Reaction to The Rock of Tanios

Though Amin Maalouf never specifies the location of this book, it is not difficult to figure out that it is in a Middle Eastern setting. Since I have grown up in a middle eastern setting it is not difficult for me to be able to connect with manny aspects of this book. The characters' culture in this book is familiar to mine. Usage of arabic words such as "sheikh" in the book may be foreign to western readers, but I recognized it instantly as an honorific term. In fact, this term is still used today and can be bought and added to your passport here in Lebanon. Even the type of food that they eat is similar to ours nowadays in Lebanon for example the cheese that they ate is one of my grandfather's favorites. The people that live in the mountains in the book show how hierarchy was molded into their culture. The power of the sheikh in this book was opulent. Everyone in the village went and kissed his hand in the morning and he took a part of all their produce. Though the time the book is set in is probably long ago, remnants of this ancient arab culture is still found today which makes this book a whole lot easier to relate to.