Sherif Abdel Samad’s most recent Arabic novel, Al Taboor Al Khamis (Fifth Column, 2021), is tinged with a poignant observation about politics through a humanistic lens that is ever more relevant today, 12 years after the 2011 revolution and the Arab spring. Lying behind the depth and richness of the content is a unique overarching viewpoint for humanism, which is a political counter perspective that is desperately needed today to counter exploitation of any kind. Though there is domination and abuse in every corner of the world, from the heinous crimes of human trafficking to warfare and terrorism, Abdel Samad’s work focuses on the human being, and social relationships. From the moment I started reading the book, I was immediately struck by how distinctively different each of Abdel Samad’s novels are from his other books. His novel Chekhov and the Lady With the Little Dog (2019), which is the first piece of work that I read from him, is a more condensed and grounded narrative, while Al Taboor Al Khamis (2021) is much lengthier, more complex, and unrestrained. For Abdel Samad, literary art can explain beyond what politics can; it…
Sherif Abdel Samad’s ‘Al Taboor Al Khamis’: The Humanity of Journalism
February 7, 2023
