The sail and the storm

We are Hanouna, his life was an inspiring legend. He read a lot, but he lived more. And life, as one writer expressed, oozed from his skin. This man who lived tragedy more than any Syrian writer, is the most joyful, victorious, and hopeful. And he always said: "We must be happy, or else the human in us will be defeated." On the coast of "Latakia." The green Syrian city that bathes in the sea, and its braids are sprinkled with the pine trees of the Alawite mountains, Hanouna was born. Hanouna Minee knew about publishing while he was a barber, and he started sending some stories to Damascus newspapers, and his name became known and loved by readers who were enchanted by this new, tender spirit, and this captivating popular soul. His first novel, "The Blue Lamps," was something new in Syrian literature, laying the realistic foundations for Syrian novel. It sparked heated discussions in Syria, Lebanon, and Egypt. Its enchanting popular spirit and its lively simple style gave it a special flavor, but it also contained moments of breathlessness, sometimes aimed at satire, and an impulsiveness in describing nature that interrupted the vitality of the event, then some reporting scenes influenced by Hanouna’s opposition to the theory of art for art’s sake, where he focused on emphasizing his political commitment without much success... All these things were criticisms that developed Hanouna, who discovered his depths more profoundly. "The Blue Lamps" was not truly representing Hanouna, nor did it embody what he really knew about Latakia: its port, dreams, fishermen, and popular classes. Instead, he turned to write his novel in the hands of the reader, "The Sail and the Storm," which is the story of rebellious sailors, in their bitter daily struggle with death embodied in the raging sea and treacherous storms, met with torn sails, old boats, and their determination drawn from the rocks of the shores. It contains a tender mythical spirit, yet rooted deeply in the land — "the sea is king" — that is the deep cry of respect issued by every sailor, and the hero of the story, Troisi, believes in the sovereignty of the sea as he believes in the sovereignty of women, but in the vigor of his masculinity, he knows how to tame tigers. The sea, his sworn enemy, attracts him with its cold gray eyes to sail toward deserted islands, veiling their innocence with the heroism of a knight. He has discovered the meaning of his life, and therefore he feels the weight of his footsteps on the ground. The Sail and the Storm is a story of a Syrian coastal city during World War II. Hanouna Minee vividly depicted the impact of this war and the storms it left in a country occupied by the French, highlighting the contradictions that preyed on an uneven society. But first and foremost, it is a story of sailors, a story of triumph over harsh natural forces, a story of human will and adventure. Hanouna Minee is one of the pioneers of the sea in Arabic literature, and in his novels, every hero is a pioneer, with all its eagerness and haste, and this is his magnificent gift.