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After more than 5000 votes, ‘Chicago’, written by Alaa Al Aswany, has been voted as the Nation’s Favourite Novel. The winning novel beat international best sellers such as ‘Slumdog’ Millionaire and ‘The Da Vinci Code’ to be chosen as the most popular book in the UAE. Khalid Hosseini’s ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’ was chosen as the nation’s favourite novel in English.
Explaining why he voted for the winning novel, Hisham El Nadi (picture attached) said: “I saw the movie of Yacobian Building by the same author and loved that so much I wanted to read ‘Chicago’. ‘Chicago’ is a great story, well written, full of interesting characters and hard to put down. ”
Anas Hassan Hamed and Hisham El Nadi were last night presented with a prize after their names were drawn randomly from the thousands of voters who nominated their favourite novel.
Written by Egyptian novelist, Alaa Al Aswany, ‘Chicago’ is a portrait of Egyptians in an American city and the cultural divides they encounter.
Abu Dhabi Media Company launched the competition to find the UAE’s favourite novel as part of the 19th Abu Dhabi International Book Fair. The contest, in conjunction with the fair’s organisers Kitab, ran from 1-19 March with votes cast by text and online.
‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’ is a story set against the volatile events of Afghanistan’s last thirty years—from the Soviet invasion to the reign of the Taliban to the post-Taliban rebuilding—that puts the violence, fear, hope, and faith of the country in intimate, human terms.
Vida Rizq, Chief Marketing Officer, Abu Dhabi Media Company said: “The search for the nation’s favourite novel is a great way for people to be part of one of the key moments in the capital’s arts and cultural calendar. The winning novels give a fascinating insight to what people are reading and the level of participation shows the organisers of the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair that the city is truly becoming a publishing and cultural hub for the region.”
Claudia Kaiser, General Manager, Kitab added: “This year’s fair has been the biggest ever and we are delighted with how many people took part in the competition to find the nation’s favourite read. All the books nominated are wonderful works of literature and it is great for the authors to see their books chosen as some of the best in the world.”
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