Syrian Folktales (urspr publ 2011; utgåvan 2012)

Part folklore, part recipe book - Muna Imady relays stories told to her by her family, as well as traditional Syrian recipes. I liked the stories - mostly similar to western fairy tales, but with different views on witches and imps/devils/dybbuks - but found the inclusion of recipes to be a bit strange and out of place in a book of folklore. There were also editorial problems with the text that could have been avoided by a little proofreading. All in all, a nice little book of tales. ( )

It was interesting how many of the Syrian folk tales mirrored American stories. There were slight variations of course but the basics were the same for the majority of the tales in this book. This was an easy read and quite enjoyable including information about the different regions that the tales were from. I'd like to see more from this author.

Nice collection will make fine addition to any library on folktales - sits right beside my other "country collections"

J'incite et j'invite ceux qui ont soif de culture et d'instructions, d'Histoire et d'histoires, de rêves et de réalité à se plonger au coeur de ce magnifique livre, au coeur de ce magnifique pays, afin de comprendre et d'affirmer par eux même le remarquable témoignage d'un éminent historien: «tout homme civilisé devrait avoir deux patries, la sienne et la Syrie ». ( )

The author's purpose was to preserve the dying folktale tradition of Syria, and I commend her for that. Unfortunately, she was very poorly served by her publisher. The cover is obviously amateurish and the text is rife with typos, to the point that I found it distracting. The tales were cute, though many were similar to the European tales I grew up with, so I found points of connection more than original stories. Each chapter (organized by region of Syria) includes riddles and recipes too, the latter of which are fairly repetitive and extremely short, so only of use to those who already know what the final dish ought to be like and need only a reminder to guide their cooking. In sum, this could've been a much better book if the author had had better editorial guidance. ( )