Woman at Point Zero A Bid for Survival, a Review of Ghada Sammans Beirut Nightmares,Woman at Point Zero A Bid for SurvivalReview of Ghada Sammans Beirut NightmaresBeirut Nightmares, by Ghada Samman, Trans. Nancy N. Roberts. Quartet. 1. 99. 7. Distributed in the U. S. A. by Interlink. The novel manages an incredible feat turning the nightmare of the Lebanese Civil War into a plea for life, and turning loss the point zero of the novel into hope for a new beginning, a hope for rebirthGhada Sammans Beirut Nightmares and Nawal el Saadawis Woman at Point Zero have two things in common. They specifically deal with women at a point zero, defining what that point is in their respective works and both their protagonists commit an act of violence. Saadawis Firdaus stabs her loverpimp, while Sammans unnamed protagonist shoots at her boyfriend. Ghada Sammans Beirut 75 Unmasks Gender and Class in PostColonial Society. By. Kim Jensen. BEIRUT 75 By Ghadda Samman. But here Beirut. Both acts of violence are gestures of self liberation. Here the resemblance ends. While Firdaus act stems from anger that has been growing in her through years of oppression, Sammans protagonist makes a symbolic gesture, shooting at a ghost. Sammans protagonist reaches her point zero by leaving the past behind her through the shooting, she is finally able to free herself from the ghost of her bullet ridden boyfriend who was killed several months earlier at one of the many checkpoints dividing the city of Beirut. Sammans ending C the shooting of a ghost C is an extraordinary conclusion to an extraordinary book. Beirut Nightmares renders in excruciating detail the day to day terror of an ordinary citizen caught in the middle of a combat zone. The novel is at once harrowing, irritating, horrifying, and at times hysterically funny. That the hysteria stems from the absurd circumstances in which the main character finds herself does not detract from the profoundly humorous and life affirming qualities of Beirut Nightmares. The novel manages an incredible feat turning the nightmare of the Lebanese Civil War into a plea for life, and turning loss C the point zero of the novel C into hope for a new beginning, a hope for rebirth. The plot of the novel is simple, a fact not reflected by the 3. English translation. The main character, a journalist, is trapped for two weeks in her apartment behind the burning Holiday Inn in the hotel district of Beirut during an intensive bombardment, until she is finally rescued by a tank that picks her up and deposits her in front of another hotel by the sea. The novel consists of a series of episodes Cnightmares C that the character lives through. Her brother, Shadi, escapes the first night, leaving the protagonist alone in her apartment with only her three downstairs neighbors for company the elderly Amm Fuad, his son Amin, and their unnamed Sudanese servant. After a couple of dangerous close calls, the main character is forced to take shelter downstairs with her neighbors despite her immense contempt for their upper class lifestyle. As their food rations run out and they are left with only a small quantity of foul tasting water to drink, the novel outlines the characters increasing selfishness as they compete for the few remaining resources. Load Microsoft Office 2010. Nancy N. Roberts is an awardwinning translator of Arabic literature. Among her literary translations to date are Beirut 75 by Ghada Samman Beirut Nightmares by. The novel is marked with tragedy, yet the tragedy somehow transforms into comedy as simple matters take on a nightmarish quality. Amm Fuad dies in the midst of battle from natural causes, surrounded by his silver and objets dart C but what are they to do with his body They cannot venture outside the building for fear of a sniper that has already proved to be vigilant both day and night. The solutions they devise make sense only in their extreme situation, where reality is too terrible to contemplate and takes on an edge of unreality. As if the daytime nightmare is not enough, the character also endures nightmares during her rare moments of fitful sleep. The nightmares provide much of the novels socio political commentary, targeting issues such as class, corruption, power, and greed. Sometimes they are about people she knows C her brother Shadi, for example, who escaped successfully from the war zone only to be thrown in jail for owning an illegal firearm. Her nightmares about him follow his transformation in prison from a rather timid young man to a criminal who decides to take advantage of the war to make a fortune. She is also visited by a variety of characters ranging from sadists who find full vent for their appetites in the war, to simple vendors who lose their livelihood and turn to crime to survive. Among the more outrageous characters are the seamstress turned fortune teller Khatoum, who is forced out of her clothes making profession because her fees are too low for her prestige seeking customers the model who is mistaken for a prostitute and then used as a target to deflect a snipers bullets and Nadim, who donates blood at a hospital only to later kill the very man who received his blood. Some of the nightmares are simple and fairytale like, such as that of the little boy who escapes to Australia to make a fortune for his family. Download beirut nightmares or read online books in PDF. The writings of the Beirut Decentrists offer hope of an escape. Ghada Sammans first full. Beirut nightmares ghada samman pdf Beirut nightmares ghada samman pdf Beirut nightmares ghada samman pdf DOWNLOAD DIRECT DOWNLOAD Major work Kaw b s Bayr t. Ghada Al Samman' title='Ghada Al Samman' />Along the way, he encounters Death, eager to tell his stories to anyone who will listen, and Death eventually lulls the boy into a never ending sleep. The array of characters who appear in these semi hallucinations, brought on by a combination of hunger, fear, and lack of sleep, provide haunting reflections on some of the social problems that led to the Civil War. The main character herself, clinging obstinately to her personal library as a refuge in the midst of chaos, reflects the helplessness of the intellectuals and writers in the face of this outbreak of violence. The writers moral crisis, as she continues to reject violence itself while at the same time idealizing its potential for bringing about change, comes across poignantly as the main character insists on scribbling her thoughts and impressions, eventually to become Beirut Nightmares, regardless of the circumstances. By the end, the protagonist recognizes the same violence in herself, as she wields a revolver and shoots at a figure trying to climb through a window into the downstairs apartment at night. Though the figure turns out to be a dog and not a human being, her reaction is the same she was willing to pull the trigger. Ultimately, she reflects, violence is not something to be thought out. Rather, it is simply done. She also discovers violence never solves problems instead it complicates them. While the question of violence is central to the novel, several other threads pass through as well. One main theme is the difference between the reality of experience C no matter how distorted and unreal it appears C and reality as presented by the media. Radio is discounted early in the novel, its lies disguised as news exposed clearly and brutally. Nonetheless, the protagonists constant attempts to draw on the movies for knowledge in situations she encounters reveals the enormous gap between reality and the representation of reality. Another thread throughout the novel is the pet shop next door, used metaphorically to represent the class structure in Lebanon. While at times the comparison seems forced or overdone, the horrific climactic scene in which the starving dogs attack the owner who has finally come to bring them food is not softened because of its metaphorical implications. Of course, Ghada Samman would not be who she is without addressing gender issues in the novel. This she achieves with remarkable simplicity.