In this lies the conflict that Douaihy recounts, that between Muslim and Christian realities, of which Nizam becomes a metaphorical symbol. At twenty, when he gets to Beirut, in the turmoil of the revolution, with the outbreak of the civil war, he must come to terms with his being Muslim and Christian. A dual membership to the two communities, seen not only with suspicion but decidedly rejected. The narrative power of Douaihy lies in his strong belief in the real possibility of telling emblematic stories, with strong characters who are never forgotten. Stories that become emblematic, like are the solitude and the identity of the torn protagonist.

Douaihy’s novel, Chased away, is out in Italian (Feltrinelli)!
The author was in Torino, Italy, for the launch of his book, and was invited to give the inaugural lecture at the prestigious Holden School of Writing and Storytelling, established by Alessandro Baricco in 1984.

Jabbour Douaihy’s novels remain, for the non Lebanese readers, works of pure fiction; minute jewelry made by the imagination of a man of talent ranging between modesty and compassion, the most refined sarcasm and bitterness the most painful and understandable. Douaihy tells the story of his Lebanon, and does not submit her to judgments, nor to philosophy or psychoanalysis. The reader rooms around, or rather, he roams jubilant in Douaihy’s imaginary multi-facetted world, with all its contradictions and conflicts, which, as a mosaic, does not reveal its beauty unless it is viewed from a distance. This is the meaning of the virtual camera Douaihy’s look…

Actes Sud acquired Douaihy’s Chased away’s world French rights.

“A tragedy narrated, pursued chapter after chapter, and its threads woven with great ability, talent and ingenuity by the Lebanese novelist Jabbour Douaihy, in his magnificent novel ‘Chased away’, one of the six shortlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction, 2012.”

Feltrinelli acquired Italian rights to Douaihy’s Chased away.