Description
A nameless petitioner sets out to appeal to an equally elusive authority known only as “the Committee,” only to discover that the rules of his country are designed to defeat him before he even begins. In an unbroken first-person account marked by brief, crisp prose and a wry, Kafkaesque logic, his attempts to petition escalate from the absurd to the hideous as identity, due process, and even basic meaning slip further out of reach. Set against a vaguely 1970s backdrop, the novel turns the machinery of power into a surreal test of what ordinary people can endure—and what they can still hope to change. Through themes of bureaucracy, erasure, and the corrosive reach of state authority, this sharp satire delivers a shocking, unforgettable conclusion that reframes surrealism as a form of moral indictment.
Available Editions
paperback
Syracuse University Press
Published Sep 1, 2022
177 pages
ISBN: 9780815656067
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Details
First Published
1981
Language
eng
Translation
From: ara
Content Warnings
Content and trigger warnings for The Committee by Sonallah Ibrahim.