The Stone of Laughter

by Hoda Barakat, Sophie Bennett (Translator)

Overview

The Stone of Laughter is a virile novel which brings forth the contradictory history of a city under fire through the life and dilemmas of a gay man. It is a bold and radical novel, full of black humor and cynical observations about life in war-torn Beirut. Written sensitively, and without a trace of sentimentality or political propaganda, The Stone of Laughter shook the Arab readers' preconceptions about women's writing and questioned the necessity of political affiliation for Arab authors.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781566561976
Publisher:	Interlink Publishing Group, Incorporated
Publication date:	07/28/1995
Series:	Emerging Voices Series
Edition description:	1st American ed
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.56(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.96(d)

About the Author

Hoda Barakat lived through the worst years of the civil war in Lebanon. She is the author of Visitors, a collection of short stories. The Stone of Laughter, her first novel, won the prestigious Al-Naqid Award in 1990. She now lives in Paris.

Editorial Reviews

"This unusual story of Beirut... offers a vividly detailed portrayal of an unfamiliar culture... a gripping story filled with splendidly drawn secondary figures..."

From the Publisher

"A splendid novel which surpasses most works by established Arab writers."

Edward Al-Kharrat

This is the story of a person. It is also a story of a population, and of a war. It reads as grotesque fantasy, where traditional assumptions can be fatal, consequences no longer make sense and the most commonplace social act may conceal lethal betrayal. In 14 years of civil war, which left Beirut's glories ravished and its cosmopolitan society devastated, the grotesque becomes mundane. Disoriented amid the chaos, Khalil questions his every thought and impulse as he grasps for an identity, sexuality and teleology-his internal dialogue is the warp of this narrative. Retreating into desperate isolation when the two men he covertly loves are killed, Khalil is paralyzed by guilt and fear. His despair brings illness and a minor epiphany in the hospital, where he awakens, in the book's most impressionistic and fluidly crafted sequence, to the value and beauty of life. Barakat allows Khalil this illumination, a lambent moment of hope, so that she may quickly shatter it. Khalil's dizzying descent to an inhumanity as perverse and cruel as it is mad, seems incomprehensible. Khalil's tormented mind, his betrayal of newly discovered selfhood reflects the unendurable stress provoked by such war. The frightening results, and the fragility of civilization, is the kernel of this cautionary tale, told too late for young men like Khalil.

Publishers Weekly - Cahners\\Publishers_Weekly

This is the story of a person. It is also a story of a population, and of a war. It reads as grotesque fantasy, where traditional assumptions can be fatal, consequences no longer make sense and the most commonplace social act may conceal lethal betrayal. In 14 years of civil war, which left Beirut's glories ravished and its cosmopolitan society devastated, the grotesque becomes mundane. Disoriented amid the chaos, Khalil questions his every thought and impulse as he grasps for an identity, sexuality and teleology-his internal dialogue is the warp of this narrative. Retreating into desperate isolation when the two men he covertly loves are killed, Khalil is paralyzed by guilt and fear. His despair brings illness and a minor epiphany in the hospital, where he awakens, in the book's most impressionistic and fluidly crafted sequence, to the value and beauty of life. Barakat allows Khalil this illumination, a lambent moment of hope, so that she may quickly shatter it. Khalil's dizzying descent to an inhumanity as perverse and cruel as it is mad, seems incomprehensible. Khalil's tormented mind, his betrayal of newly discovered selfhood reflects the unendurable stress provoked by such war. The frightening results, and the fragility of civilization, is the kernel of this cautionary tale, told too late for young men like Khalil. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly