Saudi Arabia: Munira's Bottle (Yousef Al-Mohaimeed, trans. Anthony Calderbank)
Yousef Al-Mohaimeed (b. 1964) was born in Riyadh during Ramadan. He was a sickly child and his love of reading developed during this period when he couldn’t leave the house. He initially planned to pursue painting and photography, his first loves, but at 15 he plunged more deeply into literature, and began to publish short stories. He attended the Faculty of Management Science at King Saud University where he become politically active and edited the magazine Hiwar which was soon banned. His work was controversial in his country, and he published primarily outside of Saudi Arabia. He worked in accounting and journalism for a while after graduation before traveling to the United Kingdom to learn English and do some photography. He continues to be a contentious figure, and many of his works are banned in his homeland.
Background: There is evidence of many pre-historic cultures in the region, including those of the Dilmun, the Thamud, the Kindah, and the Al-Magar. Muhammed was born in Mecca around 570. He united many tribes in the peninsula under Islam and created a single state. Upon his death, Abu Bakr became the first Caliph, putting down rebellions as well as attacks by the Byzantines. Under the first few Caliphs, territory expanded as the Muslims defeated the Byzantines and the Persians. The Umayyad Empire fell in 750 and tribal rule took over most of the area. In Mecca, the Umayyad Caliphs still reigned, later falling under the Marwanids, and then the Sharifate. The Hashemite Sharifs of Mecca maintained a state from the 10th century all the way until the 20th. In 1517, Selim I (an Ottoman) conquered Medina and Mecca as well as other pieces of the Saudi peninsula. The Sharifs maintained their own piece, while tribes lived in the middle. The modern Saudi dynasty emerged in the 1744 when Muhammad ibn Saud, a tribal ruler helped found the Wahhabi movement. His alliances helped centralize power, and his family gained wealth and control over the next 150 years. The Ottomans were frequently in conflict with the Saudis, with control shifting regularly. Al Saud become in charge once again in 1824, although there were skirmishes with the Rashidis of Ha’il. At the down of the 20th century, the Ottomans still maintained some control, and in 1916, a revolt was led by Hussein bin Ali against the Ottomans with the support of the British and the French. The peninsula was eventually freed, but a single unified state was not formed. Abdul-Aziz bin Saud slowly took control over most of the modern state, and in 1927, the United Kingdom recognized his rule. In 1930, the ‘Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’ was born and borders slowly established. Once oil was found, the country’s wealth grew considerably, and was the source of many 20th century conflicts. Anti-government riots in the 1979 and 1980 were quelled, while the Islamist extremists also protested, resulting in stricter Islamic law put in place. Relative stability has been maintained in the country, although the totalitarian nature of the government, treatment of women, and repressive policies continue to draw criticism.
Munira’s Bottle is an odd book as an outsider to the Middle East. Despite being written by a man, the main character is a Saudi woman in her 30s, who has recently been deeply betrayed by a love. The novel tells the story of this treachery, set against the backdrop of first Persia Gulf war, after Desert Storm. The man with whom Munira falls in love is supposedly a part of this military involvement, but he is constantly giving her fairly unbelievable excuses which she somehow believes. In parallel, we see many scenes of Saudi family live, as well as the fights for women’s rights that were going on. This is all fairly interesting, but I was struck over and over but the poorly constructed character of Munira herself. It is so clear that she is written by a man; while Al-Mohaimeed might be a progressive by Saudi standards, his understanding of women is laughable. On one hand, Munira is educated, a writer, and she works in the Young Woman’s Remand Center. On the other, she is highly controlled by her father and brother, she will not protest for women to drive, she is seemingly totally fine with beatings and reprimands she receives, and her own consciousness of restrictions is portrayed in a very simplistic way. I appreciate that the author wants to show the plight of women in his country, but I did not find that he is able to successfully do this. His own prejudices are too much in the way. It is worth reading for the evocative scenes of Saudi life, but for anyone remotely concerned with women’s rights, it’s a hard read.
