Era già stata definita dagli esperti la scelta più semplice per evitare polemiche. Abdo Khal, scrittore saudita, ha vinto la terza edizione del più importante premio panarabo, l’IPAF, il cosiddetto Arab Booker.
Khal’s novel, Tarmi Besharar, is a controversial story about the destructive impact that power and limitless wealth has on society. The title has been translated as Spewing Sparks as Big as Castles, and is also known as She Throws Sparks.
It comes from a Quranic verse and is a reference to hell. Khal uses the metaphor to describe the situation of people in a kind of living hell. Set in Jeddah, he compares part of the town to heaven and part of it to hell and then writes a graphic account of sex, repression, love and despair.
After picking up his award Khal said he believed he won because he followed a “new approach” in his writing style.
Read a short excerpt of Khal's novel (translated into English) at the Arabist: http://www.arabist.net/
A review of a longer excerpt (and the other shortlisters) here: http://arablit.wordpress.com/2010/03/02/arabic-booker-announcement-today-meanwhile-mini-reviews/