Daily Camera, CO
Sept 12 2008
Review: ‘The Hakawati,’ by Rabih Alameddine
By Ashley Simpson Shires For the Camera
Friday, September 12, 2008
The Hakawati by Rabih Alameddine. Knopf, 513 pp. $25.95
In Lebanon, a hakawati is a storyteller, a teller of myths and
fables. "A troubadour of sorts," Rabih Alameddine writes, "someone who
earns his keep by beguiling an audience with yarns." And Alameddine’s
novel, "The Hakawati," is beguiling, an enchanting work of fiction.
The protagonist of the novel, Osama al-Kharrat, is a Lebanese man who
has lived in California for a number of years. So it is especially
startling when he returns to his homeland, to the bombed-out and
struggling city of Beirut, where he grew up.
Osama has returned to Beirut to see his dying father. He stands vigil
at the hospital, but he also visits his old neighborhood, the
apartment building that is now occupied by squatters. As he travels
through the changed landscape, he reminisces about his large and
colorful family and their life in the Middle East. Central to his
memories are his grandfather, Ismail, a man who was a hakawati by
profession. Ismail received a small weekly salary in return for
entertaining the bey, the local chieftain ruler, with stories.
Though many of Ismail’s stories were epic Middle Eastern dramas (which
Alameddine skillfully inserts throughout the novel), Ismail also told
Osama fascinating stories of their family’s origin — epic Middle
Eastern dramas in themselves. Ismail himself was the "product of an
indiscreet affair. His father," Alameddine writes, "was Simon Twining
— like the tea — an alcoholic English doctor, a missionary helping
Christian Armenians in southern Turkey. His mother, Lucine, was one of
the doctor’s Armenian servants."
Alameddine expands on these juicy details, revealing the history of
the al-Kharrat family in page-turning style. Much of the tension in
the family derives from the clash of the past and the present — the
discrepancies between traditional Druze customs and modern, Western
sensibilities. This tension particularly defines the relationship
between Osama’s father and grandfather.
Osama’s father, Farid, is a businessman who opened the first car
dealership in Beirut. Wealthy, practical and modern, he was always
ashamed by his father’s servitude to the bey and by his old-fashioned
profession as a hakawati. Osama says, "my father tried at different
times to get (my grandfather) to stop filling my head with fanciful
narratives, but he never succeeded."
Caught in the middle between his father and grandfather, not to
mention a raging civil war, Osama chooses a secular lifestyle in
California, becoming a graduate of UCLA’s engineering school. But he
hungers for the magic of the Middle East, for the music and stories of
his childhood.
Alameddine recreates this magic for the reader, seamlessly weaving
traditional Middle Eastern tales between narratives of the al-Kharrat
family. These tales, inspired by such texts as "A Thousand and One
Nights," the Old Testament and the Koran, reflect the incredible
diversity of the al-Kharrat family. They also illuminate the complex
political and religious landscape in which the family lives. "Listen,"
Alameddine writes, "Let me take you on a journey beyond imagining. Let
me tell you a story."
Alameddine’s prose is effortless, irresistible. And his subject matter
is fascinating, a rich mix of history, memory and fable, drawing from
Christian, Jewish and Muslim traditions. The result is a gorgeous
novel, anchored by the story of the al-Kharrat family, but bursting
with prophets, princes, and genies as well. "The Hakawati" is an
amazing accomplishment and a beautiful read.
/telling-stories-enchanting-novel-mixes-ancient/
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
