A House In Fez

Author : Suzanna Clarke
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1416545859
Total Pages : 292 pages
Book Rating : 4.59/5 ( download)

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Download or read book A House in Fez written by Suzanna Clarke and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2009-12-01 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Medina -- the Old City -- of Fez is the best-preserved, medieval walled city in the world. Inside this vibrant Moroccan community, internet cafes and mobile phones coexist with a maze of donkey-trod alleyways, thousand-year-old sewer systems, and Arab-style houses, gorgeous with intricate, if often shabby, mosaic work. While vacationing in Morocco, Suzanna Clarke and her husband, Sandy, are inspired to buy a dilapidated, centuries-old riad in Fez with the aim of restoring it to its original splendor, using only traditional craftsmen and handmade materials. So begins a remarkable adventure that is bewildering, at times hilarious, and ultimately immensely rewarding. A House in Fez chronicles their meticulous restoration, but it is also a journey into Moroccan customs and lore and a window into the lives of its people as friendships blossom. When the riad is finally returned to its former glory, Suzanna finds she has not just restored an old house, but also her soul.

Author : Paul Bowles
Publisher : Harper Collins
ISBN 13 : 0062119362
Total Pages : 432 pages
Book Rating : 4.60/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Spider's House written by Paul Bowles and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2011-11-15 with total page 432 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Set in Fez, Morocco, during that country's 1954 nationalist uprising, The Spider's House is perhaps Paul Bowles's most beautifully subtle novel, richly descriptive of its setting and uncompromising in its characterizations. Exploring once again the dilemma of the outsider in an alien society, and the gap in understanding between cultures—recurrent themes of Paul Bowles's writings—The Spider's House is dramatic, brutally honest, and shockingly relevant to today's political situation in the Middle East and elsewhere.

Author : Suzanna Clarke
Publisher : Viking
ISBN 13 : 9780670070350
Total Pages : 293 pages
Book Rating : 4.51/5 ( download)

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Download or read book A House in Fez written by Suzanna Clarke and published by Viking. This book was released on 2007-01-01 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Suzanna Clarke and her husband Sandy McCutcheon bought a dilapidated house in the Fez Medina, their friends in Australia thought they were mad. Located in a maze of donkey-trod alleyways, the house - an Arab-style riad - was beautiful but in desperate need of repair. Walls were in danger of collapse, the plumbing non-existent. While neither Suzanna nor Sandy spoke Arabic and had only a smattering of French, they were determined to restore the house to its original splendour, using traditional craftsmen and handmade materials. So began a remarkable experience that veered between frustration, hilarity and moments of pure exhilaration. But restoring the house was only part of their immersion in the rich and colourful life of this ancient city. A House In Fez is a journey into Moroccan culture - into it's day-to-day rhythms, its customs and festivals. Into its history, Islam, and Sufi rituals. Into the lore of djinns and spirits. And above all, into the lives of all of the people - warm, friendly, hospitable to a fault.

Author : Titus Burckhardt
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 192 pages
Book Rating : 4.19/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Fez, City of Islam written by Titus Burckhardt and published by . This book was released on 1992 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fez: City of Islam is undoubtedly one of Titus Burckhardt's masterpieces. It conveys a profound understanding of the sacred roots that nourish Islamic culture and civilisation. As a young man in the 1930s, Burckhardt spent some years in Morocco where he became acquainted with several remarkable representatives of the spiritual heritage of the Maghrib. Although he committed much of this experience to writing, it was not until the 1950s that these writings were developed into a book. In Fez: City of Islam, Burckhardt writes of the history of a people and their religion--a history that was often violent, often heroic and sometimes holy. The book relates the teachings, parables and miracles of the saints of many centuries and demonstrates not only the arts and crafts of Islamic civilisation, but also its sciences and administrative skills. Burckhardt's unique black and white photographs from the 1930s are included. In addition 41 new colour illustrations have been specially selected to enhance Burckhardt's originals. Here, text and illustrations come together to provide an insight into the way the life of a people can be transformed at every level by a religious tradition.

Author : Tahir Shah
Publisher : Bantam
ISBN 13 : 0553902318
Total Pages : 370 pages
Book Rating : 4.10/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Caliph's House written by Tahir Shah and published by Bantam. This book was released on 2006-01-31 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the tradition of A Year in Provence and Under the Tuscan Sun, acclaimed English travel writer Tahir Shah shares a highly entertaining account of making an exotic dream come true. By turns hilarious and harrowing, here is the story of his family’s move from the gray skies of London to the sun-drenched city of Casablanca, where Islamic tradition and African folklore converge–and nothing is as easy as it seems…. Inspired by the Moroccan vacations of his childhood, Tahir Shah dreamed of making a home in that astonishing country. At age thirty-six he got his chance. Investing what money he and his wife, Rachana, had, Tahir packed up his growing family and bought Dar Khalifa, a crumbling ruin of a mansion by the sea in Casablanca that once belonged to the city’s caliph, or spiritual leader. With its lush grounds, cool, secluded courtyards, and relaxed pace, life at Dar Khalifa seems sure to fulfill Tahir’s fantasy–until he discovers that in many ways he is farther from home than he imagined. For in Morocco an empty house is thought to attract jinns, invisible spirits unique to the Islamic world. The ardent belief in their presence greatly hampers sleep and renovation plans, but that is just the beginning. From elaborate exorcism rituals involving sacrificial goats to dealing with gangster neighbors intent on stealing their property, the Shahs must cope with a new culture and all that comes with it. Endlessly enthralling, The Caliph’s House charts a year in the life of one family who takes a tremendous gamble. As we follow Tahir on his travels throughout the kingdom, from Tangier to Marrakech to the Sahara, we discover a world of fierce contrasts that any true adventurer would be thrilled to call home.

Author : Walter Harris
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 390 pages
Book Rating : 4.35/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Morocco that was written by Walter Harris and published by . This book was released on 1921 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Author : Jeremy Seal
Publisher : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN 13 : 9780156003933
Total Pages : 364 pages
Book Rating : 4.37/5 ( download)

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Download or read book A Fez of the Heart written by Jeremy Seal and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This book was released on 1996 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The author recounts his adventures traveling through Turkey in search of the history of the fez, using it as a key to understanding the country's history and culture.

Author : Tahir Shah
Publisher : Bantam
ISBN 13 : 0553904531
Total Pages : 400 pages
Book Rating : 4.36/5 ( download)

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Download or read book In Arabian Nights written by Tahir Shah and published by Bantam. This book was released on 2007-12-26 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tahir Shah’s The Caliph’s House, describing his first year in Casablanca, was hailed by critics and compared to such travel classics as A Year in Provence and Under the Tuscan Sun. Now Shah takes us deeper into the heart of this exotic and magical land to uncover mysteries that have been hidden from Western eyes for centuries.… In this entertaining and penetrating book, Tahir sets out on a bold new journey across Morocco that becomes an adventure worthy of the mythical Arabian Nights. As he wends his way through the labyrinthine medinas of Fez and Marrakesh, traverses the Sahara sands, and tastes the hospitality of ordinary Moroccans, Tahir collects a dazzling treasury of traditional stories, gleaned from the heritage of A Thousand and One Nights. The tales, recounted by a vivid cast of characters, reveal fragments of wisdom and an oriental way of thinking that is both enthralling and fresh. A link in the chain of scholars and teachers who have passed these stories down for centuries like a baton in a relay race, Shah reaches layers of culture that most visitors hardly realize exist, and eventually discovers the story living in his own heart. Along the way he describes the colors, characters, and the passion of Morocco, and comes to understand why it is such an enchanting land. From master masons who labor only at night to Sufi wise men who write for soap operas, and Tuareg guides afflicted by reality TV, In Arabian Nights takes us on an unforgettable journey, shining a light on facets of a society that are normally left in darkness.

Author : Edith Wharton
Publisher : Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN 13 : 9781522863946
Total Pages : 104 pages
Book Rating : 4.4X/5 ( download)

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Download or read book In Morocco written by Edith Wharton and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2015-12-21 with total page 104 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1921, Edith Wharton became the first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize, earning the award for The Age of Innocence. But Wharton also wrote several other novels, as well as poems and short stories that made her not only famous but popular among her contemporaries. That included her good friend Henry James, and she counted among her acquaintances Teddy Roosevelt and Sinclair Lewis.

Author : Abdellah Hammoudi
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 9780226315270
Total Pages : 226 pages
Book Rating : 4.74/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Master and Disciple written by Abdellah Hammoudi and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 1997-10 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the postcolonial era, Arab societies have been ruled by a variety of authoritarian regimes. Focusing on his native Morocco, Abdellah Hammoudi explores the ideological and cultural foundations of this persistent authoritarianism. Building on the work of Foucault, Hammoudi argues that at the heart of Moroccan culture lies a paradigm of authority that juxtaposes absolute authority against absolute submission. Rooted in Islamic mysticism, this paradigm can be observed in the drama of mystic initiation, with its fundamental dialectic between Master and Disciple; in conflict with other cultural forms, and reelaborated in colonial and postcolonial circumstances, it informs all major aspects of Moroccan personal, political, and gender relations. Its influence is so pervasive and so firmly embedded that it ultimately legitimizes the authoritarian structure of power. Hammoudi contends that as long as the Master-Disciple dialectic remains the dominant paradigm of power relations, male authoritarianism will prevail as the dominant political form. "Connecting political domination to gift exchange, ritual initiation, social loyalty, and gender reversals, Master and Disciple is nothing less than a thoroughgoing revision of our understanding of authoritarian rule in Morocco and in the Arab world in general."—Clifford Geertz, Institute for Advanced Study