mideast

it's a mystery how to define the borders of the middle east. some definitions include northern africa, some include turkey (sort of the straddle between the arab world and europe). actually we loved reading turking folktales and we may have chosen our next big trip: whirling devishes, turkish baths, greek and roman ruins, sunning ourselves on the Mediterranean Sea, and investigating underground cave cities.
turkey is not that far from egypt... for some reason, i'm still attracted to islamic countries. maybe they are the polar opposite of our lives / culture. if we are going to travel someplace foreign - i guess i want it as foreign as possible
 
 

we also read (but forgot to photograph) Shadow Spinner, and The Golden Dream of Carlo Chuchio
i highly reccommend both these novels but for different reasons. for Shadow Spinner, each chapter started with 'instructions for storytelling & life' and they were useful and charming. i, for one, enjoy the direct nature of junior fiction. The Golden Dream of Carlo Chuchio was a classic case of how to craft a novel for a young writer. i plan to use it as a temple in the writing course i'm leading next year.
. . . . . .
in both these novels, and in Seven Daughters and Seven Sons as well, the main characters are continually asked, rhetorically:
What ever will become of you? - their lives seem fraught with danger...
is this theme so prevalent because these (western) authors also see the mideast as the most foreign of places?
it makes me want to read more -