The Desolate Time

Az-Zaman Al-Muwḥesh (The Desolate Time)
AuthorḤaidar Ḥaidar
LanguageArabic
GenreNovel
Published1973
PublisherDar Al-ʿAwda Publishing
Publication placeBeirut, Lebanon

The Desolate Time (Arabic: الزمن الموحش, romanizedAz-Zaman Al-Muwḥesh) is a 1973 novel by Syrian writer Ḥaidar Ḥaidar. It ranks 7th in the best 100 Arabic Novels list.[1]

Summary

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The novel was categorized as a stream-of-consciousness style novel after the defeat of the Six-Day war in 1967.[2] The cultured characters in the novel reject tradition and embrace looking at the present in the light of the future, and they represent the secular stance. The story is narrated in first-person. The protagonist uses stream-of-consciousness techniques to narrate the story through recollections and dreams of her experiences and the experiences of her comrades among the loitering and loss they live through, swinging between ideological theorizing, alcohol, and women.[3]

Editions

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  • First Edition: 1973, Dar Al-ʿAwda Publishing, Beirut
  • Second Edition: 1979, Arab Institute for Research & Publishing, Beirut
  • Third Edition: 1991, Dar ʾAmwaj Publisher, Beirut
  • Fifth Edition: 2000, Dar ʾAmwaj Publisher, Beirut

References

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  1. ^ "The Best 100 Arabic Books (According to the Arab Writers Union): 1-10". ARABLIT & ARABLIT QUARTERLY. 2010-04-23. Retrieved 2023-10-19.
  2. ^ "Qira'ah Naqdiya Fi 'Adab Ḥaidar Ḥaidar (Critical Reading of Ḥaidar Ḥaidar's Texts)". Al-Thawra. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 26 December 2011.
  3. ^ "Khususiyet Al-Naṣ Al-Riwaʾi ʿInd Ḥaidar Ḥaidar (Ḥaidar Ḥaidar's Privacy of the Fictional Text)". An-Nour. Archived from the original on 7 September 2010. Retrieved 26 December 2011.