Thirst: A Novel Of The Iran-Iraq War (2014) - Plot & Excerpts
Here we find another man, bent double, a man whose whole body is twisted, from his wrist to his neck and his back, so much so that he can’t sit straight anymore, can’t stand up straight anymore, and can’t walk straight anymore. And as he opens his eyes today – like every other day – this man reflects that he is not, nor has he ever been, the kind of person who thinks much about what shoes and clothes he should put on. This man spends his nights considering and marvelling at the cultures of these two tribes and the blending of their languages, which gave voice to enmities, humiliations and disputes fomented on the one hand by the caliphs and their appointees and duly responded to on the other side by those who were intent on confronting the Abbasid caliphate. For instance, Ya’qub the coppersmith seized control of the area between Ahwaz and Baghdad.* Whereupon the caliph sent Ya’qub’s brother Amr a missive, requesting that he withdraw from the border and settle in Neishabur, where he was to await a succession of gifts and presents from the caliph, including slaves and all the other things that make life pleasant and worth living; and it seems as if the blood on that tract of land has never dried up, for the people on this side of the border have never accepted the presence of outsiders, and never will.
What do You think about Thirst: A Novel Of The Iran-Iraq War (2014)?
