| Author | Message | ||
     Des (Des) Username: Des Registered: 09-2010 Posted From: 81.155.19.134 |
Karim Ghahwagi is a member of RCMB. I've just received his book 'Amerika' from Ex Occidente Press. More later. | ||
| Skip (Wolfnoma) Username: Wolfnoma Registered: 07-2010 Posted From: 216.54.20.98 |
This is cool. | ||
| Des (Des) Username: Des Registered: 09-2010 Posted From: 81.155.19.134 |
AMERIKA is a beautiful sewn hardcover book of 64 pages with stiff red dust-jacket bearing an outline of a cat, silk ribbon, endpapers and a full-colour frontispiece by Armand Henrion (Self Portrait, Clown with Monocle). The edition limited to 100 hand numbered copies. My copy is numbered 50 and possesses exceptionally aesthetic yet heavy-duty page paper. The red board covers beneath the dust jacket bear the word ‘Meow!’ on the front, and nothing else anywhere. more later | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Karim is a great guy... one of the few people on here with whom I rarely disagree. | ||
| Des (Des) Username: Des Registered: 09-2010 Posted From: 81.155.19.134 |
Pages 9 – 38 “You cannot write a sequel of The Master and Margarita! You were supposed to write a travel book about Malta!” Two parallel scenes in an effective Absurdist mode, with some character names as names of countries leading to a Bulgakovian*-Swiftian tendency towards the Land of Lacuna (my words, not the book’s) – concerning much that is obstreperous as well as geographically laconic. I can imagine it, so far, as a stage play where I’m watching from the wings rather than the auditorium. (*I am cheating there a bit as the quote at the start of the book is from Bulgakov). (8 Mar 11) [The scenes take place in Copenhagen, and the photograph at the head of my overall Real-Time Reviews website was taken by me there.] (8 Mar 11 – two hours later) Pages 38 – 63 Obstreperous, maybe, but in this section, “this is preposterous!” ,,,”A cartography of bewilderment”. For me, personally, this ends on a very personal note, and those in the know will know why (and this, rest assured, is not a spoiler for ‘Amerika’, and indeed nothing can spoil it): “How can there be a room there? It appears to be suspended beyond the outer wall of the building.” There are anthropomorphic matters, also, that remind me of incidents in the Cern Zoo. Above all, it is something you will either love or hate. I loved it. Its satiric-absurdism is spot on. I dare not tell you more about it, because then I would be creating spoilers. Especially about the cat. And a door like a door from King’s ‘The Dark Tower’ (something I’m coincidentally real-time reviewing at the moment). If you want to live in a Magritte painting and its hinterland, then you will love this novellarette. (8 Mar 11 – another 3 hours later) END | ||
| Des (Des) Username: Des Registered: 09-2010 Posted From: 81.155.19.134 |
BTW, the word 'novellarette' has never been used before, according to Google. | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 91.110.166.172 |
I'm sure Robert W. Chambers' 'The Maker of Moons' was described as a 'bijou novellarette' on publication. If not, it should have been. Well done, Karim! | ||
| Allybird (Allybird) Username: Allybird Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 88.104.137.65 |
Congratulations, Karim! | ||
| Karim Ghahwagi (Karim) Username: Karim Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 80.163.2.94 |
Des, thank you so much for your generous Real Time review. This is particularly heartening for me as family and loved ones are in a precarious situation right now as they find themselves in the midst of the exploding civil war in Libya, and I am powerless here from Copenhagen. I don’t think anything could put a smile on my face right now but to know that soon, they will finally have been brought to safety, and then this, the first review of my very first book (or novellarette). That only happens once in a lifetime. Thank you Des, for taking the time to read and write about Amerika. Stevie: Yes, we are nearly always in complete agreement, but I need to work on my lists! And catch up on your voracious reading! | ||
| Karim Ghahwagi (Karim) Username: Karim Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 80.163.2.94 |
Thank you Joel and Ally! | ||
| Carolinec (Carolinec) Username: Carolinec Registered: 06-2009 Posted From: 92.232.199.129 |
Oh Karim, I hope everything goes well for your family and that they're brought safely to you soon. It's at times like these I wish I was a religious person who could say a little prayer for you and them, but I confess I'm not so I'll think good thoughts about you all instead. And well done with the book! | ||
| Joel (Joel) Username: Joel Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 91.110.196.60 |
Best of luck to you and your family, Karim. | ||
| Simon Bestwick (Simon_b) Username: Simon_b Registered: 10-2008 Posted From: 86.24.209.217 |
Best of luck to you and your loved ones, Karim. And congratulations on the novellarette (that does sound rather elegant, doesn't it?) too. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.181.14.243 |
I'd love to buy this, but after a recent experience I've decided not to order direct from Ex Occidente again, so does anyone know anywhere else I can get this? Andy Richards used to import Dan's stuff but doesn't any more. | ||
| Huw (Huw) Username: Huw Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 61.216.48.157 |
Congratulations, Karim. I hope your family and loved ones are safe. | ||
| Karim Ghahwagi (Karim) Username: Karim Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 193.89.189.24 |
Thank you all for the kind words and thoughts. Mick the european orders are going out fine, I think there are delays with, yes, the American orders--Infernal forces in the postal service. Otherwise mail me Mick and I will see what I can do. | ||
| Des (Des) Username: Des Registered: 09-2010 Posted From: 86.158.238.91 |
Yes, I have no problem receiving my purchases from Dan into the UK. And all the best, Karim, with the situtaion regarding your family that you describe. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
That must be hell to go through, Karim, good luck and keep us posted! | ||
| Tony (Tony) Username: Tony Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.142.199.132 |
That's the way to do it Des! Excellent, Karim. And it goes without saying that you have my hopes for your family. It sounds like hell on earth over there. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
Best wishes, Karim. | ||
| Karim Ghahwagi (Karim) Username: Karim Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 193.89.189.24 |
Thank you for the kind words, Stevie,Tony, Ally, Huw, Des, Caroline, Joel, Simon, Gary, everyone… It just keeps dragging on this crisis, and it is uninmaginable to think of lightly armed civilians facing tanks and warplanes and snipers… BTW ’Amerika’ is still listed in the Bulgakov Antho ’The Master in Café Morphine’ on the Ex Occidente website. It will however only be published by Ex Occidente in this standalone edition here. My new novella ’The Building Inspector’ will replace ’Amerika’ in the Morphine Antho according to Dan. | ||
| Mick Curtis (Mick) Username: Mick Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 86.181.14.243 |
Karim - I can't honestly imagine what it must be like for those folk - we've been watching it on the news in recent weeks and it's all just horrifying. I hope your loved ones come through it unscathed. | ||
| Karim Ghahwagi (Karim) Username: Karim Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 193.89.189.24 |
Thanks Mick. It is very worrying and sometimes contact into the country is very difficult... | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
What is the situation with your family, Karim? Are they protected within a compound or out amongst the common populace? I can't begin to imagine how you are coping with this helpless uncertainty but, know this, all right thinking people here (and elsewhere) have you and your loved ones in their prayers. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
Apart from we athiests - we're sending good thoughts, Karim, but not prayers. I hope your family are safe. | ||
| Karim Ghahwagi (Karim) Username: Karim Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 193.89.189.24 |
Thanks Stevie. They are ordinary civilians living in different locations in the country, caught in the middle of the fighting. | ||
| Karim Ghahwagi (Karim) Username: Karim Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 193.89.189.24 |
And Zed. Thank you.... | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
Sorry - that made me sound like an arse. I just don't like people speaking for me.  Anyway, please keep us posted, Karim. | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
We all pray, Zed, whether we realise it or not... it's the impulse to pray (or send "good thoughts") that is at the root of all our fears and all our hopes. | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
Semantics, mate.  | ||
| Stevie Walsh (Stephenw) Username: Stephenw Registered: 03-2009 Posted From: 194.32.31.1 |
Well at least it proves I'm not anti-semantic.  | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
Whe-hey!  I'll set 'em up; you head 'em in. | ||
| Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch) Username: Mark_lynch Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 217.171.129.75 |
Very best wishes on all fronts, Karim. | ||
| Weber (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.56 |
That comment of yours zed reminds me of the case recently where a nurse asked a patient if she could say a prayer for him before he went into surgery and he reported her for offensive behaviour and nearly got her sacked. I can't remmeber many stories that have made me quite so angry. That patient was obviously a complete dickhead for complaining - all it needed was a polite no thanks to the nurse who was only offering to try to give a little extra help in her own way (whether you believe it would actually help or not). | ||
| Gary Fry (Gary_fry) Username: Gary_fry Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 82.26.213.180 |
Where was that reported, Weber? | ||
| Zed (Gary_mc) Username: Gary_mc Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 195.166.117.210 |
Let me guess...The Daily Mail? The Sun? | ||
| Weber (Weber_gregston) Username: Weber_gregston Registered: 03-2008 Posted From: 194.176.105.56 |
Actually IIRC it was in a documentary on the BBC at Christmas(ish) about prejudice against religion - specifically Christianity in this country at the moment. |