The Malaysian Insider :: Books
The Malaysian Insider :: Books |
| Book review – The Corpse Exhibition and Other Stories of Iraq Posted: 09 Apr 2014 06:15 PM PDT Baghdad-born author Hassan Blasim speaks about war-torn Iraq from the eyes of paranoid politicians and bottom-feeders. His work is fiction, of course; its sentiments are anything but. For Blasim, the best-known approach to write on post-Iraq War is to craft 192-pages of short stories written in an absurdist manner from an Iraqi perspective, and neatly tuck all of them in between matte black covers with "The Corpse Exhibition and Other Stories of Iraq" for a title. So the first chapter bears an eponymous title and talks about the initiation into a circle of assassins where killing is art – the more artful the kill, the more braggadocios the killer. The protagonist, of course, is a would-be assassin and there's all the necessary violence and gore you'd expect: "I like concision, simplicity and the striking image. Take Agent Deaf, for example. He's calm, and he has a smart, lucid eye, and my favourite work of his was that woman who was breast–feeding." Midway there's "The Iraqi Christ" which is about an Iraqi Christian who usually cheats death but ends up being forced to be a suicide bomber just so his mother will live to see another day. And the last chapter, perhaps the most powerful of the entire series, is "The Nightmares of Carlos Fuentes" which tells the story of an Iraqi immigrant wanting to seek refuge in Amsterdam. The storytelling technique Blasim employs throughout makes the book a compelling read. One device he uses freely is where the protagonist submits himself to committing an act – only for him to later question either the reality of the action or its effect. And as the book progresses, so does his main actors: first the assassin, then the older brother with a penchant for incest, then the Iraqi Christian, the crossword puzzle-maker, the writer, culminating with the immigrant. Whether this was done deliberately can't be ascertained – but for a book that lacks a chronological framework or even an easily discernible context, it's a good progression. Bear in mind that Blasim's background – of being persecuted by Saddam Hussein in 1998, of seeking refuge in a Kurdish part of Iraq and then producing a controversial film about the place in 2004, and of migrating to Finland in the name of artistic freedom – are very much embedded in each story. This book will go well for lovers of Carlos Fuentes, Rod Serling, Julio Cortazar and Roberto Bolano, or any author who employs magical realism to describe grim realities. Blasim's latest is his third book. English prose here is courtesy of Jonathan Wright's translation – the original is in Arabic. And if that name rings any bells, it's because while on assignment for Reuters in 1984 in Lebanon, Wright spent a week as a hostage before escaping. "The Corpse Exhibition and Other Stories of Iraq" is published by Penguin Books and priced at RM39.95. You can purchase a copy of it at any major bookstore. – April 10, 2014. |
| Oh no! Comic book character Archie dies in series conclusion Posted: 09 Apr 2014 05:51 PM PDT In the series of his adventures after high school and college, the iconic comic character will die while saving the life of a friend in "Life With Archie #36" in July. "We've been building up to this moment since we launched "Life with Archie" five years ago, and knew that any book that was telling the story of Archie's life as an adult had to also show his final moment," Archie Comics Publisher and co-Chief Executive Officer Jon Goldwater said on the website www.archiecomics.com. He added that the story will be available in multiple formats, including magazine size, two comic-size issues #36 and #37, and a paperback of the entire story. "Life with Archie #36" will detail his final moments, while "Life with Archie #37" will show how his friends are coping without him a year after his death. A spokesman for the comics said the events in the flash-forward series will not affect Archie in the present-day series. His adventures and stories as a teenager will continue. The Archie series, with characters such as Jughead, Betty and Veronica, have been running for decades. Archie Comics have sold 2 billion comics worldwide and are published around the globe. – Reuters, April 10, 2014. |
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