Fiction

摘要

Al-Ramli's novel tells the story of three men from a small Iraqi village who are caught , up in their country's recent turbulent history. While from peasant backgrounds, the men are educated, thoughtful, and lifelong friends. Ibrahim, a firm believer in fate, is maimed while serving in the Gulf War; he eventually becomes a low-level functionary in one of Saddam Hussein's palaces and a silent witness to numberless atrocities. Abdullah, a foundling, is unsure of his parentage; he is captured while a soldier during the Iran-Iraq war, tortured and held for 20 years, but upon his release makes his way back to the village. The third friend, Tariq, is the most fortunate and also the most lusty and amoral; he becomes the village imam. Al-Ramli (Dates on My Fingers) is a skilled storyteller, weaving multiple compelling tales of powerlessness in the face of injustice and cruelty, yet the novel is told in a gende voice, like that of a kindly uncle. VERDICT This powerful, sweeping novel, which was long-listed for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction, called the "Arabic Booker," is highly recommended. It profoundly humanizes modern Mideast history for Western readers.