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A House at the Edge of Tears
In the city of Beirut, five shabby dwellings circle a courtyard with a pomegranate tree weeping blood red fruit. The residents hear screams in the night as a boy is tossed out into the street by his father―a punishment for masturbating in his sleep. A crime not worthy of the the neighbors gossip and decide that he must have tried to rape his sisters. "Small-boned with long, silky lashes, no one but the devil could camouflage evil so seductively." The poems he writes are perhaps an even greater crime to his father, but ultimately a gift to his eldest sister, who narrates their story with a combination of brutal truth and stunning prose. As her brother becomes more and more lost to his family and to himself, we also learn of a Contessa who teaches tango, a family who spends every Sunday in search of buried treasure, and the miracle of a weeping Madonna statue that cries when human tears run dry. In the harrowing and mesmerizing novel A House at the Edge of Tears , celebrated novelist and poet, Khoury-Ghata, presents the disintegration of a family and a country―both ruled by a fury fueled by fear.
111 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1998
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About the author
Vénus Khoury-Ghata
97 books34 followersVénus Khoury-Ghata was a renowned Lebanese-born poet and novelist who lived in Paris from 1972, writing in French while heavily influenced by Arabic culture. Crowned Miss Beirut in 1959, she became a prolific author known for works exploring themes of exile, memory, and death.
She won numerous prestigious literary honors, including the Prix Apollinaire and the Grand Prix de la Société des gens de lettres. Her work has been translated into Arabic, Dutch, German, Italian and Russian, and she was named a Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur in 2000.
She won numerous prestigious literary honors, including the Prix Apollinaire and the Grand Prix de la Société des gens de lettres. Her work has been translated into Arabic, Dutch, German, Italian and Russian, and she was named a Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur in 2000.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 15, 2023
GR is messing with our reads. Already read!
August 2, 2010
In a city of Beirut, five shabby dwellings circle a courtyard with a pomegranate tree. One night, the residents hear screams when a boy is harassed and assaulted by his father for masturbating in his sleep. When his wife begs him not to kill the boy, he says
The boy is sent off to a monastery and later to an insane asylum. Each time, he returns back worse than before. His father also disapproves of the poems he writes, but his sister benefits from them, by narrating this story. Over time, the boy gets lost in his own world as he becomes increasingly mentally challenged.
A House at the Edge of Tears is a daughter's means to combat her shame, a sister's means to tackle her lack of helplessness at her brother's situation. Vénus questions her father's action of throwing his wife and three daughters outside while keeping his son tied up at home. She wishes her mother had spoken up instead of crying.
I kept putting off writing this review. I had mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand - the writing. I was absolutely captivated. I couldn't put down this book, even though it is primarily written in a poetical style, which is not really my strong point. But Vénus has a style of writing that can never bore you. A House at the Edge of Tears was initially written in French, and later translated by Marilyn Hacker. I can only imagine how beautiful and lyrical the original work must be.
Vénus' narration of her brother's suffering was poignant and very vivid. I kept seeing real images in my mind's eye. Her neighbors show mostly pity. They gossip that her brother must have tried to rape his sisters. Much as the small-mindedness of her neighbors can be irritating, Vénus sketches a clear portrait of them. There's the Vinikofs, who go every Sunday to look for treasure based on the word of a sorcerer; a Contessa who loves her dog dearly and teaches tango; Aunt Rose, the landlady, who when afflicted of an ailment gives back the rent money; Renée, whose husband distrusts doctors costing her dearly; Madame Latifa, who will not unveil herself in others' presence.
In spite of the eloquence oozing out of the book, I couldn't connect too well with it. Vénus' passages are beautiful and pull at strings in your heart and mind. Her chapters chronicling her brother's condition were especially hard. I can only imagine what it is like to watch your sibling slowly get disconnected from reality, string by string. Her mother's reaction was the hardest to digest. She was so helpless she could only cry, and yet she was the only one who persisted through helping her son whenever possible, and trying to distract her husband from anything that will cause him to abuse the boy further. I wished I learnt more of what Vénus or her sisters did to defend their brother. That no one in that dwelling could stand up for a boy both shocked and despaired me.
Vénus' narration switches between second person, when she is usually addressing her brother, and third person, when we learn of what happens in the houses around the courtyard. At times though, the jumping around bothered me. Like I said, I am not a poetry person. I love the poetical writing, but the discontinuities can sometimes bother me. It took me some time to get my bearings any time the narration focus changed. Those who love reading poetry or books written in poetical prose will relish reading this one - the narration is one that holds the reader's interest.
The thought of killing him never crossed my mind. I want to bury him alive.
The boy is sent off to a monastery and later to an insane asylum. Each time, he returns back worse than before. His father also disapproves of the poems he writes, but his sister benefits from them, by narrating this story. Over time, the boy gets lost in his own world as he becomes increasingly mentally challenged.
A House at the Edge of Tears is a daughter's means to combat her shame, a sister's means to tackle her lack of helplessness at her brother's situation. Vénus questions her father's action of throwing his wife and three daughters outside while keeping his son tied up at home. She wishes her mother had spoken up instead of crying.
I kept putting off writing this review. I had mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand - the writing. I was absolutely captivated. I couldn't put down this book, even though it is primarily written in a poetical style, which is not really my strong point. But Vénus has a style of writing that can never bore you. A House at the Edge of Tears was initially written in French, and later translated by Marilyn Hacker. I can only imagine how beautiful and lyrical the original work must be.
Vénus' narration of her brother's suffering was poignant and very vivid. I kept seeing real images in my mind's eye. Her neighbors show mostly pity. They gossip that her brother must have tried to rape his sisters. Much as the small-mindedness of her neighbors can be irritating, Vénus sketches a clear portrait of them. There's the Vinikofs, who go every Sunday to look for treasure based on the word of a sorcerer; a Contessa who loves her dog dearly and teaches tango; Aunt Rose, the landlady, who when afflicted of an ailment gives back the rent money; Renée, whose husband distrusts doctors costing her dearly; Madame Latifa, who will not unveil herself in others' presence.
In spite of the eloquence oozing out of the book, I couldn't connect too well with it. Vénus' passages are beautiful and pull at strings in your heart and mind. Her chapters chronicling her brother's condition were especially hard. I can only imagine what it is like to watch your sibling slowly get disconnected from reality, string by string. Her mother's reaction was the hardest to digest. She was so helpless she could only cry, and yet she was the only one who persisted through helping her son whenever possible, and trying to distract her husband from anything that will cause him to abuse the boy further. I wished I learnt more of what Vénus or her sisters did to defend their brother. That no one in that dwelling could stand up for a boy both shocked and despaired me.
Vénus' narration switches between second person, when she is usually addressing her brother, and third person, when we learn of what happens in the houses around the courtyard. At times though, the jumping around bothered me. Like I said, I am not a poetry person. I love the poetical writing, but the discontinuities can sometimes bother me. It took me some time to get my bearings any time the narration focus changed. Those who love reading poetry or books written in poetical prose will relish reading this one - the narration is one that holds the reader's interest.
August 31, 2022
This is a Translation of a new novel which displays the disintegration of an entire family. It starts with the Father(raised by the Monks, who discovers his young son masterbating in his sleep, and the screams of his beating wakes the neighborhood, and ends with the disintegration of an entire family. The religious mount, a military father, the Mother who tries to save her son from his Feather and all of his other oppressers, to include three sisters, a Contessa, and several others none of whom are able to lift this from sadness, depression and death.
In the city of Beirut, five shabby dwellings circle a courtyard with a pomegranate tree weeping blood red fruit. The residents hear screams in the night as a boy is tossed out into the street by his father―a punishment for masturbating in his sleep. A crime not worthy of the punishment: the neighbors gossip and decide that he must have tried to rape his sisters. "Small-boned with long, silky lashes, no one but the devil could camouflage evil so seductively." The poems he writes are perhaps an even greater crime to his father, but ultimately a gift to his eldest sister, who narrates their story with a combination of brutal truth and stunning prose. As her brother becomes more and more lost to his family and to himself, we also learn of a Contessa who teaches tango, a family who spends every Sunday in search of buried treasure, and the miracle of a weeping Madonna statue that cries when human tears run dry.
In the harrowing and mesmerizing novel A House at the Edge of Tears, celebrated novelist and poet, Khoury-Ghata, presents the disintegration of a family and a country―both ruled by a fury fueled by fear. I was so glad this was a short novel. Well written, real characters,, discouraging landscape.
enough.
Synopsis:In the city of Beirut, five shabby dwellings circle a courtyard with a pomegranate tree weeping blood red fruit. The residents hear screams in the night as a boy is tossed out into the street by his father―a punishment for masturbating in his sleep. A crime not worthy of the punishment: the neighbors gossip and decide that he must have tried to rape his sisters. "Small-boned with long, silky lashes, no one but the devil could camouflage evil so seductively." The poems he writes are perhaps an even greater crime to his father, but ultimately a gift to his eldest sister, who narrates their story with a combination of brutal truth and stunning prose. As her brother becomes more and more lost to his family and to himself, we also learn of a Contessa who teaches tango, a family who spends every Sunday in search of buried treasure, and the miracle of a weeping Madonna statue that cries when human tears run dry.
In the harrowing and mesmerizing novel A House at the Edge of Tears, celebrated novelist and poet, Khoury-Ghata, presents the disintegration of a family and a country―both ruled by a fury fueled by fear.
In the city of Beirut, five shabby dwellings circle a courtyard with a pomegranate tree weeping blood red fruit. The residents hear screams in the night as a boy is tossed out into the street by his father―a punishment for masturbating in his sleep. A crime not worthy of the punishment: the neighbors gossip and decide that he must have tried to rape his sisters. "Small-boned with long, silky lashes, no one but the devil could camouflage evil so seductively." The poems he writes are perhaps an even greater crime to his father, but ultimately a gift to his eldest sister, who narrates their story with a combination of brutal truth and stunning prose. As her brother becomes more and more lost to his family and to himself, we also learn of a Contessa who teaches tango, a family who spends every Sunday in search of buried treasure, and the miracle of a weeping Madonna statue that cries when human tears run dry.
In the harrowing and mesmerizing novel A House at the Edge of Tears, celebrated novelist and poet, Khoury-Ghata, presents the disintegration of a family and a country―both ruled by a fury fueled by fear.
In the city of Beirut, five shabby dwellings circle a courtyard with a pomegranate tree weeping blood red fruit. The residents hear screams in the night as a boy is tossed out into the street by his father―a punishment for masturbating in his sleep. A crime not worthy of the punishment: the neighbors gossip and decide that he must have tried to rape his sisters. "Small-boned with long, silky lashes, no one but the devil could camouflage evil so seductively." The poems he writes are perhaps an even greater crime to his father, but ultimately a gift to his eldest sister, who narrates their story with a combination of brutal truth and stunning prose. As her brother becomes more and more lost to his family and to himself, we also learn of a Contessa who teaches tango, a family who spends every Sunday in search of buried treasure, and the miracle of a weeping Madonna statue that cries when human tears run dry.
In the harrowing and mesmerizing novel A House at the Edge of Tears, celebrated novelist and poet, Khoury-Ghata, presents the disintegration of a family and a country―both ruled by a fury fueled by fear. I was so glad this was a short novel. Well written, real characters,, discouraging landscape.
enough.
Synopsis:In the city of Beirut, five shabby dwellings circle a courtyard with a pomegranate tree weeping blood red fruit. The residents hear screams in the night as a boy is tossed out into the street by his father―a punishment for masturbating in his sleep. A crime not worthy of the punishment: the neighbors gossip and decide that he must have tried to rape his sisters. "Small-boned with long, silky lashes, no one but the devil could camouflage evil so seductively." The poems he writes are perhaps an even greater crime to his father, but ultimately a gift to his eldest sister, who narrates their story with a combination of brutal truth and stunning prose. As her brother becomes more and more lost to his family and to himself, we also learn of a Contessa who teaches tango, a family who spends every Sunday in search of buried treasure, and the miracle of a weeping Madonna statue that cries when human tears run dry.
In the harrowing and mesmerizing novel A House at the Edge of Tears, celebrated novelist and poet, Khoury-Ghata, presents the disintegration of a family and a country―both ruled by a fury fueled by fear.
In the city of Beirut, five shabby dwellings circle a courtyard with a pomegranate tree weeping blood red fruit. The residents hear screams in the night as a boy is tossed out into the street by his father―a punishment for masturbating in his sleep. A crime not worthy of the punishment: the neighbors gossip and decide that he must have tried to rape his sisters. "Small-boned with long, silky lashes, no one but the devil could camouflage evil so seductively." The poems he writes are perhaps an even greater crime to his father, but ultimately a gift to his eldest sister, who narrates their story with a combination of brutal truth and stunning prose. As her brother becomes more and more lost to his family and to himself, we also learn of a Contessa who teaches tango, a family who spends every Sunday in search of buried treasure, and the miracle of a weeping Madonna statue that cries when human tears run dry.
In the harrowing and mesmerizing novel A House at the Edge of Tears, celebrated novelist and poet, Khoury-Ghata, presents the disintegration of a family and a country―both ruled by a fury fueled by fear.
October 21, 2017
In this brief, perplexing and surreal novel by Vénus Khoury-Ghata, a Lebanese writer who has resided in Paris for many years, a family living in a poor Lebanon village before and during the civil war undergoes a series of tragic misfortunes and mishaps. When one of the family’s four daughters falls ill and dies, the father responds with raging violence against his only son, who has committed the twin transgressions of masturbation and writing poetry. The father (a former monk) lets the neighbours believe the rumor that spreads about his son being punished for trying to rape one of his surviving sisters. Eventually, the son, Youri, suffers a mental breakdown from repeated beatings and being deprived of his natural form of poetic expression and ends up in an insane asylum, where he undergoes shock treatment and various types of cruel confinement. The narrator, Mina, and her two sisters are sent to a village in the mountainous north of the country to live with an aunt and uncle (a carpenter who makes coffins), where life unfolds somewhat more peaceably. When the war closes the asylum, the mother brings Youri home. While the father’s irrational fury against his son dominates the action and drives the unfortunate family’s harrowing tale, we are also treated to glimpses into the lives of their neighbours: the Vinikofs, who set out each weekend to hunt for treasure, the Contessa, who teaches the tango, and Rose, the short-tempered landlord, who owns a statue of the Virgin Mary that begins to weep. The story proceeds in brief, melodramatic snapshots and is narrated in a highly eccentric manner that emphasizes lyrical and startling turns of phrase over dramatic event and character interaction, effectively holding the reader at a distance from the characters and making it difficult to sympathize with their plight. While it is easy to admire the language and the praiseworthy translation into English by Marilyn Hacker, A House at the Edge of Tears leaves the reader with a somewhat muddled final impression. Though not long, few readers will finish this novel wishing it were longer.
May 8, 2020
Confusing and disjointed. I couldn't wait for it to end.
September 28, 2021
Sel yayıncılığın gözleri kanatan punto seçimiyle okumak eziyetli olsa da anlatımı çok çekici.
December 1, 2016
A few chapters in when I realized my thoughts on the book, which to that point had been darkened by a cast of unlikable characters and the continuing use of masturbation-as-plot-device, markedly improved. Not enough to push the book, which could have fleshed out many of the characters much more, to a 'recommend' for friends. Will definitely look into the author's other novels, though.
October 15, 2007
Amazing book! It is very short and toes the line between prose and poetry. The book is semi-autobiographical and tells the story of a family living in Lebanon (if I remember correctly) with an abusive father who was formerly a monk. Great, great book. Very bittersweet.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews