Men in the Sun and Other Palestinian Stories
A pillar of Palestinian literature, "Men in the Sun" is a novella originally published in Arabic in 1962. It follows three Palestinian men, Abu Qais, Assad, and Marwan, as they try to cross the border to Kuwait in an attempt to better provide for their families. In the space of about 70 pages, Kanafani creates very strong and memorable characters whose struggles felt very palpable. The collection also contains five others short stories, "The Land of Sad Oranges" (1958), "If You Were a Horse..."(1961), "A Hand in the Grave" (1962), "The Falcon" (1961), "Letter from Gaza" (1956), and an excerpt from one of his later novels "Umm Saad" (1969). While much shorter in length than "Men in the Sun", all stories are very good at illustrating the plight of their characters. The collection is prefaced by a very informative introduction written by the translator, that sheds light on Kanafani's symbolism from his stories, as well as his political activism and how it translates to his literary works.
The three Palestinian men embark on a brutal and treacherous odyssey across the Iraqi desert to Kuwait, not for liberation but material betterment. Under the indifferent brutality of border bureaucracy and the blank aggression of the sun, things grow increasingly oppressive. Breezily conversational and disarmingly lyrical, this short novel delivers a shuddering dose of horror.
Collected here alongside the titular novella are six short stories, including the timeless, resonant ‘Letter from Gaza’, Kanafani’s first published work.
This collection of important stories by novelist, journalist, teacher, and Palestinian activist Ghassan Kanafani includes the stunning novella Men in the Sun (1962), the basis of the film The Deceived. Also in the volume are "The Land of Sad Oranges" (1958), "'If You Were a Horse . . .'" (1961), "A Hand in the Grave" (1962), "The Falcon" (1961), "Letter from Gaza" (1956), and an extract from Umm Saad (1969). In the unsparing clarity of his writing, Kanafani offers the reader a gritty look at the agonized world of Palestine and the adjoining Middle East.
Born in Acre (northern Palestine) in 1936, Ghassan Kanafani was a major spokesman for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and founding editor of its weekly magazine Al- Hadaf. His novels, short stories, and plays have been published in sixteen languages. He was killed in a car-bomb explosion in Beirut in 1972.
