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Men in the
Sun and Other Palestinian Stories
by Ghassan
Kanafani / translated by Hilary Kilpatrick
This collection
of important stories by novelist, journalist,
teacher, and Palestinian activist Ghassan
Kanafani includes the stunning novella Men
in the Sun (1962), the basis of the
film The
Dupes.
Also in the
volume are The Land of Sad Oranges(1958),
If You Were a Horse... (1961), A
Hand in the Grave (1962), The Falcon
(1961), Letter from Gaza (1956),
and an extract from Umm Saad (1969).
In the unsparing clarity of his writing,
Kanafani offers the reader a gritty look
at the agonized world of Palestine and the
adjoining Middle East.
About the
Author
Born in Acre (northern Palestine) in 1936,
Ghassan Kanafani was a major spokesman for
the Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine and founding editor of its weekly
magazine Al- Hadaf. His novels, short stories,
and plays have been published in sixteen
languages. He and his niece were killed
in Beirut in 1972 by a car-bomb planted
by Israeli Mossad agents.
Reviews
"Far
from being a simple parable, this novella
depicts some often hidden aspects of the
complex social and political reality of
the Palestinians ... and is also a well-told
story.... We should not forget the excellent
translation of Hilary Kilpatrick which not
only manages to preserve the subtle voice
of the narrator, but also matches accurately
the sober and lucid prose in Arabic for
which Kanafani was hugely admired."
- Samir El-Youssef, Banipal
"Kanafani
is known in the Arab world as a literary
master, and 'Men in the Sun' is deemed by
many to be his masterpiece. The book was
a tremendous pleasure to read and at the
same time intensely thought-provoking. Kanafani's
original writing style is brought out beautifully
in this excellent translation. In these
stories, Kanafani experiments with various
literary techniques that were revolutionary
in the world of literature at their time
(1960s). I particularly enjoy the twists
of plot at the end of each story, and how
the very last sentence forces me to re-think
and re-evaluate my entire understanding
of the piece. Seeped in the author's struggle
for freedom and for a homeland, these stories
reflect a deep understanding of human relationships
and the human condition. Yet despite (or
perhaps because of) this depth, the main
characters tend to always be ordinary human
beings - usually from the lower classes.
Another feature of 'Men in the Sun' is the
variation of voice and perspective from
paragraph to paragraph. For a moment we
are in the head of one character, an old
man crossing the desert to Kuwait. The next
we're taken back in time to 1948, when that
man was forced to leave his country by the
ravages of war. Then we're transplanted
into the shoes of another character, a young
man hitching a ride from Jordan to Iraq.
All this is done smoothly enough not to
interrupt the narrative, but instead, the
perspective of the plot wanders as thoughts
naturally wander in one's mind. Truly Kanafani
was a master of literary techniques. Few
have been able to pack so many ideas and
characterization and so much change into
a short story."
- Mike Hanks
Related Link
Article
about Ghassan Kanafani
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