- ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Munīf (1933 – 2004, Jordan / Saudi Arabia) – Ḥayna Taraknā al-Jisr (‘When we abandoned the bridge’, 1976). The novel is a long monologue by a lonely hunter, Zaki, whose only companion is a dog. Every day he goes into the forest and returns with his game. The novel takes us through the many of his hunts which take place throughout the season, and in several different climates. But his inner thoughts always return to a bridge on which he once worked as a soldier. Constructed but never used, it was then abandoned- metaphor for the Arab armies that were built but retreated without honor in the struggle against Israel (reference).
Refrences:
In order of appearance
- Ṣabry Hafiẓ. 2006. “An Arabian Master.” New Left Review 37: 39-66, p. 49