Anti-Globalization meets Kafka
|
|
Written from 1979-81, this short novel invites immediate comparison to Kafka's "The Trial". In it, an unnamed man is summoned to appear before a mysterious and apparently powerful committee who will apparently judge him in some way—although what this actually means is left unexplained. The first theme of the tale emerges when the committee asks him, "By which momentous event among the wars, revolutions, or inventions will our century be remembered in the future?" This results in a lecture on globalism (remember this was written over 20 years ago) via a capsule history of Coca-Cola and its proliferation across the world in the years after WWII. The second theme comes forth when the committee directs him to write "a study on the greatest contemporary Arab luminary." This drives him to research a powerful and mysterious man known simply as "the Doctor," a man with fingers in every conceivable pie. Given the timing of the writing, one could well read "the Doctor" as representing Sadat's "open-door" economic policies and the entire book as a satirical attack on those policies and the figures behind them. Despite the censorious obstacles in his path, the narrator manages to start uncovering nuggets of truth about "the Doctor."Unsurprisingly, this angers the committee and he is commanded to pick another subject which leads to a surreal (and satirical) climax.
|
|
a thought-provoking account of a society being suffocated
|
On first glance, the sheer absurdity of the plot of Ibrahim's book makes it easy and fun to read. However, once the story line has you in its grip, the nauseating feeling of claustrophobia slowly becomes overwhelming, realizing that the absurdity of the plot is based on Middle Eastern reality.
The author tells the story of nameless citizen in a nameless Arab society, who is to appear before the Committee - like every citizen once in his lifetime - to prove himself a good citizen. The members of the Committee start out by asking the protagonist questions about his occasional sexual impotence, leading them to believe he his a homosexual. After elaborately ruling out 'OPEC' and 'the Pharaos' in favor of 'Coca-Cola' and the 'the Israelites' as answers to the questions of 'what will the 20th century be remembered by' and 'who built the Great Pyramids', the Committee brings the trial to an end and orders the protagist to write an essay on a contemporary Arab personality. After finding out some revealing information about the personality of his choice, the protagonist finds his house ransacked, with a member of the Committee is awaiting him, who orders him to pick another subject. The member - the most hostile one with a clear homosexual inclination - follows the protagonist around everywhere, even the toilet...
Ibrahim's novel - his first with a clear-cut story line - is light and full of humor, yet thought-provoking. Rich in powerful metaphores, he describes a nightmare society, where even your most private thoughts aren't yours alone.
|
|
|
United States | 
United Kingdom | 
Canada