Edward Said

(click for larger photo)	The Question of Palestine
	by Edward W. Said

(click for larger photo)	Peace and Its Discontents
	by Edward Said

(click for larger photo)	Orientalism
	by Edward Said
A masterpiece about the origins of "knowledge"! by a Reader from Washington, DC, posted on Tuesday, Sep 30, 2003 Few books in the modern world have acquired the stature of Edward Said's "Orientalism". It has become the de facto authority on the Western perspective of the Middle Eastern and Oriental worlds. Using impeccable scholarship and irrefutable evidence from two centuries' worth of European writing about the East, Edward Said lays down an indisputable case about how Western so-called "objective" and "scientific" study of the East has been corrupted and is far from describing reality. "Orientalism"'s main achievement, however, spreads far beyond the arena of "Oriental Studies" or "Near Eastern Studies" as they are now called. This book demonstrates using an in-depth case study how an entire field of study can be constructed out of self-reinforcing fiction that tends to gather its own inertia and develop its own seemingly self-consistent world. "Orientalism" therefore is a strong warning not only to Orientalists but to all unsuspecting researchers in any subject (even science) who might, deliberately or not, end up constructing their own mythical world. "Orientalism" also analyses the intricate relationships between knowledge and power, demonstrating the fallacy of taking knowledge for granted without analyzing and understanding the power structure that brought this "knowledge" into being. This is a highly recommended book. It's only weakness is that it can somewhat difficult reading, thanks to its author's genius and total mastery of the English language. I often had to underline difficult words and look them up in a dictionary, and read over some paragraphs again and again in order to grasp the complex ideas, so once I was done with the book my GRE score improved 100 points. Seriously, though, "Orientalism" is a very perceptive and methodical study of an important topic today: the relationship between East and West.

(click for larger photo)	After the Last Sky: Palestinian Lives
	by Edward Said and Jean Mohr
Visual Poetry by a Reader from Washington, DC, posted on Tuesday, Sep 30, 2003 Initially, I did not think that a book written in the mid-1980s would be a useful in the fast-changing topic of the Middle East. This was written before the Oslo peace process and before the first Palestinian Intifada, remember. I was therefore pleasantly surprised to find this gem in the library. Visual poetry is the best description I can think of - beautiful photos from the lens of the Swiss master Jean Mohr document Palestinian reality on every page. The photographic narrative is intertwined with a poetic elaboration by Edward Said (in my opinion the best I've seen of his writing). So much information is there, but also so much is left unsaid - for us readers to think about and visualize. Though some of the events in Middle East history may appear absurd, after reading this book it all starts to fit together and make sense. Even events taking place afterwards like the Intifada makes sense after understand the context the this book paints with such wonderful clarity. More books like this are desperately needed!

(click for larger photo)	Out of Place: A Memoir
	by Edward W. Said

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