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Wedding Song
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May 3, 2017
I confess, having never read Proust or any of the other French authors cited by Mursi Saad El Din as influential to Mahfouz, in his introduction of this book, I am at a loss in writing this review. I therefore, take my cue from Mursi Saad El Din's comments about time. For Naguib Mahfouz, time is fluid, turning back on itself, revising memory until all sense of cause and consequence vanish. Mahfouz beguiles the reader with such sly craftsmanship that we are as oblivious as his characters to his very presence. It's unsettling, this totally invisible author who denies us a sense of objective reality. Instead, Mahfouz provides four overlapping and highly subjective viewpoints.
There is a plot of sorts, but even that is open to interpretation. Begin with the title. It could be ironic: in reality a wedding dirge. Or it could be celebrating a relentless fracturing or relationships that perhaps offer choices of liberation from corrupted social norms. The four characters we meet exist in a hermetic microcosm of a theater company, the equivalent of a closed society. A young author's first play is about to be produced by the theater company. The play appears to contain elements of a public confessional. The character representing the author informs on his parents, resulting in their arrest, and murders his wife and infant son. The McGuffin is: Did the author actually commit the acts depicted in the play? Mahfouz withholds the author's story until the end, keeping the reader guessing. Yet, Mahfouz's real intent, I believe, is to explore the minds of his four characters.
Tariq, an aging actor of mediocre accomplishment, contends the author is indeed a criminal. It's a convenient salve to his wounded pride. He boarded at the author's house and had seduced a beautiful ingenue actress, Tahiya. He was hardly discreet about it, and the author, then an idealistic adolescent, was morally repulsed. Tariq's contempt for the author's moralizing turns to outright hatred when the actress spurns him and marries the author. Tariq feigns moral outrage at the idea that the theater company will be performing the play of a criminal. As the producer Sirhan al-Hilaly points out, Tariq's tirades are pure vindictiveness. Tariq once played an imam while drunk and misrecited verses from the Koran — so much for piety. His unguarded thoughts expose his true self: “Tahiya, you got what was coming to you. If the man who killed you is the one you left me for, that's justice.” (p.24) He goes on to admit without regret how abusively he treated her. There's a delicious irony to his rants. Playing himself is the role of a lifetime. For the first time this third rate actor achieves critical and popular accolades.
Karam Younis speaks next. He has a wife he no longer loves. His son is the author. However, his pride in his son's success is tarnished by suspicions that the play might reflect the truth. Above all, he cannot erase the contempt his son feels for his pragmatic immorality. Unlike Tariq, his story is not simply a series of rants and flashbacks. It is constantly interrupted by the vicious goading and accusations of his wife, Halima. Her voice almost crowds him out of his own narrative. We aren't simply told of the dissolution of this family. We breathe in with their words the toxic atmosphere.
After this foreshadowing, we immediately recognize the self-absorbed cloying sentimentality of Karam's wife, Halima Al-Kabsh. Their son urges them to repair their differences, and sets them up in a small convenience store after they serve their prison sentences. Yet, she can speak of nothing other than how her son is her only escape from an unhappy marriage. She dreams of leaving Karam and living with her son.
The author is named Abbas Karam Younis. As the final voice, I am assuming his is the most reliable voice we can get from this book. It is also a voice presented as a contrast to the other three in that we see clear evidence of growth. As a child he gravitates toward the “Morality Squad.” “...[W]e all dreamed of an ideal world in which we made ourselves its most exemplary citizens. Even defeat failed to shake our basic ideals. As long as the slogans did not change and the leader remained the same, what did defeat mean?” (p.126) Watching the dissolution of his family, he views his mother as a victim rather than the enabler she actually is. As an aspiring playwright he seeks advice from a drama critic, Fuad Shalaby. Fuad asks: “What is life, in your view?” He responds: “It's the struggle of the soul against materialism.” Fuad continues: “And what role does death play in this struggle?” He responds: “It's the soul's final victory.” (p.137) Youth — so full of confident answers; so lacking in probing questions! Mahfouz makes no attempt to edit Abbas' beliefs with the wisdom of hindsight. It's as if we are experiencing his life in real time. The first hint of questioning Abbas shows is his realization of impotence. What good is morality without action? If he cannot write a play good enough to be produced then he is reduced to impotence.
By the end of this book, it was still impossible for me to determine what Mahfouz was really saying. What is the root of these characters' miseries? Was it the poverty that forced them to take in the boarder Tariq? Was it the political mismanagement that brought on defeat, inflation and economic ruin? Was it the insularity of a society where employment and wives were obtained through relatives? Was it a moral authority that condemned women to economic dependence and beguiled men with an untenable vision of chaste romantic love? Was it the collapse of moral authority that permitted women to be raped? Throughout the book, the characters cast themselves as victims. “No one can escape his past.” (p.118) Except that Mahfouz seems to be challenging that belief. You can escape your past — maybe. In that small suggestion of maybe lies the faint glimmer of optimism.
This was a puzzling and difficult book. I can't say it was enjoyable, but certainly worth the time I spent thinking about it.
NOTE:
This novel was republished in a volume which also included 2 other novels by the author.
There is a plot of sorts, but even that is open to interpretation. Begin with the title. It could be ironic: in reality a wedding dirge. Or it could be celebrating a relentless fracturing or relationships that perhaps offer choices of liberation from corrupted social norms. The four characters we meet exist in a hermetic microcosm of a theater company, the equivalent of a closed society. A young author's first play is about to be produced by the theater company. The play appears to contain elements of a public confessional. The character representing the author informs on his parents, resulting in their arrest, and murders his wife and infant son. The McGuffin is: Did the author actually commit the acts depicted in the play? Mahfouz withholds the author's story until the end, keeping the reader guessing. Yet, Mahfouz's real intent, I believe, is to explore the minds of his four characters.
Tariq, an aging actor of mediocre accomplishment, contends the author is indeed a criminal. It's a convenient salve to his wounded pride. He boarded at the author's house and had seduced a beautiful ingenue actress, Tahiya. He was hardly discreet about it, and the author, then an idealistic adolescent, was morally repulsed. Tariq's contempt for the author's moralizing turns to outright hatred when the actress spurns him and marries the author. Tariq feigns moral outrage at the idea that the theater company will be performing the play of a criminal. As the producer Sirhan al-Hilaly points out, Tariq's tirades are pure vindictiveness. Tariq once played an imam while drunk and misrecited verses from the Koran — so much for piety. His unguarded thoughts expose his true self: “Tahiya, you got what was coming to you. If the man who killed you is the one you left me for, that's justice.” (p.24) He goes on to admit without regret how abusively he treated her. There's a delicious irony to his rants. Playing himself is the role of a lifetime. For the first time this third rate actor achieves critical and popular accolades.
Karam Younis speaks next. He has a wife he no longer loves. His son is the author. However, his pride in his son's success is tarnished by suspicions that the play might reflect the truth. Above all, he cannot erase the contempt his son feels for his pragmatic immorality. Unlike Tariq, his story is not simply a series of rants and flashbacks. It is constantly interrupted by the vicious goading and accusations of his wife, Halima. Her voice almost crowds him out of his own narrative. We aren't simply told of the dissolution of this family. We breathe in with their words the toxic atmosphere.
After this foreshadowing, we immediately recognize the self-absorbed cloying sentimentality of Karam's wife, Halima Al-Kabsh. Their son urges them to repair their differences, and sets them up in a small convenience store after they serve their prison sentences. Yet, she can speak of nothing other than how her son is her only escape from an unhappy marriage. She dreams of leaving Karam and living with her son.
The author is named Abbas Karam Younis. As the final voice, I am assuming his is the most reliable voice we can get from this book. It is also a voice presented as a contrast to the other three in that we see clear evidence of growth. As a child he gravitates toward the “Morality Squad.” “...[W]e all dreamed of an ideal world in which we made ourselves its most exemplary citizens. Even defeat failed to shake our basic ideals. As long as the slogans did not change and the leader remained the same, what did defeat mean?” (p.126) Watching the dissolution of his family, he views his mother as a victim rather than the enabler she actually is. As an aspiring playwright he seeks advice from a drama critic, Fuad Shalaby. Fuad asks: “What is life, in your view?” He responds: “It's the struggle of the soul against materialism.” Fuad continues: “And what role does death play in this struggle?” He responds: “It's the soul's final victory.” (p.137) Youth — so full of confident answers; so lacking in probing questions! Mahfouz makes no attempt to edit Abbas' beliefs with the wisdom of hindsight. It's as if we are experiencing his life in real time. The first hint of questioning Abbas shows is his realization of impotence. What good is morality without action? If he cannot write a play good enough to be produced then he is reduced to impotence.
By the end of this book, it was still impossible for me to determine what Mahfouz was really saying. What is the root of these characters' miseries? Was it the poverty that forced them to take in the boarder Tariq? Was it the political mismanagement that brought on defeat, inflation and economic ruin? Was it the insularity of a society where employment and wives were obtained through relatives? Was it a moral authority that condemned women to economic dependence and beguiled men with an untenable vision of chaste romantic love? Was it the collapse of moral authority that permitted women to be raped? Throughout the book, the characters cast themselves as victims. “No one can escape his past.” (p.118) Except that Mahfouz seems to be challenging that belief. You can escape your past — maybe. In that small suggestion of maybe lies the faint glimmer of optimism.
This was a puzzling and difficult book. I can't say it was enjoyable, but certainly worth the time I spent thinking about it.
NOTE:
This novel was republished in a volume which also included 2 other novels by the author.
October 7, 2016
When I was in Egypt a few years ago, my guide recommended this author, an Egyptian, who is a Nobel Prize winner. It's one of those odd situations where I can't really say I liked the book, but I got hooked by the story and found the plot devices intriguing. The same story is told by four different people, with four different perspectives. Everyone is miserable, and I found myself wanting to shake them and tell them to stop doing self-destructive things -- which perhaps more than anything reveals how involving the tale is -- you know these people and know that there are people this unhappy. If it were any less well crafted, it might be maudlin and you might not wish better for the characters.
The book starts near the end of the tale and then reveals everything else in flashbacks, except for the final chapter, which pulls together many of the loose pieces.
Set in the theater community in Cairo, it is not really about Egypt or the theater, but rather about the people and how their actions affect their lives.
One review printed on the cover says of the author, "He is not only a Hugo and a Dickens, but also a Galsworthy, a Mann, a Zola, and a Jules Romains." So perhaps that will give you more guidance than I have. Only 174 pages, so a quick read. Well written, draws you in, but sad.
The book starts near the end of the tale and then reveals everything else in flashbacks, except for the final chapter, which pulls together many of the loose pieces.
Set in the theater community in Cairo, it is not really about Egypt or the theater, but rather about the people and how their actions affect their lives.
One review printed on the cover says of the author, "He is not only a Hugo and a Dickens, but also a Galsworthy, a Mann, a Zola, and a Jules Romains." So perhaps that will give you more guidance than I have. Only 174 pages, so a quick read. Well written, draws you in, but sad.
September 28, 2019
So amazing. I could read anything he writes.
June 19, 2024
নাগিব মাহফুজ সম্পর্কে আমি একদম জানতাম না। ২০০৭ সালে অমর একুশে গ্রন্থ মেলায় গিয়ে ‘ওয়েডিং সং’ নামটি দেখে উপন্যাসটি কিনেছিলাম।নাগিব মাহফুজ সাহিত্যে নোবেল পুরষ্কার বিজয়ী, আতাতায়ীর হাতে নিহত। তার ব্যক্তি জীবন যেমন বর্ণাঢ্য তেমনি বিচিত্র। চারজনের জবানিতে বর্ণনা করা একটি উপন্যাস ‘ওয়েডিং সং’ ।একটি ঘটনা ভিন্ন চারজন মানুুষ নিজেদের দৃষ্টিকোণ থেকে বর্ণনা করেছেন। কবীর চৌধুরীর অনুবাদে অনবদ্য হয়ে উঠেছে সে বর্ণনা । আমি বেশ কয়েকবার পড়েছি । বিশেষ করে চতুর্থ ব্যাক্তির বর্ণনা যাকে আমরা উপন্যাসটির নায়ক বলতে পারি, তার জবানি শুনতে মন কেঁদে উঠবে।
নাগিব মাহফুজের লেখা পুস্তক বাংলা ভাষায় খুব একটা সহজলভ্য না। তাঁর লেখা পেলে আরও পড়ে হৃদয় তৃপ্ত করার প্রবল আশা ও বাসনা রয়েছে।
নাগিব মাহফুজের লেখা পুস্তক বাংলা ভাষায় খুব একটা সহজলভ্য না। তাঁর লেখা পেলে আরও পড়ে হৃদয় তৃপ্ত করার প্রবল আশা ও বাসনা রয়েছে।
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews