Nawal El Saadawi

As Firdaus sits in a grimy prison cell awaiting the relief that death will bring, she looks back at her life and what brought her to this point, from childhood cruelty to being forced into a marriage she did not want.

Woman at Point Zero

孟瑤

"All the men I did get to know, every single man of them, has filled me with but one desire: to lift my hand and bring it smashing down on his face. But because I am a woman I have never had the courage to lift my hand. And because I am a prostitute, I hid my fear under layers of make-up." --Excerpt

Stas

I knew I hated him as only a woman can hate a man, as only a slave can hate his master.

Revolutionary men with principles were not really different from the rest. They used their cleverness to get, in return for principles, what other men buy with their money. Revolution for them is like sex for us. Something to be abused. Something to be sold. 

When one of his female children died, my father would eat his supper, my mother would wash his legs, and then he would go to sleep, just as he did every night. When the child that died was a boy, he would beat my mother, then have his supper and lie down to sleep.

Marion

All women are victims of deception. Men impose deception on women and punish them for being deceived, force them down to the lowest level and punish them for falling so low, bind them in marriage and then chastise them with menial service for life, or insults, or blows

discovered that all these rulers were men. What they had in common was an avaricious and distorted personality, a never-ending appetite for money, sex and unlimited power. They were men who sowed corruption on the earth, and plundered their peoples, men endowed with loud voices, a capacity for persuasion, for choosing sweet words and shooting poisoned arrows. Thus, the truth about them was revealed only after their deaths, and as a result I discovered that history tended to repeat itself with a foolish obstinacy

 I am speaking the truth now without any diffcule the truth is always easy and simple. And in its simplicity lies a savage power. I only arrived at the savage, primitive truths of life after years of struggle. For it is only very rarely that peope can arrive at the simple, but awesome and powerful truths of life after only a few years. And to have arrived at the truth means that one no longer fears death. For death and truth are similar in that they both require a great courage if one wishes to face them. And truth is like death in that it kills. When I killed I did it with truth not with a knife. That is why they are afraid and in a hurry to execute me. They do not fear my knife. It is my truth which frightens them. This fearful truth gives me great strength. It protects me from fearing death, or life, or hunger, or nakedness, or destruction. It is this feartul truth which prevents me from fearing the brutality of rulers and policemen. 

Women At Point Zero

I feel betrayed—that's the only description I can give this book.

catto fishu

Alma

A dark story full of new perspectives. How hard is it being a woman? How will we live on our own without being underappreciated?

'An unforgettable, unmissable book for the new global feminist.' The Times 'All the men I did get to know filled me with but one desire: to lift my hand and bring it smashing down on his face.' So begins Firdaus's remarkable story of rebellion against a society founded on lies, hypocrisy, brutality and oppression. Born to a peasant family in the Egyptian countryside, Firdaus struggles through childhood, seeking compassion and knowledge in a world which gives her little of either. As she grows up and escapes the fetters of her childhood, each new relationship teaches her a bitter but liberating truth – that the only free people are those who want nothing, fear nothing and hope for nothing. This classic novel has been an inspiration to countless people across the world. Saadawi's searing indictment of society's brutal treatment of women continues to resonate today.

sharkie

Ellen Sjögren 

I knew i hated him as only a woman can hate a man, as only a slave can hate his master.

I got lost in the world told by Saadawi. “I never saw her again. But her voice continued to echo in my ears.”

Taylor Griffin

A real and disturbing account of a woman’s life in Egypt. Will think about this one for a while.

I’m also reading Nawaal autobiography it’s nice to read her work that made her who she became in the literary community 

A very short read

A real and disturbing account of a woman’s life in Egypt. Will think about this one for a while.

I’m also reading Nawaal autobiography it’s nice to read her work that made her who she became in the literary community 

natalie

امرأة عند نقطة الصفر

Nada Ghazi

تكتب الدكتورة نوال السعداوي كأنها عاشت في أجساد جميع النساء في حياة مسبقة. 

امرأة عند نقطة الصفر هي امرأة في أخر ساعاتها في انتظار تنفيذ حكم الإعدام، تُرى ما الذي يدفع المرأة لقتل رجل بدم بارد وأعصاب هادئة؟

Katherine Ewing

This book genuinely changed my life. I just read it again after it had been a couple years, and it was even better than the first time. Packed with organic imagery and visceral gut-punchers, this book seamlessly transports you into another life across the world while simultaneously feeling like it’s your own story that is unfolding. Could not recommend more!!! 

Caroline Mao

3.5 stars

A decent book, but I probably would've liked it more if I didn't have to analyse all the excessive prose for lit class instead of simply soaking it in like I'd prefer to.

Cerys

So Good but So Heartwrenching. This is a story about a woman who has had nothing go her way her entire life. You start with a woman interviewing our main protagonist within her prison cell which then turns into her telling her harrowing life story. She slowly realises that the route of all her issues were men and the entitlement that men hold in regards to women. A really important book to read.

Isabella Brouwer

Woman at Point Zero is the story of Firdaus, a girl born in Egypt to a poor family. Even though she is intelligent, resourceful, and ambitious, there aren’t a lot of choices for her as a woman in her society. She is fortunate to have a secondary school certificate, but after being abused by family members, strangers and even her husband, she realizes that being a prostitute is a better way of living - at least she chooses how to live and chooses her own worth. Firdaus tells the story in prison, the last day she has to live before she’ll be executed.

This book was very interesting and different from anything I’ve ever read. Firdaus story isn’t unique, we just don’t hear about the things she has to go through all that often. At first I didn’t like the book, I felt like Firdaus was such a weak person; it frustrated me that she never spoke up for herself. It took a while for me to realize that standing up for herself wasn’t an option for her – she never learned that she could stand up for herself, she never even learned that the things that were done to her were wrong. 
Firdaus is a symbol of the oppressed, those who have nothing for themselves except their bodies and minds. Sometimes not even that. The reader is not expected to be able to sympathize or form a connection with her. We don’t understand her because we live in a world full of lies; we are blind to what happens all around us. We pretend that the things we see happening all the time don’t concern us, but they do. 

It was interesting to see how Firdaus constantly fell into the same kind of traps. At first Firdaus is very naïve and trusts everyone who pretends to have good intentions. Slowly, she starts to realize that the people who are pretending to help her are just as bad as those who take advantage of her without that excuse. Nobody is actually sincere when they take her under their wings; they all want something in return. 
It’s only logical that Firdaus loses her trust in others, especially after experiencing her first real heartbreak. She learns that the only one she can really trust is herself, that she is the only one who can really determine her worth. 

The story is about revealing the truth. You might think that this truth is supposed to be something along the lines of ‘women can’t survive without men’ or ‘all men are bad’, but it’s not. The truth is that life is hard and it doesn’t always have a happy ending. The truth is that people are often unwilling to change, even if they pretend they are, because they need to feel superior in order to feel whole. The story is shocking, confronting, and revealing. 
I think that we can all learn a lesson from this book, whether you are a man or a woman, it doesn’t really matter. The fact that this story is told from the perspective of a woman and that it’s about the oppressing of women doesn’t mean that it’s full of hate towards men. It shows the nature of men that abuse their power, and hopefully it can teach those who read it, both men and women, that abusing your power is the worst thing you can do. 

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who has ever felt oppressed, unworthy or powerless. However, even when you’ve never felt any of those things this book is a wonderful story about an extraordinary woman. 

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Woman at Point Zero

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