That Smell and Notes from Prison

Fiction & Literature
Cover of the book That Smell and Notes from Prison by Sonallah Ibrahim, New Directions
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Sonallah Ibrahim ISBN: 9780811220620
Publisher: New Directions Publication: February 19, 2013
Imprint: New Directions Language: English
Author: Sonallah Ibrahim
ISBN: 9780811220620
Publisher: New Directions
Publication: February 19, 2013
Imprint: New Directions
Language: English

That Smell is Sonallah Ibrahim’s modernist masterpiece and one of the most influential Arabic novels. Composed in the wake of a five-year prison sentence, the semi-autobiographical story follows a recently released political prisoner as he wanders through Cairo, adrift in his native city.

That Smell is Sonallah Ibrahim’s modernist masterpiece and one of the most influential novels written in Arabic since WWII. Composed after a five-year term in prison, the semi-autobiographical story follows a recently released political prisoner as he wanders through Cairo, adrift in his native city. Living under house arrest, he tries to write of his tortuous experience, but instead smokes, spies on the neighbors, visits old lovers, and marvels at Egypt’s new consumer culture. Published in 1966, That Smell was immediately banned and the print-run confiscated. The original, uncensored version did not appear in Egypt for another twenty years.

For this edition, translator Robyn Creswell has also included an annotated selection of the author’s Notes from Prison, Ibrahim’s prison diaries—a personal archive comprising hundreds of handwritten notes copied onto Bafra-brand cigarette papers and smuggled out of jail. These stark, intense writings shed unexpected light on the sources and motives of Ibrahim’s groundbreaking novel. Also included in this edition is Ibrahim’s celebrated essay about the writing and reception of That Smell.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

That Smell is Sonallah Ibrahim’s modernist masterpiece and one of the most influential Arabic novels. Composed in the wake of a five-year prison sentence, the semi-autobiographical story follows a recently released political prisoner as he wanders through Cairo, adrift in his native city.

That Smell is Sonallah Ibrahim’s modernist masterpiece and one of the most influential novels written in Arabic since WWII. Composed after a five-year term in prison, the semi-autobiographical story follows a recently released political prisoner as he wanders through Cairo, adrift in his native city. Living under house arrest, he tries to write of his tortuous experience, but instead smokes, spies on the neighbors, visits old lovers, and marvels at Egypt’s new consumer culture. Published in 1966, That Smell was immediately banned and the print-run confiscated. The original, uncensored version did not appear in Egypt for another twenty years.

For this edition, translator Robyn Creswell has also included an annotated selection of the author’s Notes from Prison, Ibrahim’s prison diaries—a personal archive comprising hundreds of handwritten notes copied onto Bafra-brand cigarette papers and smuggled out of jail. These stark, intense writings shed unexpected light on the sources and motives of Ibrahim’s groundbreaking novel. Also included in this edition is Ibrahim’s celebrated essay about the writing and reception of That Smell.

More books from New Directions

Cover of the book The Melancholy of Resistance by Sonallah Ibrahim
Cover of the book The Wall: (Intimacy) and Other Stories by Sonallah Ibrahim
Cover of the book The Last Wolf & Herman by Sonallah Ibrahim
Cover of the book Negative Space by Sonallah Ibrahim
Cover of the book The Bachelors by Sonallah Ibrahim
Cover of the book Indian Nocturne by Sonallah Ibrahim
Cover of the book The Cardboard House by Sonallah Ibrahim
Cover of the book The Blue Flowers by Sonallah Ibrahim
Cover of the book Your Face Tomorrow: Fever and Spear (Vol. 1) by Sonallah Ibrahim
Cover of the book The Emperor's Tomb by Sonallah Ibrahim
Cover of the book The Good Cripple by Sonallah Ibrahim
Cover of the book The Poems of Dylan Thomas by Sonallah Ibrahim
Cover of the book Letter from Casablanca by Sonallah Ibrahim
Cover of the book Distant Star by Sonallah Ibrahim
Cover of the book The Beetle Leg: Novel by Sonallah Ibrahim
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy