El árabe del futuro: Una juventud en Oriente Medio (1984-1985) / The Arab of the Future: A Childhood in the Middle East, 1984-1985: A Graphic Memoir

About El árabe del futuro: Una juventud en Oriente Medio (1984-1985) / The Arab of the Future: A Childhood in the Middle East, 1984-1985: A Graphic Memoir

Una novela gráfica que nos descubre, a través del testimonio personal, realidades y experiencias alejadas de la homogeneizada «cultura global», pero cuyo conocimiento es fundamental para comprender el mundo en toda su vibrante complejidad.

Este libro cuenta la verdadera historia de un colegial rubio en la Siria de Hafez el Asad.

Si en el primer volumen de El árabe del futuro Riad Sattouf contaba sus primeros años de vida entre la Libia de Gadafi y la Siria de Hafez al-Asad, en este segundo volumen nos introduce en su primer año de escuela en Siria, donde aprende a leer y a escribir en árabe, descubre y convive con su familia paterna y, a pesar de seguir en contacto con su Francia natal y de pasar una vacaciones allí con su madre, sigue haciendo todo lo posible para convertirse en un verdadero sirio y así complacer a su padre en su incansable intento por educar a «el árabe del futuro».

La vida en la granja, la dureza de la escuela en Ter Maaleh, sus visitas a las tiendas del mercado negro en Homs, los paseos largos y calurosos a la antigua ciudad de Palmira, entre muchas otras anécdotas, son el hilo conductor de este segundo volumen que nos muestra la vida cotidiana de un pequeño niño rubio bajo la dictadura de Hafez al-Asad.

ENGLISH DESCRIPTION

The highly anticipated continuation of Riad Sattouf’s internationally acclaimed, #1 French bestseller, which was hailed by The New York Times as “a disquieting yet essential read”.

In The Arab of the Future: Volume 1, cartoonist Riad Sattouf tells of the first years of his childhood as his family shuttles back and forth between France and the Middle East. In Libya and Syria, young Riad is exposed to the dismal reality of a life where food is scarce, children kill dogs for sport, and his cousins, virulently anti-Semitic and convinced he is Jewish because of his blond hair, lurk around every corner waiting to beat him up.

In Volume 2, Riad, now settled in his father’s hometown of Homs, gets to go to school, where he dedicates himself to becoming a true Syrian in the country of the dictator Hafez Al-Assad. Told simply yet with devastating effect, Riad’s story takes in the sweep of politics, religion, and poverty, but is steered by acutely observed small moments: the daily sadism of his schoolteacher, the lure of the black market, with its menu of shame and subsistence, and the obsequiousness of his father in the company of those close to the regime. As his family strains to fit in, one chilling, barbaric act drives the Sattoufs to make the most dramatic of changes.

Darkly funny and piercingly direct, The Arab of the Future, Volume 2 once again reveals the inner workings of a tormented country and a tormented family, delivered through Riad Sattouf’s dazzlingly original talent.