A Portal in Space

Fiction & Literature
Cover of the book A Portal in Space by Mahmoud Saeed, University of Texas Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Mahmoud Saeed ISBN: 9781477308127
Publisher: University of Texas Press Publication: November 15, 2015
Imprint: Center for Middle Eastern Studies, University of Texas at Austin Language: English
Author: Mahmoud Saeed
ISBN: 9781477308127
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Publication: November 15, 2015
Imprint: Center for Middle Eastern Studies, University of Texas at Austin
Language: English
A Portal in Space, set in Basra, Iraq, during the Iran-Iraq War (1980–1988), follows the lives of Anwar, a newly minted architect, and the other members of his affluent family as they attempt to maintain a sense of normality during the frequent bombing attacks from Iran. When Anwar joins the Iraqi army and then goes missing in action, his family struggles to cope with uncertainty over his fate. His mother falls into depression and secludes herself in the family home, while his father shifts his attention from his duties as a judge to the weekly pilgrimage to Baghdad seeking information on his son—and to Zahra, the young widow he meets there.Emotionally engaging, A Portal in Space is a wry, wise tale of human beings striving to retain their humanity during a war that is anything but humane. Mahmoud Saeed succeeds brilliantly in bringing the sights and sounds of Iraq to life on the page—whether in a bunker on the front lines of the Iran-Iraq War or in the parlor of a fortune-teller in Baghdad. As Zahra says of the novel she is writing: “It is a normal novel that contains love, war, life, deceit, and death.”
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
A Portal in Space, set in Basra, Iraq, during the Iran-Iraq War (1980–1988), follows the lives of Anwar, a newly minted architect, and the other members of his affluent family as they attempt to maintain a sense of normality during the frequent bombing attacks from Iran. When Anwar joins the Iraqi army and then goes missing in action, his family struggles to cope with uncertainty over his fate. His mother falls into depression and secludes herself in the family home, while his father shifts his attention from his duties as a judge to the weekly pilgrimage to Baghdad seeking information on his son—and to Zahra, the young widow he meets there.Emotionally engaging, A Portal in Space is a wry, wise tale of human beings striving to retain their humanity during a war that is anything but humane. Mahmoud Saeed succeeds brilliantly in bringing the sights and sounds of Iraq to life on the page—whether in a bunker on the front lines of the Iran-Iraq War or in the parlor of a fortune-teller in Baghdad. As Zahra says of the novel she is writing: “It is a normal novel that contains love, war, life, deceit, and death.”

More books from University of Texas Press

Cover of the book Song of the Heart by Mahmoud Saeed
Cover of the book Selected Poems of Rubén Darío by Mahmoud Saeed
Cover of the book At Home with the Sapa Inca by Mahmoud Saeed
Cover of the book The Great Syrian Revolt and the Rise of Arab Nationalism by Mahmoud Saeed
Cover of the book Breaking Out of Beginner’s Spanish by Mahmoud Saeed
Cover of the book Zapotec Science by Mahmoud Saeed
Cover of the book The Courthouse Square in Texas by Mahmoud Saeed
Cover of the book Son of the Alhambra by Mahmoud Saeed
Cover of the book Russian Dramatic Theory from Pushkin to the Symbolists by Mahmoud Saeed
Cover of the book Performing Kinship by Mahmoud Saeed
Cover of the book Travelers In Texas, 1761-1860 by Mahmoud Saeed
Cover of the book The São Paulo Law School and the Anti-Vargas Resistance (1938-1945) by Mahmoud Saeed
Cover of the book The Modern Cowboy by Mahmoud Saeed
Cover of the book Argentine, Mexican, and Guatemalan Photography by Mahmoud Saeed
Cover of the book The Albatross and the Fish by Mahmoud Saeed
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy