Soudan

1967 — Very Good Arabic Original pictorial wrappers. Cr. 8vo. (20 x 14 cm). In Arabic. 169, [1] p., many ills. First Beirut Edition and early edition in Arabic literature of this classic novel by Salih, who is one of Sudan's greatest authors of the twentieth century. The story is set in the fictional village of Wad Hamid, the same setting as Salih's famous Season of Migration to the North. It is a comic novella, centering on the unlikely nuptials of the town's eccentric Zein. Tall and odd-looking, with just two teeth in his mouth, Zein has made a reputation for himself as the man who falls in love over and over with girls who promptly marry other men, to the point where mothers seek him out in hopes that he will draw the eye of available suitors to their eligible daughters. "The Wedding of Zein" was made into a drama in Libya and won Kuwaiti filmmaker Khalid Siddiq an award at the Cannes Film Festival in the late 1970s. Some critics identify this novella may be considered part of the tradition of magical realism, although Salih considered it as a socialist realist one. Minor stains on cover and edges. Overall a good copy. Only two paper copies in OCLC in Library University of Amsterdam and Leiden University Library: 71470668. It's also the earliest edition in the OCLC.