Youthful predicaments
On the vital role played by sociologists and psychologists in helping young people face their problems on both the behavioural and educational levels, Hassan Ghanem wrote his book al-Shabab al-Moaser wa Azamatuh (Contemporary Youth and their Predicaments). Ghanem tackles the problems of marriage, the high rates of spinsterhood and divorce, female circumcision, and midlife crisis. The book was published by Dar al-Kitab al-Arabi (The Arabic Book House) and the Egyptian Lebanese House.
Hurghada
Al-Bustani Publishing House has published film director Ra’fat al-Mihy’s new novel. Mihy used the charming Red Sea region of Hurghada as a setting for his romance Hurghada…Sihr al-Eshq (Hurghada…Charm of Love).
Knowledge vs superstition
It is shocking that many Egyptians appear to be infected with a morbid fear of science and knowledge. Regrettably, we do not believe in science but we believe in superstition. With this in mind, Khaled Montassir wrote his book Phobia al-Elm (The Phobia of Knowledge). Montassir attempts to expose the false ‘religious concepts’ so widely spread in the Egyptian community. He cites the viewpoints of such great Egyptian philosophers as Zaki Naguib Mahmoud who was both a believer in God and science and saw no conflict between both. The book includes a comprehensive study on scientific method as opposed to non-scientific ones. It also deals with the battles spurred by religious misconceptions as opposed to scientific thinking in the Middle Ages. As for contemporary battles, the author presents the details of issues severely affected by religious fallacies, including family planning, female circumcision, organ transplant pre-marriage medical check-ups, and such like. The book was issued in 198 pages and published by Akhbar al-Youm.
Nubian home
The National Centre for Translation recently issued an Arabic version of the English book Zakharif al-Manzil al-Nubi (House Decoration in Nubia) by Marian Wenzel. The book, which was described as “individual creativity in an innovative context”, includes a detailed description of the decorations of some Nubian houses in an area straddling the border between Egypt and Sudan, which was due to be flooded by the Aswan Dam in 1964. Wenzel’s work was carried out in the early 1960s when she toured the villages in the extreme south of Egypt and extending 100 miles into North of Sudan. In this region, both the entrances to houses and the inside walls of rooms were elaborately decorated with paintings and mud sculptures. Wenzel’s purpose was to record the art and discover its significance before it was destroyed by the dam flooding.