Maya, Contemporary Arab Fiction

Since my last post I've read an issue of Eclectic Reading, an issue of OK Magazine, and an issue of The New Scientist.

I've read an extraordinary picaresque novel written by an Arab Israeli,The secret life of Saeed, the ill-fated pessoptimist, by Imil Habibi. I also read a long novel about torture, Saddam City by Mahmoud Saeed. Finally I read a light novel called in translation Girls of Ryadh, by Alsanea Rajaa. None rose to the level of Naguib Mahfouz, but that is perhaps an unfair standard to use.

I've also started down my list of books about the Maya. First out of the starting block was The nature of an ancient Maya city by Thomas Guderjan, and Takeshi Inomata's Warfare and the fall of a fortified center, and Settlements and fortifications of Aguateca. I also read Stuart David's Palenque, which covers the history of the excavations; and the richly illustrated and very heavy Painting the Maya universe, by Dorie Reents-Budet and Joseph Ball. I also read Ancient Maya cityscapes by L.P. Villamil. I confess to being riveted by the pictures, since I am traveling to the ruins in April.