Just Like a River - Book Review

by Muhammad Kamil al-Khatib translated by Michelle Hartman and Maher Barakat (Arris Books, ISBN 1 84437 003 8)

Although this never by one or Syria's foremost intellectuals was published in Arabic in 1984, this English translation is both welcome and timely. The book follows the lives of a cross-section of Damascus society against a background of escalating tension and the imminent Israeli invasion of Lebanon.

AS the narrative flows from character to character, we get to know the family of Chief Sergeant Yunis, a career soldier nearing retirement. His eldest son Muhsin is studying medicine in Russia, his daughter Dallal is at college in Damascus and his two young sons Muhammad and Ali are still at home. Yunis is building a house in his home village and he dreams of peaceful days there tending his vines and surrounded by his family. By the novel's end, his hopes are shattered and, estranged from his offspring, he is an embittered and lonely man.

If Yunis personifies the thwarted aspirations of a traditional generation, then Dallal and her boyfriend Yusuf represent youth struggling against a regimented and stifling society. Their conversations, in which they try--and largely fail--to express their love, vividly illustrate the gap between what is felt and what can be said.

This is a superbly intricate book that touches on large themes--such as the urban rural divide and the betrayal of ideals--while maintaining a sharp focus on the intimate human scale of events. In just over 100 pages al-Khatib gives us a detailed snapshot of a society at a particular point in time that resonates strongly with our own troubled present.

Rating ***** PW www.arrisbooks.com

STAR RATING

EXCELLENT    *****
VERY GOOD    ****
GOOD         ***
FAIR         **
POOR         *

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