Past Events

The book under discussion for September is:

THE BOOKSELLER'S NOTEBOOKS

by Jalal Barjas

translated by Paul G. Starkey 

ABOUT THE BOOK

Winner of the 2021 International Prize for Arabic Fiction, The Bookseller's Notebooks explores themes of loneliness, homelessness, and mental illness.

After losing his job and refuge, Ibrahim al-Warraq, a bookseller, decides to live with the homeless people in his city and assuming the identities of the heroes of the novels he has read. Set between 1947 and 2019, the novel is based on several notebooks of stories about people facing different hardships, such as losing their homes or not knowing who their family are. Their interwoven destinies reveal the value of the house, as a symbol of one’s homeland, as opposed to the surrounding ruination. The central character is Ibrahim, a bookshop keeper, a cultured man and voracious reader of novels. In fact, he even takes on the identity of the protagonists in novels which appeal to him. However, due to his isolation, loneliness and maltreatment by a cruel world, he suffers mental illness and descends into full schizophrenia. He attempts suicide, before meeting the woman who will change his life.

As events unfold, Barjas opens up many surprises for his reader, illustrating through his flawed characters the ruined state and complete emptiness of the world. In intensely poetic language, he throws light on a totally schizophrenic reality in his country, and brilliantly uses all the tools of emotional stress and engagement and of psychological exploration of human behavior that narration necessitates.

The Arabic edition is published by The Arabic Institute for Research and Publishing, and the English translation by Interlink Books.

English Edition:

• Publisher: Interlink Books (December 6, 2022)
• Length: 324 pages
• ISBN13: 9781623718206
• US price: $17.95
• UK price:  £16.99 
• Unfortunately there seems to be no eBook edition. 

SOME REVIEWS ABOUT THE BOOK

A couple of reviews on the Simon & Shuster website – the distributor of Interlink books https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Booksellers-Notebooks/Jalal-Barjas/9781623718206

And Arab News has a review entitled: 

The Bookseller’s Notebooks’ follows a tragic decent into madness

https://www.arabnews.com/node/2255201/lifestyle

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jalal Bargas is a Jordanian poet and novelist, born in 1970. He works in the field of aeronautical engineering. For many years, he wrote articles for Jordanian newspapers and headed several cultural organisations. He is currently head of the Jordanian Narrative Laboratory and presents a radio programme called “House of the Novel”. His published work includes two poetry collections, short stories, travel literature and novelsHis short story The Earthquakes (2012) was winner of the Jordanian Rukus ibn Zaʼid ʻUzayzi Prize. His novel Guillotine of the Dreamer (2013) won the Jordanian Rifqa Doudin Prize for Narrative Creativity in 2014, and Snakes of Hell won the 2015 Katara Prize for the Arabic Novel, in the unpublished novel category, and was published by Katara in 2016. His third novel Women of the Five Senses (2017) was IPAF-longlisted in 2019.  He participated in the Berlin International Literature Festival in 2021 – more about that at https://literaturfestival.com/en/authors/barjas/

ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR

Paul G. Starkey has translated works by Adania Shibli, Mansoura Ez Eldin, Youssef Rakha, Edwar al-Kharrat, Mahmoud Shukair, Hammour Ziada and many others. He was Winner of the 2015 Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for his translation of The Book of the Sultan's Seal by Youssef Rakha.

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ALL WELCOME

Please email bookclub@banipal.co.uk to request the Zoom Login.

If you like, do also use Facebook Messenger to tell us you'd like to join the discussion.

The Book Club Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/BanipalBookClub/

The Zoom Login will be emailed out on Monday 25 September
to everyone who has emailed/messaged to attend.