Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
NYRB Classics (2010), Paperback, 232 pages
Description
Who are the jokers? The jokers are the government, and the biggest joker of all is the governor, a bug-eyed, strutting, rapacious character of unequaled incompetence who presides over the nameless Middle Eastern city where this effervescent comedy by Albert Cossery is set. The jokers are also the revolutionaries, no less bumbling and no less infatuated with the trappings of power than the government they oppose. And the jokers are Karim, Omar, Heykal, Urfy, and their friends, free spirits who see the other jokers for the jokers they are and have cooked up a sophisticated and, most important, foolproof plan to enliven public life with a dash of subversive humor. The joke is on them all.
User reviews
LibraryThing member DieFledermaus
While this book had an engaging writing style and an interesting premise, there were way too many sexist comments/characters for such a short book. The intro, which I read after finishing, mentioned Cossery’s contempt for women which unfortunately came through in his writing. The main plot – a
The four conspirators are a varied lot – Karim, a formerly passionate dissident who has now embraced irony and satire; Heykal, the laid-back and aristocratic leader; Omar, a cheerily vulgar criminal millionaire; and Urfy, a nervous teacher distracted by his mother’s descent into dementia. Heykal annoyed me as he seemed to be almost too-perfect – not that he didn’t have problems, but everyone looked up to him and acted like he was the only person worth knowing. The descriptions of their plot to anonymously hang posters with over-the-top praise of the governor, send in fatuously glowing letters to the newspaper and propose funding a statue of the governor are interesting but various side characters get in the way.
A dilettante trying to get an in with Heykal, a former associate of Karim’s and obviously the governor are shown in a negative light but every female character is a sexist stereotype. Karim’s attitude toward prostitutes that he uses is pretty disgusting and a girl from a good family who Heykal uses for information is shown throwing herself at him while he criticizes her for thinking only of love instead of politics. Another, frankly creepy scene has Heykal checking out an 8-year-old girl. Urfy’s mother – a self-sacrificing woman in the past, it is implied – is mainly there to let Heykal muse on how madness is the ultimate freedom and the “crazy old woman” also fits with stereotypical glimpses of other old women as nagging and ugly. Unfortunately, all the sexism and the distractions from the main plot meant that I enjoyed the book less and less as it went on.
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group of disillusioned and intelligent opponents of the current government protest by excessively praising the governor – is fun at first but I felt more time should be spent on that instead of all the random relationships. It also peters out at the end in a rather abrupt manner.The four conspirators are a varied lot – Karim, a formerly passionate dissident who has now embraced irony and satire; Heykal, the laid-back and aristocratic leader; Omar, a cheerily vulgar criminal millionaire; and Urfy, a nervous teacher distracted by his mother’s descent into dementia. Heykal annoyed me as he seemed to be almost too-perfect – not that he didn’t have problems, but everyone looked up to him and acted like he was the only person worth knowing. The descriptions of their plot to anonymously hang posters with over-the-top praise of the governor, send in fatuously glowing letters to the newspaper and propose funding a statue of the governor are interesting but various side characters get in the way.
A dilettante trying to get an in with Heykal, a former associate of Karim’s and obviously the governor are shown in a negative light but every female character is a sexist stereotype. Karim’s attitude toward prostitutes that he uses is pretty disgusting and a girl from a good family who Heykal uses for information is shown throwing herself at him while he criticizes her for thinking only of love instead of politics. Another, frankly creepy scene has Heykal checking out an 8-year-old girl. Urfy’s mother – a self-sacrificing woman in the past, it is implied – is mainly there to let Heykal muse on how madness is the ultimate freedom and the “crazy old woman” also fits with stereotypical glimpses of other old women as nagging and ugly. Unfortunately, all the sexism and the distractions from the main plot meant that I enjoyed the book less and less as it went on.
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LibraryThing member aront
An amazing book. Should be required reading for all potential "revolutionaries." Funny &moving with deep insights into the human condition.
Awards
Best Translated Book Award (Shortlist — Fiction — 2011)
French-American Foundation Translation Prize (Shortlist — Fiction — 2010)
Language
Original language
French
Original publication date
1964
Physical description
232 p.; 7.96 inches
ISBN
1590173252 / 9781590173251