The Committee (Middle East Literature in Translation) (Hardcover)

The Committee (Middle East Literature in Translation) By Sonallah Ibrahim, Mary St Germain (Translator), Charlene Constable (Translator) Cover Image
By Sonallah Ibrahim, Mary St Germain (Translator), Charlene Constable (Translator)
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Description


This wry take on Kafka's novel The Trial revolves around its narrator's attempts to petition successfully the elusive ruling body of his country, known simply as "the Committee." Consequences for his actions range from the absurd to the hideous.

Ibrahim offers an unbroken first-person narrative rendered in brief, crisp prose framed by a conspicuous absence of vivid imagery. Furthermore, the petitioner is a man without identity. The ideal antihero, he remains, as does his country, unnamed throughout the intricate plot with a locale suggestive of 1970s Cairo.

The Committee pierces the inflammatory terrain between ordinary men, unbridled displays of power, and other broader concerns of the author's native Egypt. The novel's corrosive, shocking conclusion catapults satiric surrealism into a new realm.

About the Author


Sonallah Ibrahim is an Egyptian novelist and a major literary figure in the Arab world. He has published short stories, historical and scientific children's books, translations of American and German fiction, and seven novels, including Tilka al-ra' iha (The Smell of It), Beirut-Beirut, and Warda. Mary St. Germain is head of the Near East section at the University of Washington Libraries. Charlene Constable studied Arabic at the University of Washington and has traveled in Syria, Jordan, and Egypt.She has a long-standing interest in translation.
Product Details
ISBN: 9780815607267
ISBN-10: 0815607261
Publisher: Syracuse University Press
Publication Date: November 1st, 2001
Pages: 176
Language: English
Series: Middle East Literature in Translation