Bloomsbury Publishes Translation of Sonalla Ibrahim's 'Beirut, Beirut' Novel

Doha, September 21 (QNA) - Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing published recently an English translation of 'Beirut, Beirut: A Novel of Love and War' written by Egyptian novelist Sonallah Ibrahim. The novel, published in 1984 and translated this month by Chip Rossetti, is a blend of journalistic and literary styles giving an insight of a foreign eye on the civil war which raged in Lebanon from 1975 1990. In November 1980, the writer has chosen the wrong time to come to Beirut in search of a publisher for his controversial book. Men with machine guns are on every street corner. When the writer met an old friend from the student revolutionary days, he is introduced to two fascinating women: idealistic film-maker Antoinette and Lamia, the wife of his would-be publisher. Based on the writer's real-life experience of the civil war in Lebanon, Beirut, Beirut is an exploration of how, even in the midst of chaos and violence, universals such as love, desire and yearning are still always our guiding forces. Sonallah Ibrahim was born in 1037. After studying at Cairo University, he worked as a journalist until he was arrested and imprisoned in 1959 for his political activities. Since his debut prison novel, That Smell, he has been a full-time writer several of his books have been translated into English.(QNA)