Yahya Haqqi

As a fan of short stories, this time I take a look at Yahya Hakki's "The Lamp of Umm Hashim: And Other Stories". This book is a compilation of only 4 short stories and my favourite one has to be The Lamp of Umm Hashim. The Lamp of Umm Hashim story tells us a story of Ismail, a boy who has been sent to Europe by his father to become a health professional. After 7 years of being in Europe, Ismail returns home and he has problem adapting to his former hometown. Ismail, who now is well-equipped show more with the knowledge of an eye doctor, condemns the use oil of the Lamp of Umm Hashim for treating eye problems. From there things dwindle down for Ismail and in the end... You'll have to read it. Hakki's writing combines a style like infusing poetry to descriptions of places, emotions and many others. If you don't like slightly twisted languages, I won't recommend it. But if you like to see how short stories by Arab writers, give it a go. show less