The novel’s stake is on digging deep into sectarianism – another aspect of its greatness. It is bound to provoke some commotion, but also to encourage dialogue.

Mohammad Barrada: ‘a novel with a great linguistic wealth, a seductive plot and a humanistic vision’.
“It appears that the question of the novel’s «references» has solicited the critic’s [referring to a previous critique by Nabil Suleiman] interests and made him evoke other texts having the same references to the Syrian Alaouite sect, guided by the novel’s political and ideological dimensions. He goes by unaware of the novel’s pattern, woven by Samar Yazbek, which uses these references as a backdrop, and goes beyond their reality, taking the novel into the realm …

‏In ‪’‬Chased away‪’,‬ Jabbour Douaihy writes the life and death of a city‪…‬Then, as today, calls‪ and‬ claims for rights resound, and crime remains a constant‪…‬

‏ Jabbour Douaihy‪’‬s transparent writing style‪,‬ namely in the description of nature‪,‬ reminds me with the greatness of Japanese novels

In his novel “Chased away”, Jabbour Douaihy stirs the pains of those who witnessed the war and remember most of its beginning. But the novel’s significance remains that who does not fully belong to a Lebanese community is doomed to be rootless and rejected throughout his life, however short or long.

The IPAF, or Arab Booker prize’s shortlist was announced earlier today in Doha, Arab Capital of Culture of 2010. The winner will be announced on March 14th, 2011 in Abu Dhabi.