The Long Way Back
| Author | Fouad AL-Tikerly |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | |
| Country | Beirut |
| Language | Arabic |
Publication date | 1980 |
| Pages |
The Long Way Back, is an Arabic modern novel for the Iraqi novelist Fouad Al-Tikerly. The Long Way Back's first edition was published in Beirut in 1980.[1]
Plot summary [1]
The story takes place in an important and bloody era in Iraq's political history, culminating in the February 8th military revolution.[2] The Long Way Back tells the story of four generations of the same family living together in the same house in Bab Al-Shaykh area in Baghdad. The main characters of the book are the brothers Medhat and Abdul-Karim. The two brothers become attracted to their cousin Mounira in their own way, and fail to rescue her when she is raped by her nephew who belongs to the National Guard. Mounira then goes to her uncle's house in Baghdad. In addition to the pain she already feels, losing her virginity before marriage puts her in a very sensitive and difficult position, both mentally and socially, so she decides to keep what happened to her a secret and live in isolation, but due to where she is living, this decision is not possible as she ends up attracting both cousins and eventually marrying Medhat. Medhat is shocked to discover that the love of his life and bride isn't virgin on his wedding night, so he leaves her and his home and goes away. [3]
The last few chapters focus on Medhat's internal struggle as he realizes what happened to him and what he must do, and when he finally decides, in the middle of deadly and bloody events, to go back to Mounira because his love for her is more important than anything, he gets killed in Al-Akrad district with a stray bullet that no one knows the source of, whether it was from the putschists or the communist defenders of Qasim. The story ends with Adnan the National Guard finding Medhat's body and taking him home.[4]
Publishing the novel
The novelist Fouad Al-Tikerly started writing the novel when he was in Paris in 1966 and finished it in 1977. It wasn't published until 1980 in Beirut due to the inability to publish it in Baghdad at that time because it criticized the National Guard and the Ba'ath Party.
Al-Takarli says about this novel:
″When I come up with the figure, I start writing immediately. The idea for The Long Way Back came to me in 1963, and I stayed thinking about the artistic approach until 1969. I regret how long it took me to write it. I could've written it faster if I had worked harder.″
Translating the novel
The Long Way Back was translated to French by the Tunisian translator Rachida Triki (Al-TakarlI's wife later on). It was also translated to English by Catherine Cobham under the name "The Long Way Back".[5]
References
- ↑ al-Takarli, Fuad (2007-10-07). The Long Way Back: A Modern Arabic Novel. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-1-61797-425-0. Search this book on
- ↑ Noble, Barnes &. "The Long Way Back: A Modern Arabic Novel|NOOK Book". Barnes & Noble. Retrieved 2022-07-19.
- ↑ SuperAdmin. "الرجع البعيد". صفحات ناشرون و موزعون (in العربية). Retrieved 2022-07-19.
- ↑ "الرجع البعيد (رواية)". المعرفة (in العربية). Retrieved 2022-07-19.
- ↑ "9789774160929: The Long Way Back: A Modern Arabic Novel (Modern Arabic Literature (Paperback)) - AbeBooks - Al-Takarli, Fuad: 9774160924". www.abebooks.com. Retrieved 2022-07-19.
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