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American Granddaughter, by Inaam Kachachi
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At the beginning of America's occupation of Iraq, Zeina returns to her war-torn homeland as an interpreter for the US Army. Her formidable grandmother, the only family member that Zeina believes she has in Iraq, gravely disapproves of her granddaughter's actions. Then Zeina meets Haider and Muhaymin, two "brothers" she knows nothing of, and falls deeply in love with Muhaymin, a militant in the Al Mehdi Army. These experiences force her to question all her values.
- Sales Rank: #1631700 in Books
- Brand: Brand: Bloomsbury USA
- Published on: 2010-10-18
- Original language: Arabic
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.05" h x .74" w x 5.43" l, .60 pounds
- Binding: Hardcover
- 192 pages
- Used Book in Good Condition
Review
'We let ourselves be won over by this novel that describes with such faithfulness and emotion the tearing apart of a country and a woman forever caught between two shores' Le Monde 'Full of poetry and freshness' Guide de la rentree litteraire, Lire/Virgin 'Here's an extraordinary burst of writing to jolt us out of indifference. In one of the most beautiful novels of the new season, Inaam Kachachi portrays the dual tragedy of her native land: the failure of American and the humilation of Iraq' Marianne
About the Author
Born in Baghdad, Inaam Kachachi currently lives in Paris. She has a PhD in journalism and two previously published nonfiction titles: Paroles d'Irakiennes: Le drame irakien ecrit par des femmes (Iraqis Speak: The Iraqi Drama in Women's Writing, 2003) and Lorna, ses annees avec Jawad Salim (biography of the English painter Lorna Hailes, 1997).
Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
A Brilliant Originative Novel
By Raymond N. Shekoury
Reviewed by Dr. Raymond Shekoury
I obtained “ The American Granddaughter ” from Amazon It is the English translation of “ الـحـفـيـدة الأمريكـيـة ”, written by Inaam Kachachi. published in 2008 by Dar al-Jadid. The translation into English was carried by Nariman Yousif and published by Bloomsbury Publishing foundation in 2010
I enjoyed reading the English translation of “The American Granddaughter ”. It seized my interest so much that I could not put it down until the end. Though the translation seems to be good enough, I am sure I would have enjoyed it much more if I had the opportunity of reading it in its original Arabic.
Inaam Kachachi is an Iraqi author, currently living in Paris. Therefore, it is natural, that when writing about her mother country, you feel that words are flowing down from the very depth of her heart, and not from her keyboard
The Arabic version of “ The American Granddaughter ” was submitted for the 2009 International Prize for Arabic fiction. It did not win the prize, but reached the six-short-list of among more than 250 works. Since I had not read the other woks, I cannot make a comparative objective judgement, but the mere fact that Kachachi`s novel ascended to that prestigious position, I can confidently assert that it must be a valuable piece of literature
The plot of the novel runs like this :.
Zeina, is the protagonist of “ The American Granddaughter ”. Her father, when she was about twelve years old, was arrested and tortured by Saddam`s police. After his release he fled to Jordan. Then he immigrated with his family to America
In 2003, when George W. Bush invaded Iraq, Zeina is a young woman. The invading army needs to recruit Arabic speaking American citizens as interpreters who would be paid with lucrative salaries. Zeina happens to be in bad need of money mainly, to treat her mother and her drug addicted brother. Therefore, it is tempting for her to seek one of those positions. Zeina being well-versed in Arabic, was among the selected for the jobs.
Hence, She returned to her original homeland as a veteran translator serving the occupying US army. Zeina, was happily presuming that she would be serving both of her two countries; the adopted country liberating the old one from the tyranny of Saddam. But things did not turn as anticipated.
She arrived in the country of her birth at that period of time when the trampled people of Iraq, realized that the invading Americans were not liberators,as claimed, but occupiers.. This was an unexpected surprise to her that conveyed shocking waves through her spine. Even more shocking was the attitude of her own Iraqi-rooted grandmother, full with patriotic zeal, who vigorously resented her granddaughter`s position serving the occupiers, and wearing the disgustful army uniform.
It is always expected in any novel that the main protagonist falls in love. Well, Zeina did. Unfortunately, her fall was different. It was an agonizing one-sided illicit unresolvable love with a member of Jaish Al-Mahdi ( i.e., Mahdi`s army ), who explicitly resisted all her seductions because she was his “ milk-sister ”.
The accumulated effects of the animosity of the majority of the Iraqi people towards the occupation, the steady bombardment of scoldings by the grandmother, and the failed love, shattered Zeina`s dreams and demoralized her. Consequently, she learned, in a hard way, the lesson of the incompatibility of being allegiant to both,of her two countries, of being a dog of two homes,unable to feel at home in either.
Eventually she left her lovely native land, which she aspired to serve, a shattered and torn country; and returned to America describing herself in her words as a broken mirror, a broken-hearted, devastated torn and drained woman. .
Listening to the chatting of people in a cafe might produce a more intricate or complex plot.
But the superiority of literary a work is not measured by the complexity of its plot, but by its abilities in portraying the personalities of its main characters, in producing in the reader some emotions, or in refreshing forgotten memories,
Let us put generalities aside. Kachachi erected upon that plot as scaffolding a beautiful edifice, and elegantly maneuvered through its different floors. She wrote a sentimental novel that holds you breathless until you finish. She excelled throughout The American Granddaughter in describing the ugliness and the brutalities of Bush`s War, and in portraying personalities of the characters of her novel. Moreover, Kachachi vividly described localities in a poetic prose, that made me longing to go back to my mother country. She chronicled events in a colorful dramatic phrases, some of which made me laugh from the depth from my heart, such as “ A nun who did not smell of the sweat of a man.”, and others that made me cry from the depth of my heart too.“
The prayers of Zein`s grandmother ignited memories of my own grandmother praying to the very same saints.
At first I thought that the novel`s title was ill-chosen. However, upon second thought I realized that the “ grandmother ”, though refers to a real person, of blood and flesh, carries with it another connotation as a symbol for the proud country, which was the cradle of civilization, the land of the thousand and one night, its famous two rivers, its homogenized multiracial society, its traditions, its culture, and its palm trees, etc.
With such symbolization, the novel's title would become more meaningful as the rebounding echoes of the rebukes and curses of the “grandmother” to the prodigal American granddaughter.
The death of the grandmother stands for the demise of Iraq as a country torn-apart by the devastating American occupation.
The author of “ The American Granddaughter ” had created Zeina in her own image.(that is Kachachi`s image) Zeina,then starts to wrestle with her creator; throughout the novel putting statements such as : “ I ignore the writer who is intruding on my space on my computer ”. Nevertheless,; Kachachi, on the other hand, by projecting herself on Zeina. was able to express in a smooth manner, through the lips of her protagonist, some aspects of her own biography; for example, her high school, her mastery of poetry her familiarity with movies and songs. She is to be envied for her capabilities
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
An interesting discussion
By DubaiReader
This was a book group choice for my Kutub book group - a group that discusses books available in both Arabic and English. Although the majority had read this book in English (translation), there was a distinct difference in the perception of the book between the two cultural backgrounds.
Zeina is a young woman of Iraqi parents, who left her country of birth at the age of twelve, to make a new home in America. Her father had been a radio presenter and the regime had taken him in for questioning and beaten him up. Her mother never really recovered from leaving her country behind and Zeina's Grandmother was left in Iraq, alone but for her faithful servant, Tawoos and her family.
After America invaded Iraq, there was a sudden need for Arabic speakers to act as interpreters for the army. It was a well paid job and Zeina felt she could help both America and Iraq by taking on a postion.
What follows is basically an analysis of Zeina's mental turmoil as she struggles between the beliefs of the Americans and the reality that she is surrounded by. Zeina's Grandmother is very resentful of her American soldier's uniform and feeels that her Granddaughter has sold herself out to the enemy. As the situation worsens and soldiers are being targetted, Zeina starts to learn the reality of war.
In the midst of all this, Zeina meets Tawoos's son, Muhaymen. He is referred to as her 'milk brother' as his mother had breast fed Zeina when her own mother was sick with typhiod. Zeina is smitten by him and the fly leaf for the book leads us to believe that this is going to be a heated romance, but this is a deceptive sales pitch and is not really what the book is about.
The discussion within the group highlighted certain different perceptions. Many of the Arabic redaers felt the Grandmother was sad, where we had interpreted her reaction as anger against Zeina. They could understand her behaviour, where we thought she should be more receptive to Zeina.
Similarly the relationship between Zeina and Muhaymen; we felt it lacked depth and was somewhat pointless, the Arabic readers pointed out that in Arabic literature there is much less spoken and much more assumed when writing of affairs of the heart; much is said just by a flick of the eye.
We were all in agreement that the central theme of the book was Zeina's struggle between her two identities, her love for two countries and the right or wrongness of the invasion.
I would have liked to have given 3 1/2 stars, reflecting my level of enjoyment as I read it. It seemed a bit 'thin', lacking depth in the characters, but it was worth reading for the questions that it raised and the interesting perspectives on the war in Iraq.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful.
A very readable book
By Padders
It's hard to critique a translated work. So much may be lost in translation.. However, Imaan Kachachi's book held my interest from start to finish. At first sight, it appears openly critical of America, but a closer reading suggests that the book is about identity, especially if an immigrant. I did feel,however, that some aspects were not developed in depth; for eg., Zeina (the protagonist's) love for a Mahdi soldier who she is thrown together with for just two weeks. However,this is just a small flaw. The American Granddaughter gives a true picture of current Iraq, and raises questions of patriotism, identity and belonging.
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