The Diaries of Waguih Ghali
An Egyptian Writer in the Swinging Sixties
Format:Hardback
Publisher:The American University in Cairo Press
Published:30th Jul '17
Should be back in stock very soon
The captivating diaries of an Egyptian political exile, novelist, and libertine intellectual in sixties Europe
In 1968 Egyptian novelist and political exile Waguih Ghali committed suicide in the London flat of his editor, friend, and sometime lover, Diana Athill. Ghali left behind six notebooks of diaries that for decades were largely inaccessible to the public. The Diaries of Waguih Ghali: An Egyptian in the Swinging Sixties, in two volumes, is the first publication of its kind of the journals, casting fascinating light on a likable and highly enigmatic literary personality.Waguih Ghali (1930?-69), author of the acclaimed novel Beer in the Snooker Club, was a libertine, sponger, and manic depressive, but also an extraordinary writer, a pacifist, and a savvy political commentator. Covering the last four years of his life, Ghali's Diaries offer an exciting glimpse into London's swinging sixties. Volume 2 covers the period from 1966 to 1968. Moving from West Germany to London and Israel, and back in memory to Egypt and Paris, the entries boast of endless drinking, countless love affairs, and of mingling with the dazzling intellectuals of London, but the Diaries also critique the sinister political circles of Jerusalem and Cairo, describe Ghali's trepidation at being the first Egyptian allowed into Israel after the 1967 War, and confess in detail the pain and difficulties of writing and exile.Including an interview conducted by Deborah Starr with Ghali's cousin, former director of UNICEF-Geneva, Samir Basta.
"Certainly a must-read for anyone interested in Ghali's work and perhaps of wider interest."--Marcia Lynx Qualey, Arabic Literature (in English) "Waguih Ghali's widely acclaimed novel "Beer in the Snooker Club" has become a classic of Arabic literature. Ghali, like other once marginalized authors and artists, has become an intellectual reference in and outside the Arab world for current attempts to re-articulate the terms of the debate on culture, nation, and the world in times of painful transition from an old order to something unknown. The publication of his diaries is an important contribution to this endeavor, for it enables us to learn more about the author and his context. Ghali was a non-conformist socialist, a political dissenter, an avant-garde figure, haunted by alienation, depression, nostalgia, and by being a little too fond of the good life, and by contradictions that still mark our times."--Georges Khalil, Forum Transregionale Studien"The diaries give us a clearer picture of Ghali and the nature of his life in exile, and help to correct some misconceptions about him. They constitute an important document of confession in which we can trace and reflect on the difficulties of writing and the alienation of a writer who lost his home in his childhood and his country in his youth."--Iman Ali, al-Hayat"Meticulously edited by May Hawas. . . . The diaries cover, and shed much light on, the last four years of Ghali's life as well as, through reminiscences, aspects of his youth."--Paul K Lyons, The Diary Review"The author clearly imagines-or at least hopes-the diary will one day be published in book form. As he hopes it, he also worries that we, who will read his once-private thoughts, will laugh at him. 'This, to me, is one of the cruelest things I am experiencing.' He needn't have agonized over this. While a reader who admires "Beer in the Snooker Club" might be disappointed at the Diaries' very different tone, it would take a stone-hearted reader to laugh at the author's suffering."--Marcia Lynx Qualey, Qantara.de
ISBN: 9789774168123
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
224 pages