Ṣunʻ Allāh IbrāhīmRezensionen

While I can appreciate that this book might have shocked readers in 1960s Egypt, I would say that it's only worth reading today purely for historical interest.

Sonallah Ibrahim is a well-known writer in his Homeland, Egypt, but very little of his work has been translated into English. Descriptions of his writing note its overtly political nature and his use of contemporary texts—news articles and similar items. The Turban and the Hat does make use of a contemporary text, but "contemporary" in this instance means Late 18th Century Cairo, and the text he's drawing from is Abd al-Rahman al-Jabarti's record of the invasion and occupation of Cairo by the French as it occurred from 1798-1801. It's interesting to note that there are actually two different versions of the occupation written by al-Jabarti: the original version and a rewrite that was less critical of the Ottoman Turks who helped push the French out of Cairo—an example of the long history of political spin.

Ibrahim's central character is an imagined student of al-Jabarti. Early on, he travels about Cairo, observing happenings, then reporting these back to al-Jabarti. As the student observes what al-Jabarti includes and excludes from the account, he decides to write his own version of events. The narrator, who speaks some French, quickly gains a place among the French translating documents and occasional in-person interactions. As a result, he has contact with not just the French military, but also with the large corps of scholars and scientists who accompanied Napoleon's army.

One of the lessons here is about the nature of collaboration and exploitation. No matter which army controls Cairo, locals suffer through seizure of their goods, rising prices, and a brutal sort of "justice." Al-Jabarti, our narrator's teacher is one of these collaborators, though that isn't how he would depict himself. He would argue that his role on the Cairene council advising the French occupiers is one of strategic and subtle protection of the city and its residents. Near the novel's end, the narrator takes a step away from the pragmatic response of his teacher, writing and posting condemnations of the French.

Another lesson involves the brutality of war and the aggrandized reports sent from the front, depicting every skirmish,no matter how devastating, as a victory. The book notes that 40,000 troops arrived in Egypt with Napoleon; only 20,000 lived to return to France. War is only glorious in the abstract. In person, it is ugly, chaotic, and brutal as the narrator discovers.

The role of women in this novel is marginal and women are not treated as fully human. There are several brief references to honor killings. The narrator repeatedly rapes a household servant. Why? Because he can. He becomes involved with a French woman whose independence leaves him consternated. He assumes that engaging in sex essentially makes her his—and as she embraces other lovers he's at a loss to understand the logic of her world. These scenes are difficult to read, but seem true to the time period Ibrahim is exploring.

The Turban and the Hat is relatively brief at 200 pages and can make for a quick read, but it leaves the reader with a great deal to think about, particularly given the nature of armed conflict in our present world. Warfare has changed hugely and it has not changed at all. Factionalism is endless, and it is much easier to conquer than it is to lead a nation into a healthy post-war era.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via EdelweissPlus; the opinions are my own.

The narrator of this novel is Shukri, an Egyptian historian doing postgraduate work at an Institute in Moscow. The action takes us through the year 1973 with a wealth of trivial detail about being a foreign student in Moscow: shopping, Brezhnev-era queues and shortages, cold weather, student parties, news reports, excursions, and the endlessly repeated pursuit of women.

It's one of those books where all the things the narrator is not telling you seem to matter more than the smokescreen of detail: we learn nothing of Shukri's past, his reasons for being in Moscow, the work he is doing at the Institute, his plans, his reactions to what he hears on the news (amongst other things, that his country is at war with Israel), or his real feelings about the women he's chasing or the other students he spends time with in the student hostel. And that nothing is clearly key, in some way. All he ever tells us about are objective facts and his own physical sensations (cold, pain, nausea, arousal, tiredness, etc.).

We have to spend a lot of time decoding and reading between the lines, and we can't be sure that we're guessing right. It seems, though, that Shukri has been damaged in some way by his previous life, and that it's that experience that is blocking him from achieving a meaningful connection either with the reader or with the people around him. Of course, if we bring in knowledge from outside the frame of the novel, in particular that the author spent five years as a political prisoner in Nasser's Egypt, that might give us a clue, and — amongst other things — explain Shukri's curious interest in the pile of old Egyptian newspapers he's obtained from a diplomat-friend.

An odd novel, which probably needs a bit more context from Ibrahim's earlier works and Egyptian literature generally to make sense of it properly, but an interesting and unusual point of view anyway.½

“In this novella, during the rule of Gamal Abdel Nasser, a young Egyptian writer who had been a political prisoner is released, and he takes a look at the street life in his country.” It has been called Egypt's first post modernist novel.

Like his protagonist, the author had been imprisoned in his native Egypt for five years. When political affiliations changed and Egypt befriended Russia, those imprisoned due to being communists were freed.

We follow the protagonist's first person stream of consciousness in this thankfully very short book as he also has been released from prison under very similar circumstances.

While he was imprisoned, his communist idealizations have become almost commonplace, so his burning drive for change has been removed.

He wanders the streets and neighborhoods of Cairo finding everything different but unchanged, the people unmotivated, uninterested and uninteresting.

“That smell” is the smell of a fart; unacknowledged by the people in the room, but still unavoidably there.

This book was banned and confiscated after the initial printing in Egypt for being “too sexual” although sex outside of masturbation never happens.

The “Notes From Prison” were very short notes that he had written on cigarette papers and had smuggled out. Some of these detail the books he read such as Hemingway and also his desire to become a writer.

This is probably going to be my least favorite novel of the year. Since it was part of a literature seminar, I slogged through.½

سالمه يا سلامه كوكا كولا جات بالسلامة
نشروا الاعلان ملو الجرنان جوا البراويز الدهبية
والتلفزيون بالصوت واللون كوكا كولا هي الاصلية
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بطعم كافكا الخاص جدا يهدينا صنع الله ابراهيم عمل أدبى اقل ما يوصف به انه تحفة فنية

فى ظل عالم كابوسى من فرط واقعيته تعيش اللجنة العسكرمدنية او المدنيعسكريه لتتحكم فى يديها بخيوط اللعبة و لتتراقص حولها الماريونت فى هدوء و تناغم

فحين يسأل احد اعضاء اللجنة عن نوع الرقص فلا تتساءل عن نوع من الرقص يقصد فهل يوجد غيره؟ ربما يجب ان تمتلك الذكاء الكافى لتخلع رابطة عنقك و لتتحزم بها و يا حبذا لو عقدت عقدتها على جنب ككبار الرقصات

و حين تسألك اللجنة عن اعظم منتوجات العصر فلتجيب بلا تردد انها الكوكاكولا فى كل عصر و كل مكان و اى لغة
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اشرب يا خفيف بطّل تخاريف
بلا طير الطور بلا وطنية
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و من الاشتراكية الى الحرب الى الرأسمالية الى السلام ربما لن نملك سوى ان نأكل نفسنا فى هدوء و بلا كثير من الازعاج لمجتمع يشرب الكوكاكولا دافئة و الماء اسن بنى اللون و يمارس التحرش كنوع من التسلية

فى قصة موازيه ل"المحاكمة" ل كافكا يبدع صنع الله ابراهيم فى تصوير تطور مجتمعنا و مأساة و ملهاة مثقف كل عصر

بحثت عن سبب يمنعنى من اعطاء ال5 نجوم و حين فشلت قررت ان اهدى عزيزتى الكوكاكولا ال5 نجوم ...لية لا؟
;)
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كوكا كولا تفوق و تروق ضد الافكار الهدامة
سالمه يا سلامه طيري بينا ورفرفي يا حمامة
سالمه يا سلامه على مصر التانية أم علامة

اول شيء لفت انتباهي في هذا الكتاب، وبعد ما انتهيت من القراءة وجيت هنا اكتب قراءتي له، الآراء التي وضعها الاصدقاء، ناس تحمست له وناس اعطته نجمة ونجمتين..
وهذا هو الجميل في الكتاب، احبّ الكتب التي تخلق مثل هذا النوع من الاختلاف، كل شخص قرأ الكتاب من ناحية وكان له انطباعه الأخير، واعتقد أن الكتب التي تجمع اراء ايجابية كاملة أو سلبية كاملة هي كتب بها خلل للاسف !
عن بيروت بيروت سأقول أنني شعرت بمتعة شديدة ، هذه التفاصيل الدقيقة التي نقلها الكاتب عبر بطله خلال عمله على الوثائقي ، وكأنني اشاهد القصاصات الصحفية والصور والفيديو أمامي، صحيح أنني تعثرت اولاً في محاولة فهم المقصد من هذه القصاصات لكنني وفي كل مره تتكرر فيها تتضح لي الرؤية بشكل أفضل.
اعتقد ان صنع الله ابراهيم كان ينقل الكثير من واقعه الشخصي، فهو كاتب ايضاً ويبحث عن ناشر لكتبه المثيرة للجدل، وكما قرأت لاحقاً عنه في بحثي الانترنتي بأنه فعلا شخصية مثيرة للجدل، هناك تفاصيل أخرى من بينها الحوارات التي تنساق للعامية احياناً وتعود للفصحى ،شيء ذكرني بالياس خوري، الذي احببت اعماله عن تلك الحقبة.

الكتاب كثيف وبحجم صغير وهذا ما احببته ايضاً فيه .. باختصار اعجبني كثيراً وقد ابحث عن كتب اخرى للكاتب لقراءتها .

C’est un texte très court inspiré par l’expérience de l’auteur. En effet, Sonallah Ibrahim a été retenu cinq ans (1959-1964) dans un “camp d’internement en Haute-Egypte” à cause de ses positions communistes. Ce qu’il raconte, c’est son retour difficile à la liberté. Enfin, ce n’est pas son retour mais un retour difficile à la liberté inspiré par son expérience.

Quand il est revenu de prison, il devait être rentré au couché du soleil car un policier venait chez lui signé un papier. Si il ne le trouvait pas, c’était retour à la case prison. Il avait pris l’habitude de noter ses pensées, ses faits et gestes de la journée sur des papiers. Ce livre est la réorganisation et la réécriture de ses notes.

Ce qu’il nous raconte dans ce livre c’est la difficulté à reprendre une vie normale après la prison. Il parle de la famille avec qui il faut reprendre contact. Il faut se mettre en tête toutes les histoires qui se sont passés mais aussi se mettre dans le mouvement de leurs vies qui se déroulent devant vos yeux. La forme qu’a choisi Sonallah Ibrahim car il alterne le présent avec les réminiscences du passé qui lui viennent à partir de ce qu’il est en train de vivre.

C’est le premier texte qu’a publié cet auteur (qui avait décidé en prison que son métier serait écrivain). Je l’ai trouvé très beau mais nullement exceptionnel. L’auteur arrive à nous faire ressentir le fait qu’il se sente extérieur à la nouvelle vie. C’est difficile à faire surtout pour un premier texte. J’aurais aimé une conclusion, une chute mais en fait non ; l’auteur nous laisse à penser que de se réhabituer à la liberté ne se fait pas en un mois.

Le contexte de sa publication est intéressant mais le livre ne semble pas subversif pour une française d’aujourd’hui (moi en gros). Il parle de sexe (de masturbation et des désirs que le narrateur n’arrive pas à assouvir) et de politique, des sujets qui étaient tabous en 1966, en Égypte. Il a donc été publié à compte d’auteur et censuré (interdit car à ce moment-là la censure n’existait plus avant la parution pour cause de pensées un peu plus libres dans le pays). Il a reparu en 1968 (à Beyrouth) et 1969 (au Caire) dans une version expurgée. En 1986, deux éditeurs, une marocain et un cairote, ont publié la première édition arabe intégrale, auquel ils ont ajouté une préface de l’auteur expliquant le contexte de publication en 1966. C’est la traduction de cette édition qui est proposée en Babel.

J’ai trouvé ce livre sur une table de la bibliothèque sur le thème de l’excentricité. J’avoue ne pas avoir compris ce qu’il faisait là. Par contre, j’ai énormément aimé cette découverte (de l’auteur et de la littérature égyptienne donc c’est le premier livre que je lis).

Je commencerais par un reproche. L’histoire se passe au Caire pendant la conquête de l’Égypte par Bonaparte en 1798 (et les trois ans d’occupation qui s’en sont suivis). Cela aurait sans aucun doute aidé à ma compréhension d’avoir un rappel historique, d’avoir un rappel sur l’organisation sociale et ethnique (ou religieuse) de la ville, ainsi que de sa géographie (parce que les noms de quartier sont restés très énigmatiques). De même, en postface, on nous dit que ce livre reprend des passages du livre de Jabarti. Lesquels est-ce ? Pas de précisions. Quels sont les éléments inventés, les événements historiques ? Il y a un peu plus de choses mais c’est un livre qui en demandent plus. Je crois que ces manques faussent un peu la lecture.

En effet, j’ai lu ce livre comme un roman d’aventures (d’aventures historiques mais d’aventures tout de même). Le narrateur est dans la vingtaine et on sent qu’il est avide de vivre les évènements qui se produisent. Il essaye de braver les dangers, de mieux connaître les Français, de comprendre les réactions de ses compatriotes (les collaborateurs, les opposants, de la ville ou d’en dehors, les simples habitants, les commerçants, les artisans, les hommes, les femmes …) C’est aussi pendant cette occupation que le narrateur se découvre une conscience politique et religieuse. Je crois que l’auteur a pris un excellent point de vue en ne choisissant pas de camp et en faisant du narrateur un observateur en pleine éducation.

Ce livre n’est clairement pas à la gloire du savoir-vivre français. Toutes les exactions commises par les soldats ne nous sont pas épargnées. Cependant, Sonallah Ibrahim va mettre de la compassion dans le récit du narrateur qui a pitié de la manière dont Bonaparte traite ses soldats, notamment quand ils souffrent de la peste. Le narrateur raconte très bien la vie quotidienne, les habitudes égyptiennes et nous les fait un peu découvrir. Le narrateur est souvent dans la rue mais arrive aussi à connaître la haute sphère de la société par l’intermédiaire de son maître.

On sourit assez souvent dans ce roman car le narrateur a un côté jeune chien fou qui le rend attachant par sa naïveté (= de sa jeunesse) et son enthousiasme. Ses relations sexuels avec Pauline sont particulièrement symptomatiques de ce point de vue.

Une belle découverte !

Jeg hadde aldri hørt om denne forfatteren da jeg her om dagen helt tilfeldig kom over "Det stinker". Om det var det arabiske forfatternavnet, det forhold at han er fra Egypt eller at boka kostet hele 250 kroner (til tross for beskjedent innhold - bare litt mer enn 90 sider), som fanget min oppmerksomhet, skal være usagt. Saken er i alle fall at disse forholdene til sammen gjorde at jeg oppdaget introen om at denne lille romanen forandret moderne arabisk litteratur for alltid. Dermed havnet den umiddelbart i kategorien "må-ha"!

Selve romanen - om det nå faktisk kan kalles det (jeg er mer tilbøyelig til å anse dette som en novelle) - er på mindre enn 50 sider. Resten av boka inneholder et forord skrevet av forfatteren selv i 1986, samt det opprinnelige forordet til boka da den utkom i 1966, ført i pennen av Yusuf Idris. Helt til slutt er det dessuten et intervju med forfatteren foretatt av Frode Saugestad, og som sto på trykk i Vinduet nr. 1 i 2006.

Forfatteren presenteres på Wikipedia som en egyptisk forfatter og "short story writer". Han ble født i 1937 og hans venstreradikale synspunkter kommer visstnok sterkt til uttrykk i hans litterære arbeider. "Det stinker" utgjør i så måte intet unntak, og ble skrevet rett etter - og som en konsekvens av - et nesten seks år langt fengselsopphold (fra 1959 - 1965). "Den beskriver ikke bare hvilken effekt politisk fengsling og undertrykkelse har på det enkelte individ, men også hvordan dette påvirker hele samfunnet, noe som førte til at boken umiddelbart ble forbudt på grunn av sitt politiske budskap", kan jeg lese på baksiden av boka. Først i 1986 kunne boka utgis igjen, men som forfatteren så lakonisk har lagt til i sin nye innledning - boka eksisterte i "beste velgående" i årene forut selv om den var blitt forbudt.

Yusuf Idris skriver i sitt forord følgende (side 25):

"Det stinker er ikke bare en fortelling, men en revolusjon som først og fremst er en kunsters opprør mot seg selv. Den er ikke slutten, men en ekte begynnelse på et ekte talent, en begynnelse som har begynnelsens kjennetegn, men som nærmest er fri for begynnelsers flauser, etter som den også er et modent talent."

Uten å lese novellen eller romanen i den kontekst den ble skrevet, er det for en utenforstående kanskje vanskelig å fange opp hva som er så særegent ved denne - skjønt det ikke burde være problematisk å skjønne at vi befinner oss i et totalitært samfunn, hvor det står dårlig til med rettssikkerheten og hvor det gjelder å være inne med de riktige personene. Hovedpersonen er som tidligere nevnt nylig løslatt fra fengsel, og han er fremmedgjort ikke bare i forhold den omkringliggende verdenen, men også til seg selv. Ut fra intervjuet med forfatteren skjønner vi at selv beskrivelsen av en forsøksvis tilnærming til en kvinne, som mislykkes totalt, er en del av denne fremmedgjøringen i forhold til normale mellommenneskelige relasjoner.

Under intervjuet med forfatteren fremkommer det at han har nektet å motta en prestisjefylt egyptisk litteraturpris. Dette vakte mye oppstyr, så pass at potensielle kandidater i dag må skrive under på at dersom de mottar prisen, må de love å akseptere prisen ... Men om man så likevel skulle nekte på ta i mot prisen - hva skulle de i så fall gjøre? Saksøke vinnerne?

"... som et resultat av den nye politiske virkeligheten, forandret også forfatternes litterære språk og uttrykk seg estetisk. Opp til omkring midten av 1950-tallet var realismen den dominerende sjangeren, men med publiseringen av Naguib Mahfouzs Kairo-triologi tok dette slutt, og i hovedsak vokste to nye retninger frem. Mahfouz ledet an i den mer allegoriske uttrykksformen, mens Ibrahim samt den yngre generasjonen i all hovedsak valgte et mer direkte konfronterende språk. Samtidig ble også den indre virkeligheten forandret i romanene fra den nye generasjonen på 60-tallet, og heltene, som nå er antihelter, fremsto som frustrerte, ofte seksuelt, og med en skarp selvbevissthet uttrykt gjennom personlige dialoger. Ibrahims første bok Tilk al-raiha (The smell of it, eller på norsk Den duften"), er et meget godt eksempel på dette, og har sine røtter i hans egne erfaringer fra fegselet." (... skriver Saugestad i forbindelse med intervjuet av Ibrahim, side 81. Boka ble først utgitt på norsk tre år senere, dvs. i 2009, og fikk da tittelen "Det stinker")

Alt i alt må jeg si at dette ble et spennende bekjentskap med en for meg helt ny forfatter, som jeg absolutt skal følge videre så snart jeg får sjansen til det! Her blir det terningkast fem!

Utgitt første gang i Egypt: 1966
Originaltittel: Tilk al-ra´ihah - تلك الرائحة
Utgitt andre gang i Egypt: 1986
Utgitt første gang i Norge: 2009
Oversatt fra arabisk: Anne Aabakken
Forlag: L.S.P. Forlag
Antall sider: 94½

This is the story of an Egyptian woman--her life, family and friends--who lived through the reigns of Abdel Nasser, Anwar Sadat, and Mubarak. She is a humorous character, and her adventures and misadventures are amusing. In alternating sections, snippets of newspaper accounts that appeared over the course of the time period covered by this novel are included. Both Zaat's story and the newspaper articles convey the corruption and ineptitude of the powers that be in Egypt over this time period.½

Trop peu de subtilités dans la critique politique et sociale, une certaine naïveté dans l’analyse. Aucune distance avec le narrateur. Beaucoup d’informations, mais donne parfois l’impression d’un cours en bonne et due forme plutôt que d’une œuvre littéraire.½

Une grande nouveauté, dans la littérature égyptienne. Rafraîchissant.

Roman 'kafkaïen', avec en prime des thèmes locaux intéressants (antimondialistes avant l’heure) et un dénouement original½

En allegori över det "ofria fria" samhället i Egypten under Sadats styre.. och kanske innan det också. Intressant, men inte helt begripligt. En form av litteratur som man inte alldeles lätt kommer i kontakt med.

This a slim, more or less interesting novella by one of Egypt's most popular novelists. Anyone who has read (or even heard rumors of) Kafka's The Trial, or The Castle will pick up on the influence immediately.

What makes the novel interesting, to me, is that is a sharp, humorous satire on consumer culture (particularly the evil conspiracy known as "globalism") from a non-western (non-DeLillo) perspective.

In its 158 pages there are baroque conspiracies involving coca-cola, Walter Mondale, contemporary Egyptian history, The Trilateral Commission, street vendors, pornography, sexism, passive-aggressive acts of valor, coerced dancing capped off with a public prostate exam (at a board meeting) and an executed sentence of autophagy.

The book's charm is completely undermined by its implausible ending (I won't give it away). Had the author chosen to tell the story in the 3rd person, much awkwardness would have been avoided.