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Journals of Sarab Affan
Contributor(s): Jabra, Jabra Ibrahim (Author), Nasr, Ghassan (Translator)
ISBN: 0815608837     ISBN-13: 9780815608837
Publisher: Syracuse University Press
OUR PRICE:   $20.66  
Product Type: Hardcover
Published: February 2007
Qty:
Additional Information
BISAC Categories:
- Fiction | Literary
Dewey: 892.736
LCCN: 2006036293
Physical Information: 0.83" H x 6.34" W x 9.2" (1.06 lbs) 204 pages
 
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
Publisher Description:

Jabra tells his love story through alternate journal entries and with a complex layering of voices, showing how the affair of a famed (fictional) male novelist and the woman who desires him takes shape, through twin perspectives. Initially he is seen through the text of her journals: from her fascination with his writings until the instant when she arranges their first meeting. Thereafter, Jabra presents the male novelist's point of view: from the start of the relationship through demise due to departure, and eventual momentary reunion in romantic Paris.

Jabra's well-known concern with the inconstancy of identity and its articulation through multiple first-person narration is ever evident. However, this is the first time he places a strong female character at the center of his novel, with all the enticing complexities that result from the interplay of the author's projected female and male sensibilities. Crafting a tale of love from two disparate yet linked points of view, Jabra encourages readers to question their assumptions about the nature of self, its role in shaping character, and the possibilities of salvation through action. The extreme value Jabra places on the import of the female narrative gives his book a timely relevance.