Muslims & Jews in fiction
April 20, 2023 4:06 PM
Are there any novels that deal with both Muslim and Jewish issues? Particularly genre fiction a la The Golem and the Jinni.
Perhaps unhelpful: the plot of Altai hinges on a plan to make Cyprus a Jewish homeland under Ottoman protection. Of course, it doesn't delve deep into religious aspects (what can you expect from a novel written by a quartet of Italian anarchists?)—Jewish-Muslim dynamics are really more of a backdrop for the novel than a driving element. Still, a good read!
posted by the tartare yolk at 7:07 PM on April 20, 2023
posted by the tartare yolk at 7:07 PM on April 20, 2023
Surely something by Salman Rushdie would fit the bill, but I don't have the brain right now to remember what titles, nor have I read all his books. Satanic Verses, Shalimar the Clown and the Moor's Last Sigh all feature Muslim & Jewish characters, and are magical realism.
posted by Grandysaur at 7:31 PM on April 20, 2023
posted by Grandysaur at 7:31 PM on April 20, 2023
Guy Gavriel Kay's The Lions of Al-Rassan is technically second-world fantasy but it's a very thinly disguised Spanish peninsula during the Reconquista, and the main characters are of the three main religions that clearly correspond to Muslim, Jewish and Christian.
posted by I claim sanctuary at 10:12 PM on April 20, 2023
posted by I claim sanctuary at 10:12 PM on April 20, 2023
The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon, perhaps. And indeed The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by the same author. Not quite genre fiction, both both novels sit adjacent to genre fiction.
[Edited because I misread your question; apologies, did not pick up you meant novels that deal with both simultaneously. Sorry! Mods please delete.]
posted by damsel with a dulcimer at 1:06 AM on April 21, 2023
[Edited because I misread your question; apologies, did not pick up you meant novels that deal with both simultaneously. Sorry! Mods please delete.]
posted by damsel with a dulcimer at 1:06 AM on April 21, 2023
It's been a while since I read it but I'm pretty sure Geraldine Brooks's People of the Book fits the bill.
posted by mareli at 4:11 AM on April 21, 2023
posted by mareli at 4:11 AM on April 21, 2023
Does magical realism count as a genre? The Dictionary of the Khazars.
posted by plep at 5:18 AM on April 21, 2023
posted by plep at 5:18 AM on April 21, 2023
Are there any novels that deal with both Muslim and Jewish issues? Particularly genre fiction a la The Golem and the Jinni.
On reading the first half of your sentence, I immediately though of The Golem and the Jinni :) I didn't like the sequel, The Hidden Palace, quite as much as the first, but it's still good and it picks up nicely on some hanging threads from the first book.
I have Making the Rounds on my to-read list; it's short stories and more Jewish than Muslim, but the character is in an Islamic Culture.
posted by jb at 8:40 AM on April 21, 2023
On reading the first half of your sentence, I immediately though of The Golem and the Jinni :) I didn't like the sequel, The Hidden Palace, quite as much as the first, but it's still good and it picks up nicely on some hanging threads from the first book.
I have Making the Rounds on my to-read list; it's short stories and more Jewish than Muslim, but the character is in an Islamic Culture.
posted by jb at 8:40 AM on April 21, 2023
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posted by heatherlogan at 5:05 PM on April 20, 2023