Comments on: But Why Always George Eliot? Ahdaf Soueif’s In the Eye of the Sun and Middlemarch

By: Rohan

Rohan — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 14:42:52 +0000

I think you’re right about Said being, not a direct model for Omar, maybe, but certainly an inspiration for that character.

I couldn’t agree more about wanting another George Eliot. I admit, I didn’t like We Need to Talk About Kevin. I wonder if A. S. Byatt isn’t the closest we’ve got, except to me she lacks something of the warmth and compassion that moves me so much in GE’s best moments.

By: Susan Messer

Susan Messer — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 15:14:00 +0000

P.S. The comment about Edward Said as model for a character in Soueif’s novel is really on the level of gossip. Just a thought. As a novelist myself, I find these kinds of comments from readers annoying. Funny that I couldn’t help thinking that myself. I do know how we draw from the world around us. Also, re: Shriver and Elliot and Soueif and Elliot . . . I was thinking “I guess we want another George Eliot.”

By: Susan Messer

Susan Messer — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 14:34:24 +0000

Thanks, Rohan. That NY event sounds wonderful. When I was reading Map of Love, I was convinced that Edward Said was in part the model for that dashing musician/conductor in New York (can’t remember the characters’ names; should go back and reread your post on that novel). It was the physical appearance and the charisma. And it’s funny about “Egypt’s George Eliot.” I recently thought something similar about Lionel Shriver (not Egypt’s George Eliot, but “a contemporary George Eliot”). Have you read her work? I had that thought because of the broad reach of her novels (especially We Need to Talk about Kevin and Post-Birthday World) and Shriver’s fearless exploration of the crevices of the human soul. But I’m not certain that assertion would stand up under academic analysis. It’s far more impressionistic.

By: Rohan Maitzen

Rohan Maitzen — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 00:20:30 +0000

Susan: How interesting! I have not had the opportunity to hear Soueif speak in person, though I have wondered if at some point I might try to interview her as part of my work on her novels. I have watched a video of a talk that sounds similar to the one you mention; I discuss it briefly here in a post on a different novelist who has also found himself on the front lines of American attempts to understand (or not) their relationship with the Middle East. She's giving a lecture at Columbia University in March of this year, in honour of Edward Said, but unfortunately it's impossible for me to get down for that. The connections to Middlemarch in both of her novels are not made much of in the books themselves, and yet once I started looking there did seem to be a lot of resonance, as well as more explicit mentions than I noticed on a first read. Soueif has also remarked the influence of George Eliot on her writing, and she has been called by some journalists "Egypt's George Eliot." Trying to figure out just why these two writers might, in some ways, go together has become very interesting to me! Thanks again for commenting--and never worry about going on too long. I certainly have no knack for brevity, though it is supposed to be a virtue in a blogger!

By: Susan Messer

Susan Messer — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 21:20:41 +0000

I know you wrote these posts about Soueif’s novels quite a while ago, but I have just discovered your blog. My husband and I have been great fans of Soueif for years, and haven’t had a reason to think about her recently. Your posts gave us that reason, and we had a great conversation about her at dinner last night as I told him about discovering your blog and your careful reading and thinking about the two novels. He was grinning and wondering if she has anything else in the works, as we would surely love to read her again. I do agree with your reading of “Map of Love” and enjoyed your synopsis of “In the Eye,” but am embarrassed to report that a connection with Middlemarch had never occurred to me. Maybe it is too long ago that I read the novel (likely at least 10 years), but I don’t even remember the references to Middlemarch that you mention. Oh well. Probably worth revisiting. Again, thank you for your work on this blog.

My husband and I saw Soueif twice in person–both times at the Chicago Humanities Festival, which occurs every year in November. The first time, “Map of Love” had just been published, and she did a reading/discussion. The second time was in 2001, so only two months after 9/11. Her topic–portrayal of Muslims and Arabs in Western media–had been selected and settled on long before the attacks, and we felt that she approached the topic with great sensitivity (related to the historical moment) but also honesty. She had film clips and texts and various visuals. To us, it seemed more important than ever to learn as much as possible about this topic, but we were shocked that a number of audience members were on the edge of belligerent and accused her of insensitivity. She handled the matter as gracefully as possible, but we wondered whether she would ever come back (and in fact she hasn’t). After the program, we spoke with her, apologizing for what seemed to be rudeness, and she did say that it had been difficult. And this was an audience of “humanitarians.”

Sorry to go on for so long. Thought you might appreciate the story, since you clearly care about Soueif’s work (I saw the reference to her in the latest post, via Kipling).