Hate praise

Author's name: Khaled Khalifa Publisher: Dar Al-Adab for Publishing and Distribution Year of publication: 2010 Literary classification: Novel Brief about the book: This novel ventures into a period of Syrian history and raises again the burning questions about the conflict between fundamentalists and authority — a period almost destroyed by the culture of hatred, leaving nothing untouched. The novel leads readers from the enchanting city of Aleppo and the worlds of its women and their secret lives to Afghanistan, passing through Riyadh, Aden, London, and other places, to weave details that will undoubtedly leave their scents, blood, and hatred, as well as the desire for love and amazement, in the souls of this book's readers. Khaled Khalifa in this novel manages to narrate the experience of double oppression under fundamentalist organizations and within a society deprived of democracy, through a language of multiple levels, and characters torn apart by questions of the future. The judging panel of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction announced the list of six nominees for its first cycle in 2008, and the Syrian writer and novelist Khaled Khalifa was chosen for his novel "Prais of Hatred".