Novel
Beirut '75
بيروت 75
Ghada al-Samman · 1975
Synopsis
Beirut 75: five people share a taxi from Damascus to Beirut, each seeking what would give meaning to their life: security, glory, money, dignity or freedom. Farah, a Damascene tormented by nightmares, goes to find a rich relative to whom his father sends him, to win renown and fortune there; Yasmina, also from Damascus, flees the tutelage of her family. Arrived in the capital on which they were counting, all discover that they are at the mercy of corruption, exploitation and the weight of traditions.
Context
The author wrote the novel in a single sitting, from 29 October to 22 November 1974, and published it in 1975 at her own publishing house; a few months later the Lebanese civil war broke out, which the book seems to foretell. It has been translated into German, French, Italian, Spanish and English, in the version by Nancy Roberts published in 1995 by the University of Arkansas Press. Critics have discussed its vision of the city, which it strips of its qualities.
Who it is for
A short novel, of about a hundred pages, in a language laden with imagery; it can be read without knowing Lebanon, but gains from being placed on the eve of 1975.
Prizes and reception
Her first novel, which, together with the next, establishes her as one of the great voices of the Arabic novel; the English translation was awarded a prize by its American publisher.