Middle East Book Fairs: More Like Book Burnings…………
Thus gloated a conservative website (actually extremely conservative as compared with very conservative). Not sure what Book Fair they are talking about. These book fairs all over the Middle East, and not just in Saudi Arabia, are usually a mix of Book Fairs and Book Burnings. The possible exceptions are Lebanon (to some extent) and probably Israel. The few book fairs I have been to have always disappointed me, one of them even listed the books that were banned at the last minute, and THEY were more than the books that were on exhibit.
It all depends on one’s perspective: is the glass half-full or half-empty, is it a book fair or a book burning? I see that glass more than half-empty because it is always the case that much more books are banned than allowed; perhaps a tiny fraction of potential books are allowed. His Most Assuredly Royal Highness has just made that Saudi glass even emptier than before, which probably is not saying much given how empty it was to start with.
As I said before, the best books are the poetry ones, and even many of these are usually banned because the poet may have crossed some prince or potentate! Still, Arabic poetry is among the best in the world, but only when it is good, and especially when it is not praising some contemporary potentate.
Cheers
mhg
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