Books
Novel "Five Voices"
The novel unfolds in Iraq on the eve of the 1958 Revolution. Its theme is the Iraqi advanced intelligentsia’s quest for direction and the complex process of their moral and spiritual maturation. The novel focuses on five young people, intelligent and democratic. The novel’s characters, all on their own and without the author’s involvement, speak and reveal themselves through the dialogue. For the first time in the Iraqi literature, this novel presents a broad and true picture of life in Iraq during the 1950s. Five Voices is the first Iraqi novel published in Russian and printed in Russia. Also, the novel has been published in the Uzbek language.
The Palm Tree and the Neighbours
Many literary experts point out that it was The Palm Tree and the Neighbours that can be considered the first truly Iraqi novel. It is hardly possible to translate this book into another language, given that its subject matter is a living Baghdad dialect of Arabic, a popular and untranslatable language. The subtlety of style, untranslatable puns and allusions are felt and perceived only in the original.
Birth Pangs
Birth Pangs is a novel describing the 1958 Revolution in Iraq. It presents, amazingly accurately, the atmosphere in Baghdad during one of its most crucial and controversial periods, the first months of the national democratic revolution.
The novel attempts to answer the question, how the revolution that swept away the monarchy in Iraq and dramatically changed the balance of powers in the Middle East, suddenly stalled. Why the revolution, that had brought about many changes, failed to justify expectations and some rulers were replaced by others who soon compromised the slogans they had once declared. The author concentrated on singling out the revolution’s faults that impaired simple people’s life. The novel draws attention due to its humane intonation, kindliness to and love for mankind. The novel has been translated and published in Russian.
Aleksey Tolstoy’s Peter the Great translated by Gaib Farman
Gaib Farman had done a tremendous work translating Aleksey Tolstoy’s novel Peter the Great. This was finished in 1990, but remained unpublished for a long time. At present, it has been edited and prepared for publication.
“In order to understand the Russians’ mystery and their grandeur, one must deeply study their past, their history and its turning points along with tragic and creative periods,” Aleksey Tolstoy wrote. Tolstoy had worked on the novel for 16 years. Its last book was issued in June 1945. However, the novel was never completed. In February 1945, A. Tolstoy passed away.
The translation of this novel finished Gaib’s enduring work as a translator of Russian fiction that had lasted several decades. The translation of the novel is a worthy conclusion of his literary efforts.
Articles
