The Raven of Ruwi and Other Stories from Oman (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780815612018)

In this lyrical collection, author Hamoud Saud invites readers into the soul of Oman, a country famed for its long coastline, rugged mountains, and stark desert landscapes. This geography provides the backdrop for stories that reveal both the beauty and hardship of a country and people on the margins. Focused on the capital city, Saud's Muscat is not a postcard-perfect city but a living, breathing place of cement forests, forgotten roundabouts, and ravens perched on flagpoles.

Each story is fabulist in spirit but grounded in the textures of everyday life: the scent of karak tea, the chatter of schoolgirls, the heat rising from asphalt. In "The Raven of Ruwi," a narrator wanders the city's commercial district where Indian music drifts from balconies and the streets are filled with weary bank workers. In "The Sad Donkey of Muscat," a blind man recounts the city's history as told to him by a donkey. And in "Post Office of the Dead," a forgotten postmaster receives letters from Dostoevsky and Kafka, triggering a surreal unraveling of time and self. At once intimate and expansive, The Raven of Ruwi and Other Stories from Oman is a powerful meditation on place, identity, and the stories that cities tell

Author: Hamoud Saud
ISBN-10: 081561201X
ISBN-13: 9780815612018
Publisher: Syracuse University Press
Language: English
Published: 03/18/2026
Pages: 150
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.38lbs
Size: 8.02h x 5.34w x 0.38d