The Tehran-Persian translation of the book “The Dictator’s Last Night” by Algerian author Yasmina Khadra was recently published by the Vazn-e Donia Publications in Tehran.
This book is translated into Persian by Zeinab Kazemkhah.
In “The Dictator’s Last Night,” the author offers a fascinating fictional portrayal of Colonel Gaddafi on the eve of his downfall. Set against the background of an apocalyptic landscape with rebel bullets and NATO bombs illuminating the sky. Gadafi is trapped in an unused school of Sirte, surrounded by betrayal and chaos, as if his general would escape or collapse from fatigue.
With a personality as colorful and contradictory as the tyrant himself, Gaddafi reflects his life, characterized by a fusion of sentimentality and cruelty.
Through turbulent stories, the novel captures the complexity of Gaddafi’s character. It’s his journey from nurturing a poor Bedouin to becoming a leader of exaggerated membranes.
The story vibrates between Gaddafi’s epic self-awareness and moments of vulnerability, revealing someone who is driven by the need for approval but has made the horrible violence possible.
Kadra infuses the story with humor, highlighting the sentences that flaunt the sentences with a huge dictionary revealing epic delusions with Gaddafi’s absurdity and exaggerated rhetoric.
As Gaddafi indulges in heroin on his final night, he recalls past conquests and love affairs, weaving in tapestry of memory, including cruel acts and romanticism juxtaposed with romanticism.
This contradictory nature of the dictator allows the reader to get a glimpse into the horrifying charisma that defined his rule, examining the psychology behind his tyrannical rule. The story is characterized by surreal elements, including dream sequences with figures like the ghostly Saddam Hussein and the painter Vincent van Gogh, highlighting the hallucination nature.
Khadra’s novels cleverly balance with deeper commentary and entertainment on the responsibility that comes with dictatorship and power.
When Gaddafi discusses revolution with his officers, readers recall the light-form of the people of Libya in the unfolding chaos. Though not as epic or experimental as other famous dictator novels, “The Dictator’s Last Night” stands as a unique quest for one of the most infamous leaders in history, effectively capturing Gaddafi’s complexity and contradictions in his final moments.
Mohammed Moulessehoul, well known by his pen name Yasmina Khadra, is an Algerian writer who lives in France and writes in French. One of the world’s most famous Algerian novelists, he has written almost 40 novels and has published them in over 50 countries.
Cadra often explores civil wars in Algeria and other Arab countries, as well as conflicts between the East and the West.
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