The Hostage (Emerging voices - new International fiction) [Hardcover]

This novella, from Yemen's foremost author, follows a young boy semi-imprisoned in a governor's palace as a hostage in the 1940s. A vital historical preface provides the political context for this, showing how isolated Yemen was at that time, and how a hereditary line of imams exercised central control. These rulers took hostages from outlying tribes as a guarantee of their military support. The hostage of the title is the son of one such tribal leader, and after spending his initial imprisonment in a fetid fortress, he is relocated to a sumptuous palace. There, he is immediately befriended by another young boy, who is apparently beloved by all--especially the ladies of the palace. It seems that the young boys are meant to be "duwaydar", a sort of a combination of servant and courtier. These boys were theoretically "safe" around the women, since they were pre-pubescent. In practice, however, they are sought out by the women of the palace for unspecified pleasures in the dark.

As the hostage gets resigned to his status, he falls in love with the wealthy and beautiful sister of the governor, Sharifa Hafsa. As his feelings for Sharifa develop, his friend starts succumbing to tuberculosis and the hostage starts to supplant him as favorite of the palace. This is doubtless some manner of allegory, but the meaning eludes me. There are clear parallels being drawn between the gilded cage status of the hostage and strong-willed palace women like Sharifa Hafsa. Ultimately it comes as no surprise that their solution is mutual. Dammaj leavens the oppressive story with moments of ribald comedy, such as a man who gets kicked in the head by a donkey he was attempting to have sex with. It's an interesting look at how traditional Yemeni society was, as recently as sixty years ago, and is worth reading by those with an interest in Arab culture and history, but probably of little interest to others.

I picked up this book with a lot of hope. Yemen is a country that fascinates me and particularly this period of history (early 20th century) and their efforts to repel foreign influence and colonialism. The story itself is quite good: a boy is taken hostage in order to secure his father's political loyalty to a local governor. It is a story of how the boy deals with the various tasks set before him and how he struggles for both literal and intellectual freedom. Sounds great right? Well, the synopsis is unfortunately the best part of the book. The dialogue in the book is so stiff and unbelievable that its almost embarassingly bad. The story line leaps all around. I think there are too many leaps in the plot and assumptions in the story (and the reader would be TOTALLY lost if it weren't for the two introductions.) Like I said, I feel the translation must be sorely lacking because this is hailed as a work of genius. If I try my best to read around the simple language and terrible dialogue, I *think* it may be good in the original language (hence 2 stars and not just 1.) That being said, I would avoid this book unless you can read it in Arabic, because in English...it is a waste of time.

I read this book as part of my quest to read a book set in every country in the world, choosing The Hostage because it was the only Yemeni novel available. While it's not awful, I wouldn't recommend it unless you're working on a similar challenge or have a strong interest in Yemen.

The Hostage is a novella weighing in at a little under 130 pages. The translation comes with two introductory essays, both of which are useful, perhaps essential, in understanding the text: the first discusses the historical background, and the second the author's life and the lack of Yemeni literature upon which to build. While I can't say much for the story itself, I really appreciate these editorial features: the publishers clearly put in the effort to present the book well, from providing us with background information to the inclusion of minimal but quite helpful footnotes.

As for the story itself, it's narrated by an unnamed boy, who is taken hostage to ensure his family's loyalty, a practice that in the 1940s was still common in the isolated and traditional Yemen, although outdated in most of the world. The adolescent boys in this position were treated as high-ranking servants, but were also much in demand from the palace women, who were isolated from adult men. The novel basically follows its narrator as he deals with the various people he encounters.

The Hostage lives up to most of the stereotypes English-speakers have about novels in translation: it's a fairly odd story without much momentum; the characters are a bit distant, despite the first-person narration; the pacing feels off, although there is a lot of dialogue; it's sometimes difficult to understand characters' reactions to events and the limitations of the setting (the narrator gets away with much more than one would expect, given his position). Scene-setting and exposition are minimal.

Whether this is a good book in the original language, I can't say, but in translation I found little to appreciate or enjoy. Only about two weeks after finishing, I'm having a hard time remembering much about it. Fortunately, it's short, and the historical background is interesting. Those with more of an academic or historical interest in Yemen or Arabic literature will likely appreciate it more.