Mohammad’s Notes

sherien samir says

Happy Ramadan to you , Ramadan Kareem :)

posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )

well, I might not have remembered her name either if it weren't for a few facts: 1. I've recently watched for what must be the 10th time the LOTR movies, so I had the Frodo-Shelob-Sam scene fresh in my mind; 2. there's a giant spider in the Harry Potter series as well, Aragog, and I always thought the two would make a nice pair, so it made me think of them both a lot lol; and 3. I don't like spiders (I don't have a phobia or anything but I doubt there are many who like spiders anyway) so that, paradoxically, makes me remember when I see one :))
And I haven't heard of Ubgoliant yet, but hopefully when I've read more of Tolkien's works, I will find out :)

posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )

Hermy says

Thanks for the advice! I've actually always wanted to read more J.R.R. Tolkien books, but having read the Lord of the Rings made me a bit afraid to start a new one, seeing as they are all so complex! But I'll put it on my "plan to read" list so that I don't forget about it ;)
I would love to learn more about Sauron and this mysterious sounding black spider (is it the same one from the Lord of the Rings, Shelob, or is it a new character?), and the elves? I wish I was born an elf. I admire their grace and calmness and and I'm dying to know more.
And I feel the same way, happy to meet new people who love reading books! :) So nice meeting you, and I hope we'll get to know each other better in the future and share thoughts and opinions on books and not only ;)

posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )

Hermy says

:) thanks!
Lord of the Rings is a wonderful story, though I have to admit it was a bit difficult to read, having so many characters and being placed practically in a different world, not to mention it's about as big as the Bible lol But it was well worth it. I liked the end notes a lot too, especially Arwen and Aragon's story.
I think it's great you're reading Doyle's The Lost World, it's a wonderful book, and I liked it very much. I'd like to go to the Amazon one day and search for that mysterious plateau, who knows what I will find ;)
Enjoy your reading!

posted 1 year ago. ( send a note )

Kristel says

Welcome to 1001 books. You can keep track of the books you have read from the book, 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die, join in the discussions on the books we are reading for the month (BOTM) or you can debate the merits of the list as some enjoy doing. We hope you will want to join in the choosing of BOTM and the discussions. The current books are pinned to the top for that month. There are older discussions that can be found by searching discussions. If there is any way the group administrator can help further feel free to ask one of us. If you don’t own the book the list can be found at the top in the group description or at http://www.listology.com/content_show.cfm?content_id=22845. A downloadable list of the second edition is available at http://johnandsheena.co.uk/books/?page_id=160.

posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )

HebatAllah H says

No Mohammad, I wouldn't call the events in the life of little Harry "coincidents"; it was all planned and premeditated by the school he has always been destined to join; even his life with his nasty relatives "the Vernons" is a decision made by his "guardian angel" "Dumbledore" (in the final book, you'd discover the reason). I said that I don't mind the happy ending because it's a children book, not that I don't mind the bad narrative because it's children book. And by the way, the book is HIGHLY water-tight and it doesn't have the slightest trace of "bad narrative", and the "happy ending" perfectly suits it, but it's ok if we differ over that, though I'd advise you to take my word on that; for "narrative techniques" are gonna be my specialization in-shaa'-Allah in my MA thesis, I read books on them, I worked on them from both a literary and a linguistic perspective in my MA "Linguistics and Literature" course to death. So, I'm pretty sure I can tell a good narrative from a bad one, or so I think, and I'm, by the testimony of soooooo many friends who know me or heard me discuss a novel, quite good at drawing comparisons between different works of art, and detecting the references an author would use to other novels in his/her work, but I'd accept your opinion regarding Dumbledore, though there is more to him than meets the eye, or rather, "your eye". Read the rest of the books, and you'll know Dumbledore's "complete story", though I think that he's more like Gandalf in that he speaks in riddles, he's wise, and there is a Gandalf-like aura of mystery around him. And I wouldn't say that Rowling used a competition without rules: "you're good, you take points, you are bad, you have points taken from the house where you belong". How far could this get more complicated?!! Personally, I kinnda like it; simple, straight-forward and as easy to follow as the rules of "Heaven and Hell" (Good: Heaven, Bad: Hell) :)

As for Austen, it's obvious that you're determined against her, and that you don't accept arguing about her, and if you are "too rebellious for her to suit you", I'd say that "because I'm rebellious, she suits me very well". Austen is never cold; she writes in fine well-organized words with "passions" and "emotions" boiling behind their pretty surface; in brief: "wild passions in strained style of writing". So, she is not cold AT ALL. As for her lack of imagination, I can see your point; some characters are repeated, and girls are deprived from inheritance because of the-female-doesn't-inherit rule during her era. However, Austen never meant to fantasize; she just drew a thorough image of the little society that she lived in, and it was a confined one when you come to that. So, a girl living in a confined society that might not have exceeded her own home, writing about that little society that perhaps had just few people in it, producing six novels!! Six Novels!!! with all those characters, their lives, their dilemmas, their complexities, and that biting satire on the "rules which don't make sense", and all this "fighting of the circumstances of society" (a rule like "It's a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of good fortune must be in want of a wife") with the "universally acknowledged" here being satirically "ironic" (coz Austen opposed that in that novel). You see?!! Austen WAS rebellious herself. Come on! You have to give her some credit for that. Her very act of "writing" is an act of rebellion, in a society where female writers were made fun of, abused and stigmatized. Her refusal of marriage "without affection" is an act of rebellion in a society where a woman "is supposed" to rejoice over a marriage proposal because it was the only means of a living for a woman during Austen's era. AUSTEN LIVED INDEPENDENTLY BY HER PEN, AND THAT IN ITSELF WAS A HUGE ACT OF REBELLION, that amounted almost to disgrace in her society. I know your argument Mohammad, you'd say, but all her novels ended by the "happily ever after" with her female protagonists MARRIED to WEALTHY men. "Married", but not without "love", as she kept stressing all through her novels, and she found her OWN rule: "no marriage without love", and she followed it to her death; she followed her own rule, not the rules of society. SHE ALWAYS HAD THE RULES OF "OTHERS" IN HER MIND, and she made fun of those "which didn't make sense to her". So, the question is: "hadn't Austen ever fallen in love?!" Yes she did, Mohammad, but with a poor man. His name was "Thomas Lefroy". She used to roam the lands with him, hand in hand, AGAINST the rules of her society. She once wrote to her sister, Cassandra, in a letter: "I could shock you with what I do with Thomas". However, his family was decided against his marrying Austen, because: 1) She wrote (something that was a disgrace to any woman in her society) 2) Because neither of them had any money. And his family (who were spending the summer in Hampshire) leaved, taking him away, and Austen never saw him again. Then, when she was a bit older, she received a marriage proposal from an admirer. She accepted him, only to change her mind in the morning; she didn't feel content with herself following the bloody rules of her society. Later, Thomas Lefroy re-appeared on the surface, but this time death took him from her, not his family. So, if you cannot understand a broken-hearted woman writing about women getting married from wealthy men (because she herself was deprived from her love because he was poor) and healthy manly men riding on big stallions and going hunting, shooting, and swimming (she was deprived from her love again because he was in poor health) only to wreak revenge on her "circumstances" and "society rules" even though only on paper, then that's your problem!! You say that you like biographies, don't you? Why don't you simply go, dig her biography out, and read it? Or are you too decided against her to do that?!!

Do you realize that Austen's novels were among the banned books in Iran when the Islamic revolution broke out. It was because her books taught women "rebellion", "wit" and how to be determinedly independent, no matter how stifling the society is. Do you know about el-Khomini's revolution?! Do you about how it abused, and still busing, women?! Go and read "Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books" by Azar Nafisi. This book is, of course, banned as well in Iran until now. Nafisi is an Iranian female writer who wrote this book about books banned in Iran using them to mock the authoritarian Iranian regime. She divided it into four sections: one about the books by Nabokov, one about Henry James's, one about F.Scot Fitzgerald's and the last part about Austen's. And just as Austen used "It's a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of good fortune must be in want of a wife" to mock the miserable reality of her society, so did Nafisi use "It's a truth universally acknowledged that a Muslim man, not necessarily in possession of any fortune, must be in want of a nine-year-old virgin wife." That's Austen anywhere at any time. That's the Austen who relates to all the lives of people no matter where they are or when they live. Read that book, and you'd know how the abused Iranian women, those students who studies her books secretly at Nafisi's home (as though they were committing a crime) found an outlet of their miseries through Austen's words, novels, passions and emotions. How they found in Austen their rebellion, no matter how secret it was. I don't know what kind of girls whose goal in life is to relent and adapt whom you know and they like Austen, and I'm quite happy I don't know them, though I'm dead sure that such girls like her for "superficial reasons" exactly as you hate her for "superficial reasons as well". My guess would be that they are the kind of girls who are swoony, always dreaming about a "good marriage" and who are unwilling to see behind those "good marriages" and what they meant and still mean in a society which thinks more or less, like Austen's. So, I don't think that such girls have given Austen her due share of literary appreciation, being to busy swooning over Mr.Darcy I think. To be honest, I swooned over him too, myself (he is my favorite male character along with "Heathcliff"), but not for the same reasons I suspect those girls have about him (handsome, tall, rich). I like him because in a way, he adapted himself, against the rules of his own family, and regardless of all the notions of the elite society where he belongs, to be Elizabeth's man. When he tells her, in his first proposal: "Could you expect me to rejoice over the inferiority of your birth and your connections?" She answers: "And those are the words of a gentleman?!!" Only then does Darcy realize that a gentleman is only so, not by riding in and out of carriages, not by his fine petticoat. He realizes that a gentleman is so in the eyes of whom he loves, by giving her his utmost love, with no constraints, no rules to follow, no considerations of fine birth or family situation; "he loves her, so be it!". And I'm glad that Austen has given him a second chance which he uses to prove to Elizabeth that he has changed, and has become her gentleman. That's my Mr.Darcy, and THAT IS AUSTEN!! But as long as you don't see behind the lines, and as long as you don't look closely, I'm afraid that you'll keep, unfairly, hating Austen, and those relenting adapting poor girls you know will keep hating her for the wrong reasons.
Do you know that a literary work of art is highly "literary" because it has a meaning on the deeper level other that the surface level that meets your eye. It seems that you have to be a Azar Nafisi or a literature student to appreciate Austen.
In brief, whether you like it or not Mohammad, the literary consensus (not me) has agreed that Austen is the equal of any other literary giant, be it Dickens (in his realism, and finely presented) or the Bronte sisters in their passion and floods of emotions.
Have a nice day :)

posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )

HebatAllah H says

Oh, Mohammad, about Jane Austen! Remember when I told you that Auten wrote about life, and hence about love (not the other way round), because "love is life"?! Remember when I told you that her books are unforgettable because they can affect the lives of people everywhere at any time?! There is a 2007 movie entitled "The Jane Austen Book Club" that is based on a novel of the same name. Would you please try to get it and watch it? Please?! It was about to win the "best movie of the year", but it lost the prize for "Stardust". But at least, the movie made it to the final two. Watch it Mohammad, please, and try to understand Austen. The movie holds all the opinions, no matter how different they are about Austen's books. And at many points of it, it's mentioned why men don't read Austen, and if they did, why they would hate her books :) Anyway, would you please try to watch it, and try to see who Austen really is, how she can get deep inside us?! I just think that the movie would give a little insight to Austen for a boy who has read "Sense and Sensibility", "Pride and Prejudice", "Mansfield Park", and a "fourth book he can't remember the title of" :)
I hope I'm not being pushy about it, but if you hate the "Harry Potter" books, it's ok... hate them then, I'm ok with that; some people do hate the books; it's simply not their type. But Austen!!!!! Oh, COME ON!
I don't know why it's so, but I think that you'd say that the movie is boring. However, would you please give it a try?! And by the way, I won'tr accept "boring" as an answer :)

posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )

HebatAllah H says

Mohammad! I can't believe you hated the Harry Potter book. I guess I'd differ with you about it, exactly like "Jane Austen" :) Anyway, it's your opinion, though I'd like you to elaborate your review a little bit about it. Where are those coincidents, and what's wrong with the happy ending? It's a book for young adults and "children" after all. And the style of writing! It's funny, terrific, brilliant, Agatha-Christie-like, full of twists and surprises, keeps you turning the pages, full of suspense and wise sayings. I mean, come on, wasn't Albus Dumbledore a unique copy (though in an original way) of your beloved "Gandalf"?! And it has some wise and thorough meditation about death. And the fun competition between houses! I know it's supposed to be a fun read book, not really literature (as Austen is), but believe it or not Mohammad, it IS literature; in its language, in its having another meaning and so many interpretations on the deeper level of writing. in its portrayal of characters. It has every quality of a literature book.
If you hated it, then what would you do with the "Twilight" saga books, I wonder! :) I'm afraid to say that you'd be miserable, because I'm not sure how you would react to them. I thought that you were loving this one, but you didn't. I'm no longer sure about your reaction. I wouldn't recommend them to you; it would be a sorrowful waste of money, but if it happens that you read them, I'd like to have your opinion about them. But I'd recommend that you go on reading the Harry Potter books. Who knows?! Perhaps there would be a book of them that you might like... :)
See you around

posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )

HebatAllah H says

Mohammad!! You're reading Harry Potter, the first book! CONGRATULATIONS boy :)
How is it going? The style of writing is BRILLIANT isn't it? I'm soooooooooooo happy you started it. Wait until you reach the 7th book :) I bet you're loving it already :)

posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )

darkme says

Hey, I was just browsing through your self, and we have a few books in common like Frankenstein, and to Kill a Mocking Bird but actually u've read alot of books that I wanna read like Brave New World, Gilgamesh, and for H.G.Wells, and Lord of the Flies and Animal Farm, and 1984, Of Human Bondag (e the last word is banned on shelfari! thats why i cant write it.. Why?).
I'm envious!!!!

posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )

sherien samir says

hi Mohammad, i read your comment about Taxi book .. i am agree with your openion although i didnt read it, but i dont like this kind of books ite real empty and just abook releas no more .. its reflect the true way of reader's looking for .. !!

posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )

HebatAllah H says

Good for you that you went to the Kota one... I'm sure it was lovely, and since you didn't go to the San Mark one, the better... today was it's last day anyway, and it has been only 12 days since it has been opened; obviously it failed. And thanks for the tip, I'm sure I'll check it out. Look Mohammad, if you are staying longer in Alex, try El-Shobban El-Muslimeen Book Fair, it started today... I have been there today and they have got a wonderful collection of novels... and it's very cheap (enriched classics) but I didn't get any of them still coz I squandered all the money I had in the Arabic Department on 5 of Naguib Mahfouz's novels. Don't worry... it's a short distance from the Kota book fair, and El-Shobban El-Muslimeen is already a famous tram station... so you won't get lost...
It's great you're having a good time with "Lord of the Rings", but don't neglect your studies nevertheless or I'll call you a "bad boy"... try to make both go along with each other.
Good Luck in everything... "may the hair on your toes never fall out", as Thorin would have said :)) :))

posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )

HebatAllah H says

Which Bookfair did you go? The San Mark one or the Kotta one that has just started. Look, I went to the San Mark one, and I have to disagree with you; it wasn't "small but ok"; it was utterly disappointing...It has seen better years before... I don't think I'd go to it again. One of my friends went to the Kotta Bookfair (right beside bibalex), and she said that it is wonderful. So, I think I'd go to that one...
I'm really happy for your progress in translation into English... it's truly truly great, especially that your English really is very good. And yes you should start Harry Potter soon, you won't just be "addicted"; you will be "enchanted" by it... but let it be after the trilogy...
Best of luck...

posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )

HebatAllah H says

Hey Mohammad, I see you're back on "The Lord of the Rings" horseback ... good for you. I'm so sorry for the long pause, but I'm ashamed of e-mailing you because I still didn't have a look at your translation; I'm deep to my knees in loads and loads of stuff... I don't even have time to do some reading. Besides, I know that you're busy yourself with your translation studies... (how are you doing in them by the way? I hope everything is fine.) So, I thought it would be wiser to spare you the sterile hi-and-hello e-mail, especially that I know that any e-mail I write, it turns into a thesis.
But on the whole, welcome back to Shelfari, and most important, welcome back to "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy.
A little tip: forget about your reading plan or whatever you intend to read after "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy... just start the "Harry Potter" books; they are well-worth the effort. You will feel a "Tolkienish" touch in them; Rowling was greatly inspired by Tolkien while writing them.So, they would be suitable after the trilogy. Besides, they are fun an light reads especially in busy times. Believe me you won't regret it. I lured a friend into reading the first book... she finished it, and start book 2 right away, and currently she is looking for book 3.
Good luck to you in everything,
Bubye

posted 2 years ago. ( send a note )

Lou says

aywa ybny howana ethbalt mn shwaya :D

that's what i read since i was 9 or so :D -beside mlf elmosta2bl we mawara2 eltabe3a tab3an :D-

posted 3 years ago. ( send a note )

sherien samir says

hello dear Mohamed,thanks for your complemt, you are welcome dear

posted 3 years ago. ( send a note )

sherien samir says

hello dear Mohamed,thanks for your complemt, you are welcome dear

posted 3 years ago. ( send a note )

HebatAllah H says

Hey Mohammad, really glad to hear from you again; it has been quite a long time since you logged into Shelfari. As for how I'm, I'm barely alive; I'm writing you this note at 3.30 am and I have a phonolgy exam at 12 afternoon, pray for me, and I'll tell you how it went when I'm done with it. And of course, you can imagine that there have been no reading; the last one I read was "Reading Lolita in Tehran", and it was even for the World Literature course. But the good news are that tomorrow's exam (or rather today's) is the last one, and I'll go back to reading soon.
As for James Joyce, I only read Dubliners by him, and a long time ago. Some of the stories I liked, some I didn't. So, I can't really tell you my opinion regarding him because my knowledge of him is not that good.
Mohammad, do you mind sending me your e-mail in a private message? I wanna attach something for you.

posted 3 years ago. ( send a note )

HebatAllah H says

Hi Mohammad,
Ok, you win, perhaps it's me who is wrong and I'm trying to find faults in other things. But I have to disagree with you Mohammad regarding my choice of not facing the society. I'm a person who is very good at facing people and fighting back, and I pride myself over that. As a matter of fact, I'm extremely clever at attracting trouble (and I'm proud as well to say it) that many of my friends view me as quite daring more than usual. Besides, I have not choosen to stay at home Mohammad. I promise you that as soon as exams are over, I'll resume my pursuit of a job, and I hope my efforts would be fruitful this time, for I WANT to be independent. But Cairo? I would love to visit Cairo, explore it and buy books from it. But stay? Can that really be the end of my ambitions? Perhaps the problem is that of Cairo itself. Look Mohammad, if I'm destined to get out of Alexandria, I hope it will be to a totally different country altogether. But let's face it, if you go there without a proper education that would be acknowledged there or at least a good job experience, you won't stand a chance out there, at least in your field. Besides, my sister and I already moved from PortSaid to Alexandria to pursue out studies in university. I think I'd be demanding for now and even "re5ma" if I ask my parents to allow me to move to Cairo. And I have a personal experience of trying to live in Cairo that there is no space for it here. But I do still insist that our society is full of "flat-heads", and by society I mean the one you have just defined even if I have given you an example of a street incident. You do respect those independant girls Mohammad maybe because you are "2a5er el-regal el-mo7tarameen", but don't fall in the mistake of thinking that everyone is like you. No Mohammad, that is not the case.
I'm so sorry about your not getting along well with your sister. Look Mohammad, try to reach an understanding with her, and gain her love. It's really worth it, I promise. Try to find out what she likes most, bring it to her or take her out for a walk or anything, and you will find out that you will get closer a bit by bit. I mean try to show her your love first, for I'm sure that you do love her, and she will show you her love in return, for I'm sure that she loves you too. Come on! You are brother and sister. Definitely, you love one another. Right?
Thanks a million for the site. I'll definitely check it when exams are over.
Happy feast for you Mohammad, and don't forget to enjoy your "fatta" dish:D.

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sherien samir says

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