The Queue

The Queue

"The Queue ... has drawn comparisons to Western classics like George Orwellâ€™s 1984 and The Trial by Franz Kafka. It represents a new wave of dystopian and surrealist fiction from Middle Eastern writers who are grappling with the chaotic aftermath and stinging disappointments of the Arab Spring." -- The New York Times

Winner of the English PEN Translation Award

In a surreal, but familiar, vision of modern day Egypt, a centralized authority known as â€˜the Gateâ€™ has risen to power in the aftermath of the â€˜Disgraceful Events,â€™ a failed popular uprising. Citizens are required to obtain permission from the Gate in order to take care of even the most basic of their daily affairs, yet the Gate never opens, and the queue in front of it grows longer.

Citizens from all walks of life mix and wait in the sun: a revolutionary journalist, a sheikh, a poor woman concerned for her daughterâ€™s health, and even the brother of a security officer killed in clashes with protestors. Among them is Yehia, a man who was shot during the Events and is waiting for permission from the Gate to remove a bullet that remains lodged in his pelvis. Yehiaâ€™s health steadily declines, yet at every turn, officials refuse to assist him, actively denying the very existence of the bullet.

Ultimately it is Tarek, the principled doctor tending to Yehiaâ€™s case, who must decide whether to follow protocol as he has always done, or to disobey the law and risk his career to operate on Yehia and save his life.

Written with dark, subtle humor, The Queue describes the sinister nature of authoritarianism, and illuminates the way that absolute authority manipulates information, mobilizes others in service to it, and fails to uphold the rights of even those faithful to it.
Country USA
Brand Melville House
Manufacturer Melville House
Binding Paperback
ItemPartNumber 24928411
Color Gold
ReleaseDate 2016-05-24
UnitCount 1
EANs 9781612195162

Country	USA
Brand	Melville House
Manufacturer	Melville House
Binding	Paperback
ItemPartNumber	24928411
Color	Gold
ReleaseDate	2016-05-24
UnitCount	1
EANs	9781612195162

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