"A piece of the Palestinian fate that would confuse even King Solomon," writes Shammas. This book is an enchanting but difficult read. The presence of the Irish writer in Iowa City reminded me of this book's similarity to James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Both novels are written in a sometimes confusing stream of consciousness style and are filled with symbolism. I would need to read Arabesques at least one more time before I could begin to comprehend much of the imagery. The author attempts to convey certain images of the Palestinian people, including the differences amongst this very non-monolithic group, and the complex inner thoughts of an enigmatic refugee. The main character's lack of a single identity can be seen as symptomatic and/or symbolic of the Palestinian people's historical experience.

Shammas's "Arabesques," a masterpiece of modernist writing, concerns the lives of members of a family that has three strikes against them: they are Israeli Christian Palestinians, each element of which is in conflict with the others. The author's writing technique, mirroring the difficulties of his theme, is modelled on the "arabesque," a stylized calligraphic icon much of whose meaning lies in its great aesthetic complexity. It is through the densely interwoven "arabesque" patterns of many generations of this rich and complex family that the author is able to encompass the rich and complex meanings of such an awful subject position in today's world. While its complexity is daunting, the author's style is wonderfully readable. Written in 1988, this book is unfortunately long out of print. FIND IT!

Arabesques is one of the finest novels I have ever read. It is highly poetic prose and a magical exploration of childhood. The kinship thicket is sometimes difficult to unravel, but it provides wonderful insights into Palestinian culture and its built-in conflicts.I highly reccomend it to fellow readers. I do certainly hope Shammas has written other novels since then, and, if so, I would like to see them translated.