The Hakawati - Hardcover

Alameddine, Rabih

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0330452215 ISBN 13: 9780330452212

Publisher: Picador, 2008

Synopsis

Irreverent, exhilarating, heartbreaking, and enchanting us from the very first line - 'Listen. Let me take you on a journey beyond imagining. Let me tell you a story' - this extraordinary book is an Arabian Nights for our time.

Osama al-Kharrat left Lebanon at sixteen to escape the civil war. He returns after some years, much changed, to find his father bedridden and his family, friends and enemies in attendance, reminiscing, gossiping, making peace, and above all telling stories. 'Hakawati' means 'storyteller', and Osama's grandfather was one of the best. From Uncle Jihad to the family doctor ‘Tin Can’, each member of Osama's circle is joined in a vigil that crosses continents, spans centuries, celebrates love, recounts war, and creates an epic picture of the region: one that is at once mythic, mischievous, and painfully real.

'A glorious, gorgeous masterpiece of pure storytelling' Amy Tan

‘The Hakawati is astonishing. There is a delightful cheekiness in telling so many tales all at the same time. It is pure genius’ Aleksandar Hemon

'Here it comes, the book of the year, on its own magic carpet of endless stories. Both a snapshot of our current crisis, and a story for the ages' Andrew Sean Greer

About this title

Review:

'...moves effortlessly between the classic narrative traditions of The Thousand and One Nights and the psychology of modern Western fiction.' -- Independent

'A wonderfully unpredictable and original read. It can't be recommended enough.' -- Morning Star

'Alameddine has a genius for the emotional hinges on which novels turn.'
-- New York Times Book Review

'Alameddine's borrowings from the folk traditions of both east and west are abundant but he is more than just a hakawati, or storyteller.' -- Financial Times

'Alameddine's is a crafted work that - like the master storyteller - works its magic by stealth.' -- Times Literary Supplement

'Alameddine's own storytelling ingenuity seems infinite...fashioned a novel on a royal scale, as reflective of past empires as present.' -- Publishers Weekly

'An enchanting portrait of Middle-Eastern life.'
-- Gay Times

'Far from sad, everyone has a story to tell, and what heart-wrenching, funny, spellbinding and exciting stories they are.' -- Waterstone's Books Quarterly

'Here is absolute beauty. One of the finest novels I've read in years.'
-- Junot Diaz, author of 'The Bried Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao'

'Moving smoothly between boisterous modern Beirut and the magical world of traditional folk tales.' -- The Gloss

Book Description:

Bursting with stories and myths, this exuberant, irrepressible family novel has all the magic of A Hundred Years of Solitude - for the Middle East

About this edition

• Publisher: Picador
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0330452215
• ISBN 13: 9780330452212
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 528