Status
Available
Genres
Publication
London : Zed Books, 1983.
Description
'An unforgettable, unmissable book for the new global feminist.' The Times 'All the men I did get to know filled me with but one desire: to lift my hand and bring it smashing down on his face.' So begins Firdaus's remarkable story of rebellion against a society founded on lies, hypocrisy, brutality and oppression. Born to a peasant family in the Egyptian countryside, Firdaus struggles through childhood, seeking compassion and knowledge in a world which gives her little of either. As she grows up and escapes the fetters of her childhood, each new relationship teaches her a bitter but liberating truth - that the only free people are those who want nothing, fear nothing and hope for nothing. This classic novel has been an inspiration to countless people across the world. Saadawi's searing indictment of society's brutal treatment of women continues to resonate today.… (more)
Media reviews
Various
"Nawal el Saadawi writes with directness and passion, transforming the systematic brutalisation of peasants and of women in to powerful allegory" - New York Times Book Review
"Scorching" - New Internationalist
"A powerful indictment of the treatment of women in many parts of the Middle East"
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- Labour Herald
"Woman at Point Zero should begin the long march towards a realistic and sympathetic portrayal of Arab women" - Middle East International
"A dramatic symbolised version of female revolt against the norms of the Arab world" - The Guardian
"El Saadawi has a flair for melodrama and mystery" - International Journal of Middle East Studies
"It is a remarkable book. Painful, compulsive reading. I am sure some of you know all about it but for those who don't this short novel, or creative non-fiction as the author describes it, is the story of Fidraus, a prostitute about to be executed for murdering her pimp. Her life is recounted in a little over 100 pages but each one leaves an indelible mark. This is a tale of injustice, inequality and sheer bad luck to rival all those bloody misery memoirs that litter the supermarkets but it is written with such grace and skill as to be on a par with the finest literature of this or any era. [...] Leaves an indelible mark. This is a tale of injustice, inequality and sheer bad luck…written with such grace and skill as to be on a part with the finest literature of this or any era… haunting, poetic and fiercely relevant". - Scott Pack, The Friday Project Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member rmostman
I absolutely loved it. It's about Firdaus, a woman who is one death-row in Egypt and is going to die in a week for killing a pimp. She was born to parents who didn't love her and given to her uncle who sexually abused her. Then married off to an old widow who abused her more. Each relationship
and I came to the conclusion that all the women in the book are prostitutes in some way. They all belonged to a man; their father, their husband, their boss, etc. Except Firdaus, the real prostitute, who is incredibly liberated and owns herself and demands a high price for her body. Other women are doing what she does for free and getting beaten for it, can't ever say no, can't own anything for themselves, can't own their own bodies.
And I don't know how I feel about it. Obviously it's a militant feminist message, obviously man-hating, but I thought the idea was interesting. The book was incredibly cynical and felt like shit after I read it, there was no hope about it, but it was a great book and I will be reading more from her.
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started out with her trusting them and in the end they treated her awfully. After her husband rapes her she decides to own her body and decide who she's going to give it to. So, she becomes a prostitute. She denies men she wants to deny and gets great satisfaction from it, as no woman is ever supposed to tell a man "no." She becomes very sucessful, owns her own apartment and nice things. After a few years, she decides to work at a factory and she hated the job, thought it incredibly oppressive and went back to being a prostitute. She said, "these women are more afraid of losing their job than a prostitute is of losing her life." How can someone be free with that kind of fear.and I came to the conclusion that all the women in the book are prostitutes in some way. They all belonged to a man; their father, their husband, their boss, etc. Except Firdaus, the real prostitute, who is incredibly liberated and owns herself and demands a high price for her body. Other women are doing what she does for free and getting beaten for it, can't ever say no, can't own anything for themselves, can't own their own bodies.
And I don't know how I feel about it. Obviously it's a militant feminist message, obviously man-hating, but I thought the idea was interesting. The book was incredibly cynical and felt like shit after I read it, there was no hope about it, but it was a great book and I will be reading more from her.
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LibraryThing member akeela
This is a little book but I found it really powerful, and poignant.
Woman at Point Zero was the result of an encounter El-Saadawi had with an Arab woman in the Egyptian Qanatir Prison, while doing research on neuroses in Egyptian women. In real life, the woman, Firdaus, had killed a man and was
The dignified Firdaus had a huge impact on El-Saadawi, so much so that she never quite forgot her. When she herself landed in prison some years later as a political activist, she still looked out for the almost regal Firdaus – though by then Firdaus had already been executed.
The storyline in the novel is much the same. A psychiatrist seeks an interview with a woman (a prostitute) imprisoned for murdering a man (her pimp). She is refused numerous times but finally gains an interview. What follows is the woman's narration of her terrible yet amazing life story, since childhood. Here was a child and woman, with loads of potential and a yearning to use her mind to do something useful with her life; sadly society didn't accommodate her at any point.
The book is an indictment of men (and some women) in patriarchal Egyptian society, but it also a celebration of the human spirit and how it strives to survive against all odds. I recommend this book – although it becomes fairly unpleasant, at times.
Woman at Point Zero was the result of an encounter El-Saadawi had with an Arab woman in the Egyptian Qanatir Prison, while doing research on neuroses in Egyptian women. In real life, the woman, Firdaus, had killed a man and was
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sentenced to death for the offence. Firdaus initially refused to see her but finally conceded an interview and then slowly began to reveal her "terrible but wonderful" life story to El-Saadawi, the psychiatrist.The dignified Firdaus had a huge impact on El-Saadawi, so much so that she never quite forgot her. When she herself landed in prison some years later as a political activist, she still looked out for the almost regal Firdaus – though by then Firdaus had already been executed.
The storyline in the novel is much the same. A psychiatrist seeks an interview with a woman (a prostitute) imprisoned for murdering a man (her pimp). She is refused numerous times but finally gains an interview. What follows is the woman's narration of her terrible yet amazing life story, since childhood. Here was a child and woman, with loads of potential and a yearning to use her mind to do something useful with her life; sadly society didn't accommodate her at any point.
The book is an indictment of men (and some women) in patriarchal Egyptian society, but it also a celebration of the human spirit and how it strives to survive against all odds. I recommend this book – although it becomes fairly unpleasant, at times.
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LibraryThing member juliette07
Based upon the author’s encounter with a woman imprisoned in Qanatir prison in Cairo, Egypt this novel was written by Dr Nawan El Saadawi, a psychiatrist who came upon a woman in solitary confinement, awaiting her execution. She is an Egyptian feminist novelist born in 1931. A challenging read in
Following the first 1978 Arabic publication in Beirut it was banned across several middle east countries, including Egypt. The French edition of the novel was awarded the 1982 Literary Prize for Franco-Arab Friendship.
I found this work inspiring, deeply thought provoking and at many points it drove me to reflect on 'my' life choices. Thoughts of freedom, dignity, respect for others and for oneself ... all of which I have a choice to accept - or not. Doris Lessing wrote of this book as one in which we are reminded not to take our good fortune for granted. That certainly rang true for me and compelled me to ask how am I using the freedom that I have?
At one point I recalled A Women of One’s Own as the twenty five year old Firdaus speaks of a room in her apartment. This part of her story finds her saying … ‘Now I could decide on the food I wanted to eat, the house I preferred to live in, refuse the man for whom I felt an aversion no matter what the reason, and choose the man I wished to have ….’ She then talks of her liking of culture. ... ‘ever since I had started to go to school and had learned to read, but especially during this last period, since I could buy books. I had a large library in my apartment, and it was here that I spent most of my free time. On the walls I had hung …. And right in the middle was my secondary school certificate surrounded by an expensive frame. I never received anyone in the library. It was a very special room reserved for me alone’ … (page 69)
I highly recommend this book for all to ponder upon the value and meaning of life.
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terms of content yet written in a sparse and apparently simple style. This is a powerful and uncomfortable story with a depth of meaning far beneath the surface of the words.Following the first 1978 Arabic publication in Beirut it was banned across several middle east countries, including Egypt. The French edition of the novel was awarded the 1982 Literary Prize for Franco-Arab Friendship.
I found this work inspiring, deeply thought provoking and at many points it drove me to reflect on 'my' life choices. Thoughts of freedom, dignity, respect for others and for oneself ... all of which I have a choice to accept - or not. Doris Lessing wrote of this book as one in which we are reminded not to take our good fortune for granted. That certainly rang true for me and compelled me to ask how am I using the freedom that I have?
At one point I recalled A Women of One’s Own as the twenty five year old Firdaus speaks of a room in her apartment. This part of her story finds her saying … ‘Now I could decide on the food I wanted to eat, the house I preferred to live in, refuse the man for whom I felt an aversion no matter what the reason, and choose the man I wished to have ….’ She then talks of her liking of culture. ... ‘ever since I had started to go to school and had learned to read, but especially during this last period, since I could buy books. I had a large library in my apartment, and it was here that I spent most of my free time. On the walls I had hung …. And right in the middle was my secondary school certificate surrounded by an expensive frame. I never received anyone in the library. It was a very special room reserved for me alone’ … (page 69)
I highly recommend this book for all to ponder upon the value and meaning of life.
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LibraryThing member Pretear
I thought that I would love this book. I didn't hate it but I didn't find as compelling as others have described. I suppose my own immigrant background might be to blame. The horrible things that occur in this book aren't unique to Egypt or Islamic countries, these are things that happen to women
The writing is very simple, some things may have been lost in translation. The themes are cyclical, often the narrator will speak or experience events in patterns. I felt that style took away from the impact of the story. It's a short book - which presents an interesting question for me, would I have liked this book more if it had been longer? The book is so short that most of the pivotal character shaping events are only a sentence or so long. But at the same time, this is a book that can be read in an afternoon, so I didn't feel like it was a waste of time even though I didn't love it.
As an aside, while I was reading this, I kept remembering The Misfortunes of Virtue by Marquis de Sade because the main character in both stories keep getting stuck in some horrible situation, running away, trusting someone new, and getting duped again, over and over and over. For that reason, I wonder how much artistic license the author took with the true story.
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all over in the world in developing countries. The writing is very simple, some things may have been lost in translation. The themes are cyclical, often the narrator will speak or experience events in patterns. I felt that style took away from the impact of the story. It's a short book - which presents an interesting question for me, would I have liked this book more if it had been longer? The book is so short that most of the pivotal character shaping events are only a sentence or so long. But at the same time, this is a book that can be read in an afternoon, so I didn't feel like it was a waste of time even though I didn't love it.
As an aside, while I was reading this, I kept remembering The Misfortunes of Virtue by Marquis de Sade because the main character in both stories keep getting stuck in some horrible situation, running away, trusting someone new, and getting duped again, over and over and over. For that reason, I wonder how much artistic license the author took with the true story.
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LibraryThing member labfs39
It's hard to know what is fact and what fiction in this short novel by one of Egypt's most renowned feminist writers. In her introduction, El Saadawi writes that she wrote this novel after an encounter with a woman in Qanatir Prison. El Saadawi had been fired for writing things "viewed unfavourably
The prisoner that most interested El Saadawi was named Firdaus, a woman who had been convicted of killing a man and was sentenced to be executed, which she was in 1974. Her interviews with Firdaus would become the inspiration for Woman at Point Zero. The novel is told in the first person, as though Firdaus is speaking to El Saadawi, further blurring the lines between fact and fiction. In addition, the narrator repeats herself at times and has phrases which she uses over and over. Was this characteristic of Firdaus herself, or is it a literary technique introduced by the author? Perhaps it doesn't matter where the line is between fact and fiction, because in some ways it is the story of oppressed women everywhere.
Firdaus grew up in squalor with a brutal father and a mother whose eyes were dark and resigned. Her uncle saw potential in her, and took her to live with him and attend secondary school. When he marries, she is sent to boarding school. After graduating, she is married off to an elderly widower, and her life goes downhill from there. I'm not going to say much more about the plot, but it is related in a deadpan tone that only serves to emphasize the brutality and despair. The effects of poverty and oppression play out to the ultimate end in Firdaus' life. She reflects bitterly:
For death and truth are similar in that they both require a great courage if one wishes to face them. And truth is like death in that it kills. When I killed I did it with truth not with a knife. That is why they are afraid and in a hurry to execute me. They do not fear my knife. It is my truth which frightens them.
A few years after this book was published, El Saadawi might have felt that these words were prophetic, for she too would be punished for speaking her truth. She would later say, "Danger has been a part of my life ever since I picked up a pen and wrote. Nothing is more perilous than truth in a world that lies." She was released one month after President Sadat was assassinated.
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by the authorities" and was doing research into the psychological problems of Egyptian women and the links between mental illness and oppression (she's also a medical doctor). She was interested in prisons in part because her partner had spent 13 years in prison as a "political detainee". Little did she know, when she was interviewing female prisoners as a psychiatrist, that several years later she too would be a prisoner there.The prisoner that most interested El Saadawi was named Firdaus, a woman who had been convicted of killing a man and was sentenced to be executed, which she was in 1974. Her interviews with Firdaus would become the inspiration for Woman at Point Zero. The novel is told in the first person, as though Firdaus is speaking to El Saadawi, further blurring the lines between fact and fiction. In addition, the narrator repeats herself at times and has phrases which she uses over and over. Was this characteristic of Firdaus herself, or is it a literary technique introduced by the author? Perhaps it doesn't matter where the line is between fact and fiction, because in some ways it is the story of oppressed women everywhere.
Firdaus grew up in squalor with a brutal father and a mother whose eyes were dark and resigned. Her uncle saw potential in her, and took her to live with him and attend secondary school. When he marries, she is sent to boarding school. After graduating, she is married off to an elderly widower, and her life goes downhill from there. I'm not going to say much more about the plot, but it is related in a deadpan tone that only serves to emphasize the brutality and despair. The effects of poverty and oppression play out to the ultimate end in Firdaus' life. She reflects bitterly:
For death and truth are similar in that they both require a great courage if one wishes to face them. And truth is like death in that it kills. When I killed I did it with truth not with a knife. That is why they are afraid and in a hurry to execute me. They do not fear my knife. It is my truth which frightens them.
A few years after this book was published, El Saadawi might have felt that these words were prophetic, for she too would be punished for speaking her truth. She would later say, "Danger has been a part of my life ever since I picked up a pen and wrote. Nothing is more perilous than truth in a world that lies." She was released one month after President Sadat was assassinated.
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LibraryThing member 1morechapter
“Now I realized that the least deluded of all women was the prostitute. That marriage was the system built on the most cruel suffering of women.”
Woman at Point Zero was written by Nawal El Saadawi in 1975. This feminist Egyptian author has quite a resume. She became a doctor in her early
This book was written as a result of her visiting a woman in prison. While she was studying neurosis in women, another doctor told her about a prisoner who refused to ask for a pardon from the President for the crime of killing her pimp. After the author heard the woman’s story, she couldn’t sleep for days until she started writing this book. (Source: BBC World Book Club interview)
Firdaus tells her life story from the beginning, from being touched by her uncle inappropriately, to being married off and beaten by her 60+ year old husband, to being raped and then finally becoming a prostitute. It is a harrowing story and one I won’t easily forget. The book is short and it is structured to repeat in a few places, but this was intentionally done by the author to good effect. Highly recommended for those interested in women’s issues and feminist fiction.
“Everybody has to die. I prefer to die for a crime I have committed rather than to die for one of the crimes which you have committed.”
Woman at Point Zero was written by Nawal El Saadawi in 1975. This feminist Egyptian author has quite a resume. She became a doctor in her early
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twenties in 1955. She campaigned against female circumcision in Egypt for over 50 years, with the practice not becoming illegal until 2008. Early in her career she lost her job as Director of Public Health because of her campaign. Later, she was even imprisoned by the Sadat regime over a political matter. And, not only that, she has written at least 16 books on women’s issues.This book was written as a result of her visiting a woman in prison. While she was studying neurosis in women, another doctor told her about a prisoner who refused to ask for a pardon from the President for the crime of killing her pimp. After the author heard the woman’s story, she couldn’t sleep for days until she started writing this book. (Source: BBC World Book Club interview)
Firdaus tells her life story from the beginning, from being touched by her uncle inappropriately, to being married off and beaten by her 60+ year old husband, to being raped and then finally becoming a prostitute. It is a harrowing story and one I won’t easily forget. The book is short and it is structured to repeat in a few places, but this was intentionally done by the author to good effect. Highly recommended for those interested in women’s issues and feminist fiction.
“Everybody has to die. I prefer to die for a crime I have committed rather than to die for one of the crimes which you have committed.”
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LibraryThing member R3dH00d
Book 1: Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi
I've been meaning to read something by Saadawi for several years now, but you generally can't find her in bookstores, and I've really cut back on buying books online, so I was glad to receive this book for Christmas. My expectations weren't undermined.
She reminds me of W. G. Sebald in that you have no idea of what's real and what's fiction. In that way, her story of Firdaus's oppression by and rebellion against the patriarchal order is even more compelling.
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I've been meaning to read something by Saadawi for several years now, but you generally can't find her in bookstores, and I've really cut back on buying books online, so I was glad to receive this book for Christmas. My expectations weren't undermined.
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Saadawi is a powerful writer, who through terse but poetic language, pulls you into a world utterly different than your own and utterly different from what you think you know.She reminds me of W. G. Sebald in that you have no idea of what's real and what's fiction. In that way, her story of Firdaus's oppression by and rebellion against the patriarchal order is even more compelling.
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LibraryThing member ZedBooks
"Nawal el Saadawi writes with directness and passion, transforming the systematic brutalisation of peasants and of women in to powerful allegory" - New York Times Book Review
"Scorching" - New Internationalist
"A powerful indictment of the treatment of women in many parts of the Middle East" -
"Woman at Point Zero should begin the long march towards a realistic and sympathetic portrayal of Arab women" - Middle East International
"A dramatic symbolised version of female revolt against the norms of the Arab world" - The Guardian
"El Saadawi has a flair for melodrama and mystery" - International Journal of Middle East Studies
"It is a remarkable book. Painful, compulsive reading. I am sure some of you know all about it but for those who don't this short novel, or creative non-fiction as the author describes it, is the story of Fidraus, a prostitute about to be executed for murdering her pimp. Her life is recounted in a little over 100 pages but each one leaves an indelible mark. This is a tale of injustice, inequality and sheer bad luck to rival all those bloody misery memoirs that litter the supermarkets but it is written with such grace and skill as to be on a par with the finest literature of this or any era. [...] Leaves an indelible mark. This is a tale of injustice, inequality and sheer bad luck…written with such grace and skill as to be on a part with the finest literature of this or any era… haunting, poetic and fiercely relevant". - Scott Pack, The Friday Project
"Scorching" - New Internationalist
"A powerful indictment of the treatment of women in many parts of the Middle East" -
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Labour Herald"Woman at Point Zero should begin the long march towards a realistic and sympathetic portrayal of Arab women" - Middle East International
"A dramatic symbolised version of female revolt against the norms of the Arab world" - The Guardian
"El Saadawi has a flair for melodrama and mystery" - International Journal of Middle East Studies
"It is a remarkable book. Painful, compulsive reading. I am sure some of you know all about it but for those who don't this short novel, or creative non-fiction as the author describes it, is the story of Fidraus, a prostitute about to be executed for murdering her pimp. Her life is recounted in a little over 100 pages but each one leaves an indelible mark. This is a tale of injustice, inequality and sheer bad luck to rival all those bloody misery memoirs that litter the supermarkets but it is written with such grace and skill as to be on a par with the finest literature of this or any era. [...] Leaves an indelible mark. This is a tale of injustice, inequality and sheer bad luck…written with such grace and skill as to be on a part with the finest literature of this or any era… haunting, poetic and fiercely relevant". - Scott Pack, The Friday Project
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LibraryThing member PilgrimJess
"I KNEW THAT MY PROFESSION HAD BEEN INVENTED BY MEN....................MEN FORCE WOMEN TO SELL THEIR BODIES AT A PRICE, AND THAT THE LOWEST PAID BODY IS THAT OF A WIFE.ALL WOMEN ARE PROSTITUTES OF ONE KIND OR ANOTHER."
Now at first reading this seems to be some feminist rant at the male dominated
The book tells the story of Firdaus who is born into poverty to a father who does not respect women and sees daughters worth in how much he can get for them by way of a dowry. Firdaus is from an early age abused sexually and physically not only by her father but also those other relatives who should be protecting her. Eventually she turns to prostitution as a means of controlling her own destiny. In the end she realises that all she is really doing is making money for different men who are supposedly proecting her, pimp, police, doctors, lawyers etc and finally is sentenced to death for killing her pimp who was trying to kill her. whereupon she finally discovers that the only way to embrace death.
Now this book is set in 1970's Egypt but it still has a relevance in todays world. Women in many parts of the world are still seen as second class citizens where discrimination is rife and opportunities are indeed limited but as I stated at the top it is not just women who have their life choices chosen for them by their birthright. So do many men. In countries where lack of affordable schooloing and a need to earn money for the family can stymie their life chances. Just look at the caste system in India for instance. After all the two most decisive factors in social progression whether female or male has to be education and opportunity. This is a book that really should be every schools reading sylybus.
For as Firdaus says "FOR DURING LIFE IT IS OUR WANTS, OUR HOPES, OUR FEARS THAT ENSLAVE US."
Now at first reading this seems to be some feminist rant at the male dominated
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world but whilst the 'heroine' of this book is indeed a woman, as is the writer, there is more to this book than that.The book tells the story of Firdaus who is born into poverty to a father who does not respect women and sees daughters worth in how much he can get for them by way of a dowry. Firdaus is from an early age abused sexually and physically not only by her father but also those other relatives who should be protecting her. Eventually she turns to prostitution as a means of controlling her own destiny. In the end she realises that all she is really doing is making money for different men who are supposedly proecting her, pimp, police, doctors, lawyers etc and finally is sentenced to death for killing her pimp who was trying to kill her. whereupon she finally discovers that the only way to embrace death.
Now this book is set in 1970's Egypt but it still has a relevance in todays world. Women in many parts of the world are still seen as second class citizens where discrimination is rife and opportunities are indeed limited but as I stated at the top it is not just women who have their life choices chosen for them by their birthright. So do many men. In countries where lack of affordable schooloing and a need to earn money for the family can stymie their life chances. Just look at the caste system in India for instance. After all the two most decisive factors in social progression whether female or male has to be education and opportunity. This is a book that really should be every schools reading sylybus.
For as Firdaus says "FOR DURING LIFE IT IS OUR WANTS, OUR HOPES, OUR FEARS THAT ENSLAVE US."
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LibraryThing member VikkiLaw
There's not really a rating for "I didn't really like this book because of its intensity and depictions of how systemic and accepted violence against women is, BUT I think that this is an important contribution and an important subject and I am glad that Nawal El Saadawi had the courage and
While I personally was so horrorstruck at these depictions that I will probably never reread this book, it is a brilliant, horrifying novel.
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brilliance to write it." So I chose 3 stars as the rating that comes closest to it. While I personally was so horrorstruck at these depictions that I will probably never reread this book, it is a brilliant, horrifying novel.
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LibraryThing member g9rocks64
Based upon the files of women Dr. el-Sa'dawi interviewed while researching her book "Women and Neurosis," this novel's main character is Firdaus, a woman on Egypt's death row for killing a would be pimp. The story is set up as an interview/biography of Firdaus, and her tale provides the reader new
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insight to the life that many women lead, even in "progressive" Islamic states such as Egypt. A very brief novel and a quick read, it is a must for those wishing to better understand the emerging third world and Islam. Show Less
LibraryThing member Kristelh
This is a short work, a creative non-fiction, and so powerful. The author's story is a story as well. The author published this book in 1975 but starting work on it after she lost her position as the Director of Health Education and the Editor-in-Chief of Health magazine after the publication of
Quote
"I knew that [prostitution] had been invented by men, and that men were in control of both our worlds, the one on earth, and the one in heaven. That men force women to sell their bodies at a price, and that the lowest paid body that of a wife. All women are prostitutes of one kind or another. " Firdaus.
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Women and Sex. The author was researching neurosis in Eygptian women and learned about Firdaus, a women accused of murder and sentenced to die. The setting is the Qanatir Prison where the author is interviewing the prisoner and the story is Firdaus' first person account of her story just before her execution in 1974. It is a story of the 1. subjugation of women and 2. Women's freedom in a patriarchal society. What it was to me, was the story of the process of how Firdaus became a strong woman, who freed herself but dependency on men. It was a slow and painful process and this is a hard but still optimistic story. The author, herself, was imprisoned in 1981 for political offenses. Quote
"I knew that [prostitution] had been invented by men, and that men were in control of both our worlds, the one on earth, and the one in heaven. That men force women to sell their bodies at a price, and that the lowest paid body that of a wife. All women are prostitutes of one kind or another. " Firdaus.
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LibraryThing member amerynth
Nawal El Saadwai's book "Woman at Point Zero" is a short but powerful book about the struggle of women in a patriarchal society. I really enjoyed the book, which appears to have its roots in a true story.
The book tells the story of Firdaus, an Egyptian woman who is on death row when the author
Firdaus story is both interesting and heartbreaking.
The book tells the story of Firdaus, an Egyptian woman who is on death row when the author
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interviews her. She worked as a prostitute and killed a pimp that was trying to control her. She attempted more legitimate work, even marriage, but found that she was subjugated and controlled no matter what path she chose in life. Firdaus story is both interesting and heartbreaking.
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LibraryThing member jmoncton
This is the story of Firdaus, a girl born in Egypt to a poor family. Although she is intelligent, resourceful, and has a strong spirit, there are so few choices for her as a woman in her society. She is fortunate to have a secondary certificate (middle school?), but after being repeatedly raped,
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abused and beaten by family members (including her husband), she realizes that selling herself as a prostitute is a better alternative than being married - at least she chooses her partner and gets paid for her body. The story is told in prison on Firdaus' last day of life before she is executed for murdering a man. Brutally honest, bleak and powerful. Show Less
LibraryThing member MeisterPfriem
Nawal El Saadawi met Firdaus while visiting Qanatir Prison doing research on neurosis in Egyptian women. This is the story of her life as told to the author on the day of her execution. Firdaus is an extraordinary woman; enslaved all her life by men and by her wants, by hopes, by fears, she says at
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the end: „I have triumphed over both life and death because I no longer desire to live, nor do I any longer fear to die. I want nothing. I hope for nothing. I fear nothing. Therefor I am free.“ She rejects asking the President for a pardon: „Everybody has to die. I prefer to die for a crime I have committed rather than to die for one of the crimes which you have committed.“ Her story will stay with you. (V-18) Show Less
LibraryThing member Dreesie
El-Saadawi was a trained and professional psychologist before she became an author. This book is a novelization of an Egyptian prostitute's life ("Firdaus")—how and why she became a prostitute. When she was interviewed, she was in prison awaiting death for killing her pimp.
Firdaus's entire life
A depressing book.
Firdaus's entire life
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was in serving men--first her father, then her uncle (who did send her away to school, mostly to get her out of their house). This poor girl just wanted to lead what the middle/upper classes in Egypt (like the author herself) would consider a normal life. School, work, marriage, family. Instead she was treated as a slave, beaten, sold, used, and ignored by the police/courts until she killed a man and they decided to kill her. The choices were all made by the men around her. Men beat women, as they were "property". It wasn't until she realized this and decided to use what little power she had--in killing her pimp--that Firdaus was satisfied that she did truly have power.A depressing book.
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LibraryThing member fionaanne
I didn't like this book at all. Part of me feels like I'm being a bad feminist because its important for the stories of victimized and oppressed women in fiercely patriarchal societies to be heard. But said biographies should also be well-written and this is yet another book in search of an editor,
I recieved a copy of this book from the publisher for review through GoodReads.
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sadly.I recieved a copy of this book from the publisher for review through GoodReads.
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LibraryThing member kaitanya64
This author is well known for her women's rights activism. The story was repetitive, which was related to the main point about women's situations and lives, but I didn't feel like the protagonist really developed into a rounded person. There was one main point and the book just hammered away at it.
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Worth reading however. It's short and fast to read. Show Less
LibraryThing member greeniezona
This absolutely blew me away. It's been on my list for years now, and I am so glad I finally picked it up. ALL THE CONTENT WARNINGS for sexual violence and coercion. The energy kind of reminded me of SCUM Manifesto, except with literary motifs instead of manic energy.
Such a harrowing and moving and
Such a harrowing and moving and
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stark depiction of the "damned if you do, damned if you don't" bind misogynist cultures place on women. Read when you want to burn all men down to the ground. Show Less
Original publication date
1975
1983 (English translation)
Physical description
iv, 106 p.; 20 cm
ISBN
0862321107 / 9780862321109
Local notes
Fiction