The long way back / Fuad al-Takarli ; translated by Catherine Cobham.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Takarlī, Fuʼād.

Contributor:

Cobham, Catherine.

Series:

Modern Arabic writing

Modern Arabic Writing

Standardized Title:

Rajʻ al-baʻīd. English

Language:

Arabic

English

Physical Description:

viii, 379 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Cairo ; New York : American University in Cairo Press, 2001.

Summary:

The Long Way Back tells the story of four generations of the same family living in an old house in the Bab al-Shaykh area of Baghdad. Through exquisite layering of the overlapping worlds of the characters, their private conflicts and passions are set against the wider drama of events leading up to the overthrow of prime minister Abd al-Karim Qasim and the initial steps to power of the Baath party in Iraq in 1962 -- 63.

The skillful building-up of the characters and their worlds within a brief and clearly determined period of recent history allows for a bold and intelligent portrayal of the ambiguous strengths and weaknesses of Iraqi and wider Arab culture. In addition, the dramatization of the relationships between generations, social groups, and genders is achieved with a mixture of humor, bitter irony and compassion that identifies it as a great work of Arabic literature.

ISBN:

9774246462

OCLC:

48060010