Learning English - Softcover

Al-Daif, Rachid

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1906697213 ISBN 13: 9781906697211

Publisher: Arabia Books Ltd, 2009

Synopsis

No matter how hard Rachid tries to recreate himself, to become educated and worldly-to "learn English"-it is impossible for this hip Beiruti with his cell phone and high-speed internet to sever the connection to his past in the Lebanese village of Zgharta, known for its "tough guys" and old-fashioned clan mentality. When the news of his father's murder, a case of blood revenge, reaches him by chance through a newspaper report, it drags him inescapably back into the world of his past. Suddenly he is plunged once again into the endless questions that plagued his childhood: questions about his parents' marriage and his own legitimacy, questions he would rather have forgotten and which threaten not only his new lifestyle, but now, according to the protocol of vendetta culture, his very life.

The accomplished al-Daif hooks his readers from page one of this, his ninth, novel-partly with pieces and fragments of suspense-filled plot and partly with his typically idiosyncratic narrator, whose bizarre stories, comical asides and uncannily perceptive comments on human nature lead us through this tantalizing, funny, and sober book about the hold the past has on Lebanon, and on us all.

About this title

About the Author

Rachid al Daif was born in Lebanon in 1945 and is the acclaimed author of eleven novels, including Dear Mr. Kawabata and This Side of Innocence. Paula Haydar is a Professor of Arabic at the University of Arkansas. Adnan Haydar is a Professor of Arabic and Comparative Literature at the University of Arkansas.

Edition details

• Publisher: Arabia Books Ltd
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1906697213
• ISBN 13: 9781906697211
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 161