class in college, and I will be the first to admit that I was turned off by the cover and the bland title. I'm glad I was forced to give this book a chance. It's an amazing true story of a female doctor in Cairo who is taken away to a prison for her outspoken ideas. The governemnt takes her from her home and forces her to live with several other women with very differnt backgrounds from one another. However, the situation causes Sadaawi to become somewhat of a "leader," and the women form a strong and unique friendship. It's an amazing and beautiful book and also a fast read - don't pass this up.

Nawal el Saadawi, God Dies by the Nile (Zed, 1974)

Nawal el Saadawi, Egyptian doctor, feminist, and activist, has written close to thirty books, spent time in prison for being a subversive, and for more than forty years has been a leader of progressive thinking in Egypt. So why is she almost unknown in America? I'm not entirely sure anyone can answer that question completely. Better to just try and correct the problem.

God Dies by the Nile, originally published in Egypt in 1974, is the story of a family living across the street from the mayor of the peasant village of Kafr el Teen, along the banks of the Nile. We learn early on that the Mayor is a nasty fellow, and with his three cronies (the village doctor, the Captain of the Guard, and the head of the mosque), he controls all the power in the village. Needless to say, he uses this power for the most corrupt of ends.

Zakeya is the titular head of the family across the street. Four years ago, her son Galal went off to fight at Suez, and has never been heard from again. Her brother, a widower, and his two daughters, Nefissa and Zeinab, live with Zakeya. The four of them work in the fields, as does everyone else in the village, until a summons comes from the Mayor: if Nefissa will work in his house as a maid, he will pay the family an almost unimaginable sum per month. Nefissa goes. All this happens before the beginning of the story (but it's better than doing the synopsis on the back of the Zed paperback, which is truly a synopsis'right up to the final chapter, a spoiler extraordinaire). After Nefissa runs away, the Mayor becomes taken with Zeinab, and the whole painful cycle begins again.

God Dies by the Nile is worth reading to the American reader for the same reasons as most other African novels: to get a sense of how similar we are in our cultures despite the various differences in them. Apart from that, while the writing is a tad on the clunky side (this could easily be a problem of translation rather than the original work), the book, which clocks in at a slight 108 pages, is an easy and somewhat compelling read in the vein of classical metatragedy ('meta-' in that the agents of tragedy here are human, and thus the protagonists can do something about them). El Saadawi's characters are wonderfully drawn, for the most part, and the differences in culture mean little when characters are drawn in this detail; you get a feel for the body language of the characters, and what it means, even if it is unfamiliar to you. In this is the book's largest weakness; el Saadawi is so excellent at drawing these characters and showing us their feelings and motivations that when she reiterates them explicitly, she's redoing a job she's already done very well, and so the book tends to slow with repetition now and again. Still, that makes it no less pleasurable, if a story this tragic can be in any way pleasurable. ***

God Dies by the Nileis an excellent book for people wanting to learn more about life in different parts of the world and for those with an interest in women's rights.

This is an extremely well-written short novel about peasant life in Egypt. I felt as if the characters and subjects were protrayed in a very accurate, non-romanticized way. However, I think I need Cliff Notes to fully understand the allegories and themes in this book. God Dies by the Nile may be more accessible for Egyptians or those who read the original text in Arabic.

Please note that this book is not something you want to read to lift up your spirits. I had to temporarily stop reading the book due to the sad and depressing subject matter.

This book was first published in 1975 by a brave woman who was willing to tell a story--and to tell truths that others from her country didn't want told--she has paid for her bravery with exile and that kind of commitment should not be belittled. I am sure this book was a groundbreaking, landmark work at the time it was first published--so it shouldn't be entirely dismissed--but in reality it is pretty dated and a bit of a bore to read. I almost stopped reading it and it is only 123 pages.

The main character is a woman who is trying to figure out who she is--all she seems sure of is that she doesn't want to be who other people--her parents, her teachers, society in general--want her to be. She is drawn to a young man with whom she has a sexual encounter and is then rather mystically drawn toward a life of student activism--a life her lover is fully but rather mysteriously engaged in. He is arrested and our gal is determined that the cause he is dedicated to will define her life...so...well...we might say that she wants to dump one set of oppressors--or powers that want to define her (ie her father, uncles, even her mother--and other teachers & defenders of the current social order) for sex with a revolutionary hero and another set of male-centered outside forces that wait to offer her their definition of a good woman------now how that adds up to self determination is beyond me...but like I said--this was first published in the mid 70s--and, that sort of thinking had a bit of a romantic tinge back then.

Overall I'd say that this is a dated book that I wouldn't recommend to anyone unless they were specifically studying women in the Middle East and wanted some historic background.

Also the translation I read (translated by Osman Nusairi and Jane Gough) was a bit redundant in its language use--which may be the fault of the translators rather than the author. I really couldn't say--but it didn't make it any more interesting to read.

Buy the book to support the author--she deserves praise--but don't buy the book because you are looking for a great read with new insights into another culture or some universal human dilemma --its just not here

Saadawi (b. 1931) is an Egyptian woman, a medical doctor, a prolific writer, and the Arabic-speaking worlds most outspoken and radical feminist. Without exaggerating, Malti-Douglas writes that No Arab woman inspires as much emotion as Nawal El Saadawi. No woman in the Middle East has been the subject of more polemic. Certainly, no Arab womans pen has violated as many sacred enclosures. Malti-Douglas then devotes over two hundred pages to analyzing Saadawis overheated rhetoric and bad novels, calling on all the usual feminist tropes (title and subtitle give their flavor, as do such chapter headings as Paradigms of Violation and Rewriting Patriarchy).

This predictable feminist lionizing of one of its own holds little interest to the general reader, but Malti-Douglas does raise an intriguing issue when she reports on the clash between Saadawi and her equally leftist intellectual (male) opponents in the Middle East. They would have her stay quiet about the appalling female condition in their countries and try to delegitimize her writings as Orientalist feminism. To which Malti-Douglas replies that Anti-imperialism can easily become a trap through which nationalism, while seeking to defend the native against the outsider, really defends those in power in the native society. Saadawis feminism, in other words, proves a source of unusual sympathy for the West. The importance of these epithets? Another sign of the intellectual lefts weakness: caught up in a web of its own inconsistencies, it (unlike the fundamentalist right) cannot even figure out its outlook on the West.

A year and a half ago, I spent far too long perusing this book in a sort of half-horrified, half-entertained disbelief. I was writing a paper on Saadawi, a feminist activist and fiction writer I admire greatly. Tarabishi's book perfectly encapsulates much of what Saadawi rails against: sexist, fundamentalist thinking, and a simplistic, unexamined reliance on nationalism (its political, classist, religious, militaristic as well as sexist aspects). In proper sexist form, he winds up blaming Saadawi, via her feminism, for airing the so-called "dirty laundry" of Arab Egypt, when any even cursory reading of a *few* of her works of fiction and nonfiction would be enough to convince one that she is so dedicated to ending injustices that she will not refrain from critically enganging any person or institution if she thinks it is harming people. Tarabishi relies on tired and simplistic Freudian analysis to critique Saadawi, and depending on your mood, that might be pathetic or hilarious. The edition I read included a reaction essay by Saadawi; it is the best part of the book. There was, when I did my paper, a lack of critical work on Saadawi, but there is some. Fedwa Malti-Douglas' book is, to my knowledge, the best material out there. It is vastly more sophisticated, the analysis is deeper and more incisive, and the author has a better grasp of both Saadawi's writing and the worlds she inhabits. I would also suggest reading Saadawi directly: there is a wonderful reader of collected essays, and The Fall of Imam, Woman at Point Zero, Death of an Ex-Minister, and Love in the Kingdom of Oil are some of my favourite works of fiction she's produced. She has also written two volumes of autobiography and a remarkable memoir of her time in prison. Her striking, path-breaking analysis of Arab women, The Hidden Face of Eve, is also in print again--hopefully more of her stuff will be back in print soon. She is an incredible and challenging thinker.

I bought this book as the title interested me and because I find the work of many contempoary Arab writers fascinating. However, this book is very distressisng as it is merely an attack on the goals and values of a leading woman reformer,