Journals of Sarab Affan (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780815608837)

Jabra tells his love story through alternate journal entries and with a complex layering of voices, showing how the affair of a famed (fictional) male novelist and the woman who desires him takes shape, through twin perspectives. Initially he is seen through the text of her journals: from her fascination with his writings until the instant when she arranges their first meeting. Thereafter, Jabra presents the male novelist's point of view: from the start of the relationship through demise due to departure, and eventual momentary reunion in romantic Paris.

Jabra's well-known concern with the inconstancy of identity and its articulation through multiple first-person narration is ever evident. However, this is the first time he places a strong female character at the center of his novel, with all the enticing complexities that result from the interplay of the author's projected female and male sensibilities. Crafting a tale of love from two disparate yet linked points of view, Jabra encourages readers to question their assumptions about the nature of self, its role in shaping character, and the possibilities of salvation through action. The extreme value Jabra places on the import of the female narrative gives his book a timely relevance.

Author: Jabra Ibrahim Jabra
ISBN-10: 0815608837
ISBN-13: 9780815608837
Publisher: Syracuse University Press
Language: English
Published: 02/13/2007
Pages: 204
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.06lbs
Size: 9.20h x 6.34w x 0.83d

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 01/29/2007 pg. 44