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The Hindu
22-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Review of International Booker Prize-longlisted The Book of Disappearance by Ibtisam Azem
Amid the ongoing violence and relentless killing of innocent civilians in the Israel-Gaza conflict, Ibtisam Azem's The Book of Disappearance, translated from the Arabic by Sinan Antoon, emerges as a poignant reflection of our times. The novel, longlisted for this year's International Booker Prize, begins with an event so strange it feels almost like a dark prophecy — Palestinians across Israel and the occupied territories simply vanish overnight. This surreal event is more than just a plot device; it serves as a powerful symbol of the systematic erasure and marginalisation that Palestinians have experienced since the Nakba (catastrophe) of 1948, when the expulsion of hundreds of thousands marked the beginning of a lasting tragedy. The storyline plunges us into a world where absence speaks louder than existence, where disappearance transcends mere physical vanishing, becoming a haunting emblem of generations lost in the continuing battle for recognition, identity, and justice. Questions of existence The narrative revolves around Alaa, a Palestinian living in Tel Aviv, and his Jewish Israeli friend, Ariel. Their bond — marked by unspoken tensions and an understated camaraderie — becomes the lens through which author Azem, a New York-based Palestinian journalist, delicately examines memory, identity, and the fragile notion of belonging. After Alaa disappears, Ariel is left to grapple with a profound emptiness, holding onto Alaa's red notebook — a collection of reflections, memories, and letters to his late grandmother, Tata. Through his grandmother's words, Alaa revisits the Nakba, using her vivid recollections to bring history to life in a way that is both personal and painfully real. This blurs the lines between individual loss and the collective struggle for justice, urging readers to consider the lengths to which a people must go to reclaim their rightful place in history. Azem's prose, rendered with lyrical precision by translator Antoon, weaves together individual memory and shared experience, particularly in cities like Jaffa, where the past casts a long shadow over the present. Alaa's notebook brings to life the world he comes from — its fading smells, forgotten songs, and the unspoken grief of a people marked by a stolen past. The novel's structure, blending Alaa's diary with Ariel's perspective, creates a moving exchange between presence and absence, and poses the question of existence in a land that denies its people's history and seeks to erase their heritage. Literature as a record The book is not merely a tale of disappearance and grief; it unfolds as a thoughtful meditation on resilience. Through memory and the written word, the author reveals how storytelling itself becomes a form of resistance. What remains is the lingering presence of those who were made to vanish. Through its evocative portrayal of a culture defined as much by absence as by existence, Azem's novel achieves a rare universality while remaining deeply personal. This novel is part of a growing body of Palestinian literature that seeks to confront and preserve the stories of a people whose lives are continually threatened by displacement, targeted violence, and cultural extermination. Writers like Ghassan Kanafani, Mahmoud Darwish, Randa Jarrar, and Susan Abulhawa have long grappled with themes of exile, belonging, and the relentless pursuit of dignity in a land that remains both a refuge and a battleground. Their works, like Azem's, explore the deep-rooted and often painful bond Palestinians share with their homeland, and the enduring struggle to live with self-respect under a prolonged occupation. As Palestinians continue their fight for a life of dignity in the land of their ancestors, literature stands as one of their most potent instruments — ensuring that their truth, and their call for justice, resonates far and wide. The Book of Disappearance is a worthy addition to this literary tradition. The reviewer is a Mumbai-based novelist, screenwriter, and banker. The Book of Disappearance Ibtisam Azem, trs Sinan Antoon Simon & Schuster ₹499
Express Tribune
14-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Writing against erasure
In February, the much-awaited 2025 International Booker Prize was announced and to our delight, one of the thirteen titles selected for the list was The Book of Disappearance by Palestinian author, Ibtisam Azem. At this violent and tumultuous time for the country's people, this selection has shone a necessary light upon the rich landscape of Palestinian literature. Here are five notable works by Palestinian authors that offer profound insights into life in the country they call home: 'The Book of Disappearance' To begin with the current lighthouse of Palestinian literature, Ibtisam Azem's The Book of Disappearance (2014) teeters between utopia and dystopia. Translated from the original Arabic by Sinan Antoon last year, the novel presents a speculative narrative where, overnight, all Palestinians in Israel vanish without a trace. This sudden disappearance plunges Israeli society into chaos, prompting introspection about identity, memory, and the intricate ties between the two peoples. The novel, set in the author's hometown of Jaffa, alternates between the perspectives of Alaa, a Palestinian man, and his Israeli friend Ariel, who discovers Alaa's diary post-disappearance. Through this imaginative premise married with tight sentences that flow from one to another without beginning or end, Azem challenges readers to contemplate the visibility and erasure of Palestinian existence. The novel's innovative approach and profound themes led to its longlisting for the International Booker Prize in 2025, with judges lauding it as an "exceptional exercise in memory-making and psycho-geography." To date, Azem has published two novels in Arabic titled The Sleep Thief (2011) and The Book of Disappearance, of which the latter has also been translated into German and Italian. And we have reason to hope for more because her first collection of short stories, City of Strangers, is forthcoming in the summer of this year. 'Minor Detail' Adania Shibli's Minor Detail (2017) is a poignant exploration of violence, and the lingering shadows of history. The novel is bifurcated into two narratives set decades apart. The first, rooted in 1949, details a harrowing incident involving Israeli soldiers in the Negev Desert, culminating in the assault and murder of a Bedouin girl. The second narrative, set in present-day Ramallah, follows a young woman who becomes obsessed with uncovering the truth behind this "minor detail" of history. Shibli's sparse and evocative prose delves into the complexities of personal and collective memory, illustrating how past atrocities continue to resonate in the present. The novel was longlisted for the International Booker Prize in 2021, with judges praising its "austerely beautiful" narrative that casts light on ethnic conflicts and cleansing worldwide. 'Velvet' Huzama Habayeb's Velvet (2016) offers an intimate portrayal of life within the Baqa'a refugee camp in Jordan. The story centres on Hawwa, a skilled seamstress who finds solace and identity in her craft amidst the camp's oppressive environment. Through Hawwa's eyes, readers witness the struggles of Palestinian women, their resilience, and the intricate dynamics of love and tradition. The novel's title symbolises both the luxurious fabric Hawwa adores and the contrasting harshness of her reality. Velvet received the Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature in 2017, recognised for its cinematic narrative style and deep exploration of the human condition beyond political narratives. 'Among the Almond Trees' Among the Almond Trees (2004) is a reflective memoir by Hussein Barghouthi, penned during the final stages of his life as he battled terminal illness. Returning to his native Palestine after years abroad, Barghouthi embarks on a journey through the transformed landscapes of his homeland. The memoir intertwines personal reflections with observations on the socio-political changes wrought by occupation, offering a meditative narrative on identity, belonging, and the inexorable passage of time. Posthumously published in Arabic in 2004 and translated into English in 2022, the work was honoured with the Palestine Book Awards in 2023, celebrated for its profound introspection and lyrical prose. 'Wild Thorns' Sahar Khalifeh's Wild Thorns (1976) is a groundbreaking Palestinian novel that offers a raw, unflinching look at life under Israeli occupation. Set in the early 1970s, the novel follows Usama, a young Palestinian who returns to the West Bank after years abroad, expecting to find his people united in resistance. Instead, he discovers a society fractured by survival - some Palestinians are forced to work in Israeli factories, while others engage in armed struggle. Regarded as one of the first feminist Palestinian novels, Wild Thorns also foregrounds the roles of women in resistance, challenging male-dominated narratives of liberation. Khalifeh's work remains vital today, offering a nuanced, human-centred perspective on occupation and resilience. It has been widely translated and continues to be a cornerstone of Palestinian literary history.
CairoScene
05-03-2025
- Politics
- CairoScene
‘The Book of Disappearance' Reframes Dystopia in Palestine
'The Book of Disappearance' Reframes Dystopia in Palestine The longlist for the International Booker Prize, the world's most esteemed award for translated fiction, has been announced. Amongst the 13 works selected for the longlist is Palestinian author Ibtisam Azem's novel, 'The Book of Disappearance', translated by Sinan Antoon. Originally published in Arabic in 2014, the novel presents an unsettling story of the sudden and unexplained disappearance of all Palestinians. It is widely accepted that the novel neatly falls into the dystopia genre. Yet, in light of US President Trump's proposals to 'clear out' Gaza, this dystopia bears a disturbing resonance with the present reality. Set in a future Jaffa, the story begins when one day, Israelis wake up to discover that every Palestinian has mysteriously vanished. What begins as a moment of bewilderment quickly turns into celebration, only for that euphoria to fade just as swiftly, giving way to paranoia. As uncertainty takes hold, Israel's society spirals into turmoil, revealing the fractures lurking beneath the surface. In January 2024, Azem told me that the novel is like 'holding a mirror to the present.' This already resonated poignantly post-October 7th, with the genocide threatening to lead to a disappearance of Palestinians in Gaza in a similarly instantaneous time frame. The proposed 'clearing' out of the Gaza strip, plans to 'have fun' with the war-ravaged area by turning it into a Riviera-esque tourist resort, is nothing but a euphemistic frame for genocide in its clearest form. The proposal and the recently released sickening AI-generated advertisement for it prompt descriptions of dystopia. It feels like something ripped from the pages of a novel - too surreal, too horrific to be real life. I spoke with Azem from her apartment in New York after the book's long listing. It was our first conversation in over a year. While her novel continues to reflect the "war of many faces" unfolding today, one with the same ultimate goal of disappearance that she envisions in her fiction, Azem emphasised that her book, and reality, ultimately transcend dystopia. "The reality is worse than any novel could predict or imagine," she remarked. The novel's narration is both polychronic and polyphonic, weaving together multiple time frames and perspectives. A significant portion unfolds through the diary entries of Palestinian Alaa, who writes to preserve his recently deceased grandmother's memories of Jaffa before it fell under occupation. Amidst the destruction of his homeland, the erasure of his people and the systematic dismantling of his maternal language, Alaa clings to these memories like a lifeline. Yet, with each chapter, his memory begins to fray, becoming hazy and blurred. Palestinian memory, Azem tells me, is 'fluid and omnipresent' - yet, also, dangerous and vulnerable. As Alaa begins to question the cracks in his memory, and stumbles between the boundaries of fiction and reality, we are also driven to reflect upon our similar predicament. We doubt whether what we are reading, seeing, watching is truly happening; we, too, find ourselves suspended in the space between reality and disbelief. Ironically, the disappearance of Palestinians in the novel ultimately makes their presence all the more salient. Physically absent, yet ontologically glaring. Palestinian memory, as Azem emphasises, screams amidst the silence in the Israeli society depicted, rendering any illusion of peace or stability in their absence impossible. For Azem and for Alaa, writing and memory are synonymous. The novel ultimately reminds us that to write is ultimately to refuse erasure, to perforate silence with sound. 'The Book of Disappearance' is not only a mirror of the present, but also a testament to the enduring power of Palestinian literature in challenging hegemonic narratives that seek to justify genocide and distort history. Pre- and post-disappearance, Palestinians in the novel are silenced, as is their suffering. The history preceding and explaining this moment is muffled. Alaa writes, 'What if we were to scream into their ears? Would they hear us?' This question echoes far beyond the pages of the novel. For Azem, dystopia is not just the bodies, the death tolls or the devastation. 'This is the real dystopia,' she states. 'The world is watching this go on in silence.' The novel ends with a provocative image of Ariel, Alaa's Israeli neighbour, finding and claiming Alaa's diary. He decides he will translate excerpts from it into Hebrew and will sell it as a book, entitled 'The Chronicle of Pre-Disappearance'. This act of narrative appropriation mirrors the very forces that have shaped the present moment, where a convicted sex-offender billionaire holds the power to facilitate this ongoing Nakba, the same erasure and appropriation we see in the novel. As Ariel drifts off to sleep, the diary remains open. Azem tells me the growing attention the novel has received since its long listing has "come at a time when it is most needed.' The novel, despite being set in a future society, enables us to grieve and remember the unaccountable and historical losses. 'You write to stay with people,' Azem reminds us. There will be no disappearance of Palestinian memory as long as there are words on paper, as long as there is Palestinian literature. Azem's novel, whilst looking to the past and warning of a possible future scenario, ultimately positions the present as a tense, charged juncture. Its speculative dystopia is not a distant fiction but a provocation; an urgent call to confront the forces of erasure and appropriation unfolding before us. The novel's ending lingers like an unfinished sentence; a book left open, a story still being written. It is a stark reminder that memory, like history, is never truly erased; it waits to be reclaimed, reinterpreted, and fought for.
Express Tribune
27-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Palestinian story lands on Booker Prize longlist
Palestinian author Ibtisam Azem's fictional story The Book of Disappearance is longlisted for the International Booker Prize 2025. The author and the novel's publisher, And Other Stories Publishing, announced the feat on Instagram on Tuesday. Originally published in Arabic, the book is translated into English by Sinan Antoon. Following the lives of Palestinian character Alaa and his liberal Zionist neighbour Ariel, the story imagines a what-if scenario where all Palestinians suddenly disappear from the world. It, therefore, speculates how Israelis would react to the mysterious occurrence. "Spare yet evocative, intensely intelligent in its interplay of perspectives," describe the Booker Prize judges on the website. "The Book of Disappearance – which was critically acclaimed in its original Arabic edition – is an unforgettable glimpse into contemporary Palestine as it grapples with both the memory of loss and the loss of memory." After the release of the translated version, Azem spoke to The National about the inspiration behind her acclaimed fiction. Born in Jaffa, the author later moved to Germany due to educational pursuits and then set off for New York. She told the publication that the story's foundations are rooted in her personal experiences. "For me, it all became too much – politically and socially. I had to leave. But when I started writing, I took that feeling of being invisible quite literally. I couldn't get this thought – of what would happen if Palestinians in Israel actually did disappear – out of my mind," she said. "If you call it a fantasy, I guess that's a place where I could have a lot of freedom to talk about how things are, as well as how they could be. The opportunities were limitless," she added. The novel is listed with twelve other entries, including books translated from ten original languages. The longlist hence comprises eleven novels and two collections of short stories. Among those listed are Under the Eye of the Big Bird, a Japanese novel set in a distant world where human extinction seems imminent, and Solenoid, which follows the mundane life of a diarist and is the competition's first Romanian entry. A companion award to the flagship Booker Prize, which recognises entries penned in English, the International Booker Prize awards translated works. The shortlist for the 2025 competition will be announced in April. The final winner will be awarded £50,000 at a ceremony in London in May. The judging panel for this year is led by English writer Max Porter and includes publisher Sana Goyal and Nigerian author Caleb Femi.
The National
26-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The National
Fantasy novel about a world without Palestinians makes International Booker Prize 2025 longlist
A fantasy novel that imagines what would happen if all Palestinians disappeared is on the longlist for the 2025 International Booker Prize. Originally written in Arabic, The Book of Disappearance is Palestinian author Ibtisam Azem's second novel and was first published to wide acclaim in 2014. It has been translated into English by Sinan Antoon. While revealing the longlist of 13 books for this year's International Booker Prize – 11 novels and two collections of short stories – on Tuesday evening, judges called The Book of Disappearance 'an unforgettable glimpse into contemporary Palestine as it grapples with both the memory of loss and the loss of memory'. 'Speculative and haunting, this is an exceptional exercise in memory-making and psycho-geography,' they said in a statement. Speaking to The National in 2019, after the translated version of The Book of Disappearance was first published, Azem, who was born in Jaffa but later moved to Germany to study and then to New York, said the inspiration came out of her own personal experiences. 'For me, it all became too much – politically and socially. I had to leave. But when I started writing, I took that feeling of being invisible quite literally. I couldn't get this thought – of what would happen if Palestinians in Israel actually did disappear – out of my mind,' she said. 'If you call it a fantasy, I guess that's a place where I could have a lot of freedom to talk about how things are, as well as how they could be. The opportunities were limitless.' Azem's novel opens with Alaa, a young Palestinian man who recounts the death of his grandmother. She had survived the Nakba of 1948, but was displaced from her birthplace of Jaffa. Alaa's friend, Ariel, a liberal Zionist, is critical of the military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza yet faithful to the project of Israel. One day, Ariel wakes up to find that all Palestinians have suddenly vanished and begins investigating their collective disappearance. The International Booker Prize, which recognises works translated into English and published in the UK or Ireland, is a companion award to the flagship Booker Prize, which awards works written in English. A further shortlist of six books will be announced on April 8, with the final winner of the £50,000 prize to be revealed at a ceremony in London on May 20. This year's judging panel, chaired by English writer Max Porter, includes Nigerian author Caleb Femi; publisher Sana Goyal; South Korean writer Anton Hur and English singer-songwriter Beth Orton. – The Book of Disappearance by Ibtisam Azem, translated from Arabic by Sinan Antoon – On the Calculation of Volume I by Solvej Balle, translated from Danish by Barbara J Haveland – There's a Monster Behind the Door by Gaelle Belem, translated from French by Karen Fleetwood and Laetitia Saint-Loubert – Solenoid by Mircea Cartarescu, translated from Romanian by Sean Cotter – Reservoir Bitches by Dahlia de la Cerda, translated from Spanish by Heather Cleary and Julia Sanches – Small Boat by Vincent Delecroix, translated from French by Helen Stevenson – Hunchback by Saou Ichikawa, translated from Japanese by Polly Barton – Under the Eye of the Big Bird by Hiromi Kawakami, translated from Japanese by Asa Yoneda – Eurotrash by Christian Kracht, translated from German by Daniel Bowles – Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico, translated from Italian by Sophie Hughes – Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq, translated from Kannada by Deepa Bhasthi – On a Woman's Madness by Astrid Roemer, translated from Dutch by Lucy Scott – A Leopard-Skin Hat by Anne Serre, translated from French by Mark Hutchinson
