Amin Malouf writes in his novel The First Century after Beatrice about a disaster that plagues humanity, and sends different ethnic groups adrift. To digress a little before I start my review, I cannot but marvel at the fact that Malouf wrote his novel originally in French, I read it in Arabic, and now I’m writing a review of it in English. So even if some rift tears humanity apart, I believe that we can always count on literature to help bridge the gap.
Now back to the novel. The catalyst in this story is a tiny bean sold on the streets of Cairo as a magical cure from bearing female daughters. A visiting French entomologist stumbles upon the beans and decides to keep some as a souvenir. However, this ill-fated souvenir leads to the discovery of an epidemic that will soon teach humanity the importance of the natural balance between genders.
Apart from the obvious theme of sexism, Malouf also tackles a variety of other controversial issues ranging from racism, international development, to population control. The issue of population control is particularly relevant today which is why the BBC recently published an article on the subject under the title “Population: The elephant in the room”. What is notable, as well, is that Malouf divides the world into mainly North vs. South, as opposed to the traditional West vs. East, which is probably a bit more accurate.
Personally, I truly appreciated Malouf’s ability to incorporate very interesting and relevant ideas in an enjoyable and believable memoir. The novel, however, takes a more apocalyptic tone as we approach the end, echoing the looming gloomy end of humanity. It also adopts the style of a preachy lecture, which inadvertently but inevitably affected my ability to enjoy the novel as a novel. So overall, I’d give it a 3.5 out of 5.
Now back to the novel. The catalyst in this story is a tiny bean sold on the streets of Cairo as a magical cure from bearing female daughters. A visiting French entomologist stumbles upon the beans and decides to keep some as a souvenir. However, this ill-fated souvenir leads to the discovery of an epidemic that will soon teach humanity the importance of the natural balance between genders.
Apart from the obvious theme of sexism, Malouf also tackles a variety of other controversial issues ranging from racism, international development, to population control. The issue of population control is particularly relevant today which is why the BBC recently published an article on the subject under the title “Population: The elephant in the room”. What is notable, as well, is that Malouf divides the world into mainly North vs. South, as opposed to the traditional West vs. East, which is probably a bit more accurate.
Personally, I truly appreciated Malouf’s ability to incorporate very interesting and relevant ideas in an enjoyable and believable memoir. The novel, however, takes a more apocalyptic tone as we approach the end, echoing the looming gloomy end of humanity. It also adopts the style of a preachy lecture, which inadvertently but inevitably affected my ability to enjoy the novel as a novel. So overall, I’d give it a 3.5 out of 5.