{"id":12633,"date":"2014-12-14T04:21:06","date_gmt":"2014-12-14T08:21:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pierrejoris.com\/blog\/?p=12633"},"modified":"2014-12-14T04:24:12","modified_gmt":"2014-12-14T08:24:12","slug":"on-kamel-daouds-meursault-counter-investigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pierrejoris.com\/blog\/on-kamel-daouds-meursault-counter-investigation\/","title":{"rendered":"On Kamel Daoud\u2019s “Meursault, Counter-Investigation”"},"content":{"rendered":"

via the always excellent Arab Literature (in English)<\/p>\n

Why Did \u2018Other Press\u2019 Stick Through Heated Auction to Get Debut Algerian\u00a0Novel?<\/h3>\n

BY MLYNXQUALEY<\/a><\/span><\/span> on<\/em> 0<\/a> )<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Algerian journalist Kamel Daoud\u2019s\u00a0<\/em>Meursault, Counter-Investigation\u00a0was the subject of a heated auction at this year\u2019s Frankfurt Book Fair. Why did Other Press stick it out to acquire world English rights?\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\"couvok-thumb-300x240-54975\"<\/a>Publishers Weekly<\/a><\/em> talked to Other Press publisher<\/a>\u00a0Judith Gurewich.<\/p>\n

First \u2014 and most obviously \u2014\u00a0Meursault\u00a0<\/em>was one of the final four in running for France\u2019s biggest literary prize<\/a>, the Prix Goncourt. The book also won the\u00a0Five Continents Prize<\/a>\u00a0and was longlisted for the\u00a0Renaudot. It\u2019s a bestseller in France, which surely doesn\u2019t hurt its chances at\u00a0being translated.<\/p>\n

The novel, Daoud\u2019s first, is a response to Albert Camus\u2019s\u00a0The Stranger.\u00a0<\/em>According to Words Without Borders reviewer Suzanne Ruta<\/a>: \u201cIn 2010 a French reporter\u2026irritated Daoud by raising the tired\u00a0question of whether\u00a0Camus belongs to\u00a0France or Algeria. \u2026\u00a0He went home and wrote a riff onL\u2019\u00c9tranger<\/em>, in the voice of the imagined younger brother of the unnamed \u201cArabe\u201d shot five times by Meursault on that fateful Algiers beach in 1942.\u201d<\/p>\n

As to\u00a0the reason Other Press wanted the book so badly, Gurewich said:<\/p>\n

Because it is rare that a literary novel brings to the table such important, counter-intuitive and explosive ideas about postcolonialism, identity, religion, guilt and ambivalent identification with the aggressor. Daoud turns his conversation with Camus into a suspense story, whose emotional impact is as intense as its philosophical implications. I would have been devastated to lose this book. It is at once a political manifesto and a love story.<\/p>\n

Gurewich also says that publishing the book in the US won\u2019t be a challenge:<\/p>\n

It is too good to be true. Young people will feel the book evokes familiar themes\u2013identity, country in turmoil, the deceptive power of religion, politics, discrimination, ambition, rage\u2013and their parents will be happy to remember their school years and a book they have surely forgotten but would want to revisit.<\/p>\n

Algeria, of course, isn\u2019t front and center in the American mind as it is for\u00a0the French. But Gurewich said that she aimed to make the launch newsy by\u00a0asking \u201cDaoud, who is an award-winning journalist, to write some articles and op-eds explaining his views on the present situation in the Magreb and maybe extend them to the Middle East as a whole.\u201d<\/p>\n

The book also fits the image of the courageous Arab author speaking out against religious fanaticism: \u201cI think that this book is very provocative in the sense that it really exposes the avatars of Arab identity today and also the dangers of religious fanaticism. It is hinted in the book that religion may have well replaced the authoritarian colonial rule that preceded it. Daoud is a very outspoken and courageous man.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, this particular shaping of religiosity is perhaps one reason the book was criticized by some \u00a0Algerian readers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The book has currently sold in 13 countries.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

via the always excellent Arab Literature (in English) Why Did \u2018Other Press\u2019 Stick Through Heated Auction to Get Debut Algerian\u00a0Novel? BY MLYNXQUALEY on DECEMBER 14, 2014 \u2022 ( 0 ) Algerian journalist Kamel Daoud\u2019s\u00a0Meursault,...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,103],"tags":[1614],"class_list":["post-12633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-review","category-translation","tag-kamel-daoud"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pierrejoris.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pierrejoris.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pierrejoris.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pierrejoris.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pierrejoris.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12633"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/pierrejoris.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12633\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12637,"href":"https:\/\/pierrejoris.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12633\/revisions\/12637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pierrejoris.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pierrejoris.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pierrejoris.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}