Chewing Gum by Mansour Bushnaf, translated by Mona Zaki

Chewing Gum 
Mansour Bushnaf
Translated by Mona Zaki (Arabic)
Originally 2008, I read ebook of 2014 translation
126 pages, satire

Many thanks to Darf Publishers for providing a review copy of this novel. 

“Our hero looked on as our heroine walked away in the rain, wrapped in her black coat and red shawl. Ten years went by before he was able to whisper into her ear again, ten years during which he remained standing in the exact spot where she had left him in the park, enduring his terrible suffering. Days went by, then months, and years. He waited in the rain while she walked on, hoping she would stop, turn and run back. Her red shawl fluttered gently as she headed towards the sunset, revealing her black shoulder-length hair.”

So begins this story – a satirical fable about life in Libya, centered around these two characters and the park where our hero waits in the rain. The tale is told in dreamlike vignettes with a different focus on almost every page; some of these are only tangentially related to the two main characters. This creates a fully formed, if piecemeal, narrative that critiques Libyan society from the pre-colonial period to the present day.

Actor Network Theory

While other reviewers have noted the existential nature of this novel, I want to highlight something completely different: the way that these various narrative strands correspond to Actor Network Theory, or ANT.

Stick with me here.

ANT is a social science theory that emphasizes the fact that everything (from sunlight to a can of coke to the person drinking it) is an actor, or active player. Everything happens because of the actions of innumerable actors, and every action has an effect on innumerable actors. If you look at any scenario widely enough, you can trace these connections.

In this novel, Bushnaf looks at the circumstances of his two main characters from exactly this angle. He examines the park - its history, who goes there, and why it gains attention. Actions hundreds of years ago, such as the building of a pleasure palace, still have repercussions in the present and future. A statue of unknown origin has incredible effects on its viewers. Even estranged blood relationships have significant effects.

It is for this reason that the narrative, if you want to call it that, expands so much without bursting and becoming overdone. All of these disparate stories are intimately related, and the author emphasizes the importance of that relationship.

Satire

This novel is written in a highly satirical tone with frequent breaking of the fourth wall. The narrator wants to convey the absurdity of life under the changing Libyan governments. It pokes fun at everyone: from the Italians with their finely manicured parks, to the excesses of the Ottoman rulers, to the brutality and repression of the Gaddafi regime. Although I am not familiar with Libyan history, these often hilarious anecdotes were not difficult to connect with, and I highly enjoyed this novel. I recommend it for anyone who likes satire or expansive, existential cultural critiques.

Further Reading: 

"Monsour Bushnaf on 'killing books' in Libya" (video) from BBC

"A Novel That Represents 'A Complete Generation of Libyan Writers and Intellectuals'" from Arabic Literature (in English) 

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International Movies to Avoid: April 2016 Edition

This is the second installment of my continuing series of the worst international movies out there.

Don't watch them!

Naxal 

India (Bengali), 2015
109 min, drama
Directed by Debaditya Bandyopadhyay
Starring Mithun Chakraborty and Dhritiman Chatterjee

How do you make a movie about Naxalites boring? Focus on their middle class struggles.

No, really.

What could have been an interesting film about people with a history of violence and revolutionary feelings in present-day Bengal quickly falls apart into a disjointed, incomprehensible massacre of a movie. I mean that in the worst way possible.

Hurma by Ali Al-Muqri, translated by T.M. Aplin

Hurma
Ali Al-Muqri
Translated by T. M. Aplin (Arabic)
First published 2012, I read ebook of 2015 translation
166 pages, cultural critique, psychological

Many thanks to Darf Publishers for providing a review copy of this book! 

A nameless female narrator from Yemen attempts to reconstruct her childhood and youth. Her formerly communist brother, who became a radical Islamist. Her scandalous sister who was allowed free rein because of her high-paying job. The sex tapes she and her friends watched in secret. The fatwas that restricted every part of her life. Her marriage to a jihadi.

This psychologically complex book provides the insider woman’s viewpoint of restrictive Islamist society, jihadis and terrorism. More than that, it examines the thought processes of a “radicalized” female terrorist from childhood to adulthood.

Sex

In this novel, women feel the full power of a religiously supported patriarchy. They are expected to follow innumerable fatwas that limit their actions, clothes, speech, and thoughts with the sole purpose of removing their sexuality - but in the same breath they are constantly sexually objectified. It is a no-win scenario, in which the narrator can never find sanctuary from objectification regardless of how hard she tries to follow the rules.

The first memory that the narrator recounts is the extreme punishment she was given for drawing a heart on a piece of paper in school. She was in 4th grade, and had no idea what this symbol meant! She was immediately knocked unconscious by her teacher, after which they summoned her father to school to be reprimanded for not “bringing her up properly.” This, of course, was followed by beatings – and even more beatings when she asked her mother what she had done. Even at such a young age and for such an innocent action, she is made into a sexual object that must be controlled through physical violence.

Congratulate the Devil by Howell Davies

Congratulate the Devil

Howell Davies (1896-1985)

Originally published 1939, I read 2008 

264 pages, science fiction

Thank you to Parthian Books for providing a review copy of this book, one of their Library of Wales series. 

When a wealthy layabout named Starling discovers that a class friend of his has something to do with a strange incident involving his uncle’s dog in the daytime in a park, he goes to investigate. Roper is a chemist who analyzes samples of drugs seized by the police. This newest shipment is strange – it has amazing mind-expanding properties. Starling is pulled into experimenting with Roper, and as his friend’s negative side becomes more and more pronounced, he wonders if he should do something… especially when Roper becomes interested in a girl he just met…

This novel is considered to be a classic of Welsh fiction, and has been republished as part of the Library of Wales series. 

Happiness and Misery

Starling and Roper are joined in these experiments by a Welsh street singer named Bert. Unlike the lazy Starling and the manipulative and cruel Roper, Bert is a good person. He is happy with his simple life and just wants to make people happy as much as he can. When Bert starts taking the drug, his natural instincts are enhanced. Instead of manipulative or evil, Bert becomes even more kind. More than that, he makes others happy and generous. 

Because of the properties of the drug, he exerts this influence over the surrounding population. To the dismay of the rest of the country, he makes an entire Welsh village happy. Why does this cause dismay? People begin to give their possessions away. The wife of the local squire bathes and feeds children from the slum. Inter-church arguments are immediately resolved. The pub is open all the time and people start living openly with their mistresses. 

This frightens the government and, in general, everyone outside of Bert's sphere of influence. The government does not want the established social order to be overturned. In fear of the spreading of this generosity, rich people start to hide their belongings. It's complete chaos, and requires military action. This is a brilliant satire: the milk of human kindness is so threatening to the established social and governmental order that it must be overturned.   

Overall, I didn’t really like this novel. Parts were an interesting critique of power and politics, and about the nature of society, but overall it’s just really dark and dreary. If you like Victorian-era science fiction like The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde you would probably like this book. 

Also read my review of From Empty Harbour to White Ocean by Robin Llywelyn

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A Legend of the Future by Agustín de Rojas, translated by Nick Caistor

A Legend of the Future
Agustín de Rojas
Translated by Nick Caistor (Spanish)
Original published 1985, I read ebook of 2014 translation
227 pages, hard science fiction

Many thanks to Restless Books for providing a review copy of this novel, part of their Cuban Science Fiction series. 

A tight-knit crew of six cosmonauts has embarked on the cutting-edge ship Sviagator. Their mission: explore Titan, one of the moons of Saturn, and return the experimental ship safely to Earth. When disaster strikes, only three crewmembers survive: Isanusi, the captain, who is physically incapacitated; Thondup, an engineer and psycho-sociologist, who is emotionally fragile after the death of his partner Alix; and Gema, a physiologist whose conditioning has been activated so now she has all the skills of a computer. All three of them are dying, some more quickly than others. Now they need to figure out how to return the ship to Earth, without autopilot and without any of them being able to survive the three months required to make the trip.

Philosophy, politics, psycho-sociology

This book involves a lot of sitting around talking. Granted, due to their assorted physical disabilities there’s not much else the crew can do at this point, but it struck me as incredibly wordy. This sometimes passed into being really boring. There are a few themes that keep appearing, and which provide the majority of the plot:

First, the novel explicitly touches on the philosophical question of man vs. machine. Even though Thondup activated Gema’s conditioning, he doesn’t approve of it; he believes she has been made into a computer. Isanusi does not agree. Gema spends much of her time trying to combine her new personality with pieces of the old one, but the question still remains about whether she is actually a human being anymore. If you read a lot of science fiction (particularly older works), this is nothing that you haven't seen before.

Chronicler of the Undead by Mainak Dhar

Chronicler of the Undead
Mainak Dhar
2015
172 pages, speculative, zombie

Thanks to Westland Ltd. for providing a review copy of this book. 

When the zombie apocalypse happens, an Indian army veteran with one leg and broken dreams of becoming a writer finds himself stuck in a bungalow in the mountains above Gangtok, Sikkim. Luckily, this is a relatively safe location – but who knows how long it will last, or if anyone else has survived. Or what exactly happened.

He starts to keep a journal to distract him from his current circumstances, and continues to write in it as he meets with other survivors and eventually finds himself becoming the leader of the group. Can he help the others survive?

Zombie story with a twist

This is a fairly standard zombie story, with survivors attempting to live in the chaos after the end of the world. But there are a couple differences that make this one stand out, at least a little bit, from other novels in this genre.

First, there is the location: Gangtok, Sikkim. I’ve been there; it’s a gorgeous city among steep hills, very near the Chinese-Indian border. If you know anything about the history of relations between China and India, you know what that means: a history of war, disputed borders, and major political problems. In many ways, the unique location of this book (geographic, political, and cultural) provides a good deal of the plot.

Second, our protagonist is not only an ex-soldier; he is an ex-soldier with only one leg who has to hold his own in intense fighting. He does it, but he has constant trouble with his prosthetic leg. Probably my favorite part of this book was the way he reacted to this disability: it causes problems, but in the end he is no less capable than he would be with two legs.

The narrator himself is very relatable in his flaws, and the novel is written in a casual tone that conveys the pain and inadequacy that he feels. Even better is how he takes everything in stride, with a bit of humor when called for, making the book a fun read.

If you like zombie books, I think you would like this one – it’s not the best book ever, but it’s a decent read if you want something pulpy to pass the time.

Further Reading: 

Read my review of The King's Harvest by Chetan Raj Shreshta, also set in Sikkim

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Teresa's Man and other stories from Goa by Damodar Mauzo, translated by Xavier Cota

Teresa's Man and other stories from Goa

Damodar Mauzo

Translated by Xavier Cota (from Konkani)

2014

200 pages, short story, drama
Found: Rupa Publications bookstore, College Street, Kolkata

This collection of ironic short stories covers a wide variety of social and familial issues. Throughout, there is a feeling of frustration: at the oppression of women, at politics, at self-serving protestors, at communalism. While I didn’t enjoy every story (especially "Teresa's Man"), I did appreciate the social messages that the author wanted to communicate. I can see why he is considered to be one of the best authors in Konkani. 

“From the Mouths of Babes”

Mithila lives in Saudi Arabia, where her husband is working for an international company. She struggles with the lack of intimacy forced upon her by the government and the religious police, especially because she has to wear a burka and is not allowed to show any affection for her husband in public. 

“In the Land of Humans”

Halsid’du is driving a line of cattle to Goa to be sold to the butcher when something happens that makes him unable to complete the journey as planned. 

“Misconceptions”

Sulbha is plagued by her lack of children and by a house full of rats that eat her best saris. She and her husband go to the temple to get god’s blessing for fertility.

“The Cynic” 

Baboy is a confirmed cynic of medicine, doctors, and soap. But what happens when his little grandson becomes ill? 

“She’s Dead!” 

Two rival politicians from Goa arrive in Delhi and plan to have a night on the town, as friends. Then one of them receives a call saying that the other’s wife has died, and he must break it to him gently.