Reprinted from the Middle East Studies Association Bulletin, Winter 2001 (with changes in orthography to HTML standards). Copyright 2001 by the Middle East Studies Association of North America

This Side of Innocence, by Rashid al-Daif. Translated by Paula Haydar. 152 pages. New York, NY : Interlink Books, 2001. $12.95 (Paper) ISBN 1-56656-383-6

“Who tore the picture ?” With this question the narrator begins his surreal (or perhaps it would be more correct to say, ultra-real) experience of police interrogation and torture in an unnamed place and time, for a crime of seemingly little importance. On the surface, this opening question appears straightforward and innocent enough. There should be no confusion or uncertainty. Nevertheless, in this newly translated novel by al-Daif (originally published in Arabic in 1997 as Nah)iyat al-Bara’a), the narrator quickly learns that nothing is so simple or rational. From the definition of innocence and guilt, to the cognizance and importance of time, to the very ability to control one’s own thoughts and actions, the narrator comes to realize that the ‘truths’ that he once took for granted are anything but fixed.

This is not an ‘easy’ novel to read. Rather than being divided into chapters that would allow the reader to absorb the events in sections of manageable length and pause after each one, the narrative is presented as a single, unbroken event. There is no clear distinction between any given episode, nor are there any clear markers of the simple linear passage of time. We are forced to accompany the narrator through his confusing and painful ordeals without a chance to take a breath. Just when we think we are approaching some sort of denouement, something else occurs and the narrative simply continues. We want to put the book down for a moment to reflect or temporarily remove ourselves from the situation that grows increasingly more difficult. However, the reader is compelled to continue in the hopes of arriving at the conclusion to any given scene, or learning the answer to the initial inquiry about the picture, or, at the very least, seeing what happens in the end. We never do reach any sort of resolution though, nor do we feel that we are any closer to understanding what has happened at the end of the book than we were at the beginning. This is not to say that the author has failed us. How else is one to feel in a situation of such complete hopelessness and lack of power ? The author, through his narrative style and keen attention to detail, has effectively communicated the feeling of a political and social system in which the arbiters of truth and justice use intimidation and torture to extract, or create, the truth. Within such a system, is it possible to follow the logic of a secret police interrogation and feel anything but confused and defeated ?

Al-Daif counts ten novels in his oeuvre, three of which have already been translated into French and English, among other European languages. With this new translation, Haydar provides the English reader with yet another opportunity to enjoy and follow the work of this modern Lebanese novelist.

Alexander E. Elinson Columbia University