Ahdaf Soueif's first fiction offering since The Map of Love, which was shortlisted for the 1999 Man Booker Prize, is actually a repackaging of nine stories originally published between 1983 and 1996.Set primarily in Egypt and the United Kingdom, each of the stories features a female character. Throughout the collection Soueif focuses on the interior life of her protagonists and the ordering of the stories lends some sense of a progressively maturing voice. The collection, however, does seem a bit uneven. With the first five stories developing two specific characters, the protagonists of the final stories seem comparatively inchoate. The first three stories--"Knowing," "1964," and "Returning"--show three different epochs in the life of Aisha, an Egyptian woman who immigrated to the United Kingdom in her teens. "Mandy" and "Satan" feature Asya, a woman separated from her husband who is dealing in different ways with the repercussions of their broken marriage and his philandering.In the title story, which is arguably the collection's strongest, the unnamed first-person narrator has been hospitalized due to a high-risk pregnancy. With her husband in London unable to get a visa, and her family in Cairo, she is alone, the only patient not observing purdah. She survives her hospitalization by invoking an elderly friend, confidante, and role model who died of cancer. If the stories have a unifying theme it is that of estrangement; estrangement (both emotional and physical) from husbands, as well as from the homeland and the culture of one's childhood. While I think of you lacks the refinement of Soueif's later work, it is nevertheless worth reading. Her stories are touching, nostalgic, but never overly so. Soueif's prose is lyrical and this collection is buoyed by her ability to give her readers an extraordinary sense of place.
'I Think of You' is a compilation of selected stories from Soueif's "Aisha" and "Sandpiper". Having read 'The Map of Love' several times , I must admit that Soueif manages to retain her ability of intriguing the reader. This title is a very light read,one you can complete in one sitting, because thats what you'd want to do without even realizing. Armed with one of the best writing techniques and rich cultural background(very reminiscent of Isabel Allende) Ahdaf Soueif has managed to (yet again) create a beautiful literary masterpiece ,it's presence on your bookshelf will linger longer than you imagined.
What do You think about I Think Of You: Stories (2007)?
Actually, it is 3.5 , my rates differ as the following :Knowing (3)I liked the detailing of the Egyptian traditions .1964 (3)Returning (5)My favorite one , the scene when Aisha found her wedding dress and forward touched me deeply Mandy (4)A detailed part from (in the eye of the sun) , it was interesting to see Seif in anther female eyesSatan (5)Anther detailed part from (in the eye of the sun) , good expression of the inability of coming back.Chez Milou (3)Melody (3)I think of you (4)Sandpiper (4)
—Niledaughter
I looked out to sea and, now I realize, I was trying to work out my coordinates. I thought a lot about the water and the sand as I sat there watching them meet and flirt and touch. I tried to understand that I was on the edge, the very edge of Africa; that the vastness ahead was nothing compared to what lay behind me. But even though I’d been there and seen for myself its never-ending dusty green interior, its mountains, the big sky, my mind could not grasp a world that was not present to my senses. I could see the beach, the waves, the blue beyond, and cradling them all, my baby.
—metaphor
The three stars on this book is not a measurement of the quality of the stories therein but rather a symbol of my own prejudice towards short stories in general. It is unfair to label the prose of Ahdaf Souief as "average" since the flourishing, descriptive language here is quite beautiful at times. I struggle with short stories since I always want to know more about what happened to get a character to here and what comes next, I thought putting three stars would be better than putting none as I would prefer since I am in no way qualified to make even an educated judgement on how good these are, but if I had left it blank it may have looked as though I hated the book which is far from accurate.
—Mark
