Woman at Point Zero

"How many were the years of my life that went by before my body, and I became really mine, to do with them as I wished? How many were the years of my life that were lost before I tore my body and my self away from the people who held me in their grasp since the very first day?" • "I knew that my profession had been invented by men, and that men were in control of both our worlds, the one on earth, and the one in heaven. That men force women to sell their bodies at a price, and that the lowest paid body is that of a wife. All women are prostitutes of one kind or another." • A woman's voice rises from her prison cell. It is that of Firdaus. This semi-biographical tale that El Saadawi has woven gives you a close look into the life of Firdaus, a former prostitute about to be executed for murder. Amid the many lives, she has lead, she was first and foremost a woman grappling with the challenges and limitations of her condition in a conservative Egyptian society. • Firdaus is unapologetically herself. She bares it all for us, and you can not help but be moved beyond words. We are invited into the deep recess of her mind. We witness her joys, her pains, her struggles, her moments of clarity, and realization. This intimate foray into her life makes the story inevitably compelling. • I could not help but be haunted by Firdaus just as El Saadawi was. I felt as if Firdaus became the vehicle of every woman that like her suffered the realities of gender inequality in a conservative Muslim society where men are at the top. It felt like El Saadawi elevated her to the ranks of symbol with this story. • It was a short read, and I blazed through it in a few hours. El Saadawi's prose was quite simple and to the point, but I had some issues with the translation at times. Nonetheless, I adored the parallels and imagery that El Saadawi used which reminded me of poetry, thus it was a near-perfect read for me. • 4,5/5 ~ #fridayinaprilbookreviews •

This book will keep you hooked.Finished in 5 hours!

This book was first published in Arabic in 1975 and translated into English in 1983. So this is a backlist read for me, something that I have wanted to do more this year but have ended up reading many 2022 releases. This slim book is a work described as creative nonfiction, based on a conversation that the author had with a real person. This slim book tells the story of Firdaus, a woman in jail awaiting execution in Egypt. This story tells of key events in her life from childhood through her life as an adult. While the writing style is easy to read, the actual content is not, as Firdaus experiences repeated abuses of various types by many men in her life. She spends part of the book as a prostitute and actually sometimes feel more empowered there than during other jobs, as she is able to set her value. As you can probably tell from the first sentence in this paragraph, there is no happy ending to be found in this story. I think it is a worthwhile read and can be read fairly quickly. I definitely recommend this, with awareness that it deals with difficult topics. If you plan on reading work by women in translation in August (or any other months), this is a good pick to add to your list. Let me know in the comments if you’ve read this! And if you have any recommendations for other translations from Arabic, drop them in the comments as well, since this is my first and I want to read more!

The greatest book of all time. What a masterpiece. This is the kind of raw, agonizing pain that everyone should sit with and contemplate. I read this book in one sitting. 2 hours. Could not stop.

Good read.

The language in this book is simple making it hard for me to connect to the main character. It's almost teenage like in its writing. Aside from that it does show how a brave young women coped with a life she wouldn't have chosen for herself given a proper opportunity. It shows the hypocrisy that exists in this world where one human beats another down and then gets mad that they have fallen.

As I read this short story of Firdaus a woman on Death Roll in Egypt, I was struck by the number of books that this brought to mind. The format a single reporter interview that tells a transformation story was in part like Interview with a Vampire or Story of Little Big Man . The tone of book reminds me of Camus the stranger , and also Celine’s Death on the Installment plan. Her philosophy on freedom about speaking truth in the face of your own execution no longer being fearful strongly reminded me of Anna Quangel and Otto Quangel story in Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada all excellent books so is this one rather short only a little over a hundred pages but I think it earned 5 stars for unique insight and message.

I bought this book for school and fell in love with it so much that I made all of my sisters read it too, and now my sister took it so I might need to get another one to have for myself. Nawal El Saadawi is a fantastic writer and I highly recommend reading her other novel The Hidden Face of Eve, which helps understand this book a little further.

Pretty good read

Amazing read. Saadawi's work is seminal for studying non-Western and anti-colonial feminism.

Yesterday was the celebration - in Italy anyway, of Women's day. I do not usually celebrate this as I believe that women should be celebrated everyday. This already should tell you what effect this incredible story had on me. I was horrified, angry, feeling impotent and once more made aware how much we still live in a man's world. Yes, very often in European countries and in The USA and Canada, what seem to be countries where women have equal dignity and rights, really are not. Italy has horrific statistics for women killed by their 'companions' every year and I suspect that things are not that much better in many other countries.. The story of Firdaus should be read and kept in mind by every woman and be compulsive reading for mothers of sons. For we are the ones who teach them and lead them to be what they are.

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Amazing book! Highly recommend