Reviews

• Good book

  Very well written, the dilemmas and problems of immigrants well written

• It is one of the best books I have ever read in my career

  The Bamboo Stalk is Saud al Sanousi's fictional account of Issa/José, the legitimate son of a Kuwaiti man and his Filipino maid. It is a story so well written that if you did not know it, you would think that it were true. Once you start the book, you will not want to put it down until the end. It is one of the best books I have ever read in my career. Issa is born in Kuwait to the son of a well-known family and their maid, whom he marries in secrecy. Upon feeling the pressure of family obligation, the father is forced to send Issa and his mother back to the Philippines. It is there that he is known as José. Raised poor in the Philippines, José is told stories about the father he would never know and is despised by his grandfather. Upon reaching adulthood, José is sent for by his father's best friend and soon finds himself in Kuwait where he is known as Issa and recognized by the state as a Kuwaiti citizen. Nonetheless, he has to endure the rejection of his grandmother and aunties. Only his younger sister comes to fully accept him as a member of the family. Ultimately, he has to make a decision to remain in Kuwait as Issa or to return to the Philippines and live as José. I had two basic questions when I started the book. First, as a Kuwaiti, to what extent would he capture the essence of the Philippines and the Filipinos? Second, as a Kuwaiti, to what extent would he be critical of Kuwaiti society and identity? I can I was more than satisfied on both accounts and can confidently claim that had I not known the background of the author prior to reading, I would have never guessed that he was Kuwaiti. In relation to the first question, anyone with an intimate relationship with the Philippines and Filipinos will find Alsanousi's treatment of the Philippine landscape and the reality of the Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) satisfying. As for the second question, Alsanousi's critique of Kuwaiti national identity is so profound that it can be extended to the regional level. It is the national narrative of each of the GCC states- constructed national identities that are used to distinguish between familiar (citizen) and other (non-citizen). What is unique to Issa's situation is that he is treated as familiar by the state but as an other by his family. Some have claimed that it is a novel on the treatment, or mistreatment, of migrant workers, but that is not the case. Instead, it deals with how migrant workers understood their reality in Kuwait and why migrant workers continue to flood into the Gulf States regardless of the situations they face. In the case of Issa, he can sympathize with the workers because of his experiences as both José and Issa yet is paid as a Kuwaiti. In actuality, there is more about religiosity in the novel than there is about mistreatment of migrant workers. The Issa/José protagonist has to navigate between being born a Muslim, raised Catholic, discovering Buddhism while in Manila, and encountering Muslims conservatives, moderates, and Shia while in Kuwait. Interestingly, all of these forces, even Shi'ism according to recent research, have played significant roles in shaping the national narrative of the Philippine nation-state. Finally, The Bamboo Stalk is the journey of a young man who searches for belonging and love, both of which he finds in the end. It is a must read for anyone interested in identity and race in the Gulf, OFWs, and Kuwaiti or Gulf nationality. Any student, teacher, or researcher of contemporary Gulf Studies must make this part of their required reading.

• One of the best books I have ever read

  One of the best books I have ever read. I found it hard to put down and read it in two days. The Bamboo Stalk is a much needed critique of religious, social, and national identity in the modern Gulf States. The argument that Gulf labor is unfair in not a new but this novel offers a look into why migrant workers continue to flood to the Gulf regardless of the treatment that awaits them. This is a must read for any student who studies the modern Arab Gulf.

• An Interesting Theme from a talented, emerging author

  This book has an interesting theme of a young man trying to find his place, caught between the worlds of his mother and father. From that perspective, it was an interesting theme, especially because these two worlds were places I am less familiar with, the Philippines and Kuwait. Like a method actor, Alsanousi had to immerse himself in the culture of the country to make himself first feel all its nuances before communicating them to his readers. It was interesting to explore those cultures with him, but I felt the story would have been more poignant with a little more angst and a little less verbiage. I know this book won an International Award for Arab Literature, and as I'm not familiar with the books it was competing against, it is difficult for me to comment here. I do think Alsanousi is a talented writer, so it will be interesting to follow his career as he matures. Lois W. Stern Author/Editor Creator of Tales2Inspire (an Authors Helping Authors project)

• For a better life....

  The main character's mom leaves her homeland to work as a maid in a country with a different culture, different language. It's an act that many foreign workers do today. This was a compelling story of the son who grapples with having a Muslim name with a Filipino face. He often finds that he is accepted in neither his father's or mother's homeland as he grows from child to young adult.

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