Woman at Point Zero: Second Edition
by Nawal El Saadawi
List Price:
Our Price: $8.81
You Save: $6.14 (41%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $7.94 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Nawal El SaadawiEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-08-15
ISBN: 1842778730
Number of pages: 128
Publisher: Zed Books
Book Reviews of Woman at Point Zero: Second Edition
Book Review: Maybe the Best Thing about It Was Its Ferocity
Summary: 3 Stars
This novel was written in 1973 and translated into English in 1983 by the author's husband. The author has been called -- in the West -- the leading speaker on the status of women in the Arab world and -- by Denys Johnson-Davies -- the most widely read Arab writer in the English-speaking world after Naguib Mahfouz. How different these two writers are in their style and concerns.
El-Saadawi has stated that her book was inspired by the experiences of a woman interviewed in prison. This reader was struck mainly by the starkness of the outlook and presentation, and the ferocity underlying it. There was no room for subtlety, nuance or other complexities in this tale. All women were victims/prostitutes, all men were exploiters. No one could be trusted, and love and any meaningful contact were unattainable. The only way for a woman to rebel significantly against exploitation or achieve "liberation" was to commit murder.
The most affecting section for this reader was the beginning -- which felt like the most realistic part -- where the a young girl struggled alone against unloving adults, had her first sexual experience, sought an outlet in education, and became aware of the drastic limitations society imposed on her. Her naiveté and confusion amid these depressing circumstances were presented well.
Later in the story, after she ran away from her husband, things became schematic and predictable -- every man she trusted was going to betray her -- and the main character's shifts between naiveté and cynicism began to feel confusing. As an adult, after all she'd experienced, why should she have cared if a client didn't respect her, or have felt surprised? The ending was indeed stark and made me feel the tragedy of a person who had to resort to murder to feel some sense of dignity. Though I could well believe many elements of this story of gender and class oppression reflected experience, I couldn't help thinking -- hoping -- that reality was slightly less black and white.
The author's many other works include several autobiographies, of which one, Memoirs of a Woman Doctor (1965), discussed her childhood in ways that echoed and underlined the experiences of the main character in Woman at Point Zero. One of Johnson-Davies' anthologies, The Anchor Book of Modern Arabic Fiction (2006), included a short story by the author in which a woman's oppression didn't end even in death but continued into the afterlife, where a deceased wife had to share eternity with her husband and two rivals.
Summary of Woman at Point Zero: Second Edition
"All the men I did get to know, every single man of them, has filled me with but one desire: to lift my hand and bring it smashing down on his face. But because I am a woman I have never had the courage to lift my hand. And because I am a prostitute, I hid my fear under layers of make-up." --Excerpt
This is a new edition of the best-selling novel with a specially commissioned new Foreword by Miriam Cooke.
Political Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Political Books
Spinning Dixieby Eric Dezenhall
Thomas Dunne Books; Published: 2006-12-26; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $2.69
Price in other shops:
Doing Dangerously Wellby Carole Enahoro
Vintage Canada; Published: 2011-05-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.47
Price in other shops:
The Autobiography Of Joseph Stalin: A Novelby Richard Lourie
Da Capo Press; Published: 2000-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.75
Price in other shops:
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovichby Aleksandr Isaevich Solzhenitsyn
Henry Holt & Co (P); Published: 1978-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.98
The Blue Woundby Garet Garrett
General Books LLC; Published: 2012-01-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.14
Phineas Finn (Oxford World's Classics)by Anthony Trollope, Simon Dentith
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2011-12-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.18
Price in other shops:
The Woman Who Did (Oxford Popular Fiction)by Grant Allen
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 1995-06-29; Paperback; Book
Price in other shops:
Blood Kin: A Novelby Ceridwen Dovey
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2009-02-24; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops:
The Army of the Republic: A Novelby Stuart Archer Cohen
St. Martin's Press; Published: 2008-09-02; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $0.78
Price in other shops:
Citizen Vince: A Novelby Jess Walter
Harper; Published: 2005-04-12; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $2.58
Price in other shops:
Similar Books and other products
Changes: A Love Storyby Ama Ata Aidoo
The Feminist Press at CUNY; Published: 1993-11-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.96
Price in other shops:
A Walk in the Night and Other Storiesby Alex La Guma
Northwestern University Press; Published: 1968-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.95
Price in other shops:
Blue Aubergine (Modern Arabic Literature)by Al-Tahawy
AUC Press; Published: 2007-02-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.66
Price in other shops:
The Laramie Projectby Moises Kaufman
Vintage; Published: 2001-09-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.87
Price in other shops:
For Bread Aloneby Mohamed Choukri
Telegram Books; Published: 2007-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.76
Price in other shops:
Midaq Alleyby Naguib Mahfouz
Anchor; Published: 1992-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops:
Houseboy (African Writers)by Ferdinand Oyono
Heinemann; Published: 1991-08-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.99
Price in other shops:
God's Bits of Woodby Sembene Ousmane
Longman; Published: 2008-08-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.00
Price in other shops:
The Story of Zahra: A Novelby Hanan Al-Shaykh
Anchor; Published: 1996-12-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.49
Price in other shops:
![Nervous Conditions [Import] Image](/images/Nervous-Conditions-Import-0954702336-X.jpg){kind=small}
Nervous Conditions [Import]by Tsitsi Dangarembga
Lynne Rienner Publishers; Published: 2004-10-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.47
Price in other shops: