The Ninety-Ninth Floor
At times as cold and hard-edged as the skyscrapers in its backdrop, The Ninety-Ninth Floor follows the struggles and triumphs of Majed as he manages to make it in Manhattan at the turn of the century, after surviving the devastating 1982 massacre at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps. A Palestinian born and raised in Lebanon, Majed has never seen Palestine but is told by his father that his mother and her never-born baby, both slaughtered in the massacre, are waiting for him there. Injured and scarred by the war, he makes a new life for himself in the glittery world of New York City's computer games industry. He never feels more satisfied with himself than when he is staring out of the window of his sleek, modern office on the ninety-ninth floor.
But despite all his success, Majed's past continues to haunt him. His relationship with Hilda, a Lebanese woman from a rightwing Christian family, exposes his innermost fears, worries and dark secrets. Hilda's love for Majed is meant to overcome their differences. She tries to reconcile these even as he fantasises that her family members may have murdered his mother. A multivoiced narration, The Ninety-Ninth Floor follows the stories of Majed and Hilda through the present and past in their own voices and those of the people who surround them.
The narration shifts between 1982 and 2000, Lebanon and New York City, but its reality conveys the brutality every war leaves on the people who experience it. It is as relevant to today as to those time periods, and speaks to situations in Lebanon, Palestine and the Middle East as a whole, and to conflict zones throughout the world.
But despite all his success, Majed's past continues to haunt him. His relationship with Hilda, a Lebanese woman from a rightwing Christian family, exposes his innermost fears, worries and dark secrets. Hilda's love for Majed is meant to overcome their differences. She tries to reconcile these even as he fantasises that her family members may have murdered his mother. A multivoiced narration, The Ninety-Ninth Floor follows the stories of Majed and Hilda through the present and past in their own voices and those of the people who surround them.
The narration shifts between 1982 and 2000, Lebanon and New York City, but its reality conveys the brutality every war leaves on the people who experience it. It is as relevant to today as to those time periods, and speaks to situations in Lebanon, Palestine and the Middle East as a whole, and to conflict zones throughout the world.
