- The Hostage (Emerging Voices Series)

Great read

It is rich in creativity and deep in its simplicity. It is about a real historical period in the Yemen's mid 20th century. Zayd Dammaj, the foremost Yemeni writer had made it more enjoyable to discover and to live a different world that it seems to be an imaginary one while it was indeed real. The greatness of the work is not only because of fulfilling the condition of a creative novel, but also because the author undertook the difficult task of amazingly writing a very important period of the temporary history of his people with a very creative, simple and interesting way. The locality of the novel had made it clear that it is the best way to reach the universality

I read this book as part of my quest to read a book set in every country in the world, choosing The Hostage because it was the only Yemeni novel available. While it's not awful, I wouldn't recommend it unless you're working on a similar challenge or have a strong interest in Yemen.The Hostage is a novella weighing in at a little under 130 pages. The translation comes with two introductory essays, both of which are useful, perhaps essential, in understanding the text: the first discusses the historical background, and the second the author's life and the lack of Yemeni literature upon which to build. While I can't say much for the story itself, I really appreciate these editorial features: the publishers clearly put in the effort to present the book well, from providing us with background information to the inclusion of minimal but quite helpful footnotes.As for the story itself, it's narrated by an unnamed boy, who is taken hostage to ensure his family's loyalty, a practice that in the 1940s was still common in the isolated and traditional Yemen, although outdated in most of the world. The adolescent boys in this position were treated as high-ranking servants, but were also much in demand from the palace women, who were isolated from adult men. The novel basically follows its narrator as he deals with the various people he encounters.The Hostage lives up to most of the stereotypes English-speakers have about novels in translation: it's a fairly odd story without much momentum; the characters are a bit distant, despite the first-person narration; the pacing feels off, although there is a lot of dialogue; it's sometimes difficult to understand characters' reactions to events and the limitations of the setting (the narrator gets away with much more than one would expect, given his position). Scene-setting and exposition are minimal.Whether this is a good book in the original language, I can't say, but in translation I found little to appreciate or enjoy. Only about two weeks after finishing, I'm having a hard time remembering much about it. Fortunately, it's short, and the historical background is interesting. Those with more of an academic or historical interest in Yemen or Arabic literature will likely appreciate it more.

I picked up this book with a lot of hope. Yemen is a country that fascinates me and particularly this period of history (early 20th century) and their efforts to repel foreign influence and colonialism. The story itself is quite good: a boy is taken hostage in order to secure his father's political loyalty to a local governor. It is a story of how the boy deals with the various tasks set before him and how he struggles for both literal and intellectual freedom. Sounds great right? Well, the synopsis is unfortunately the best part of the book. The dialogue in the book is so stiff and unbelievable that its almost embarassingly bad. The story line leaps all around. I think there are too many leaps in the plot and assumptions in the story (and the reader would be TOTALLY lost if it weren't for the two introductions.) Like I said, I feel the translation must be sorely lacking because this is hailed as a work of genius. If I try my best to read around the simple language and terrible dialogue, I *think* it may be good in the original language (hence 2 stars and not just 1.) That being said, I would avoid this book unless you can read it in Arabic, because in English...it is a waste of time.

This was a selection by the Round the World Book Group. The introductory sections are long, but I found them useful in aiding my understanding and appreciation of the background to the events in the novel.