They

Description

“She: And what about me? What about this woman who loved you ten days ago, or ten months ago, or ten years ago? What about my feelings? My freedom? My world? I’m expected to touch you when I sense the touch will electrify you, and to withdraw when I sense it will disgust you. To discover this with a new seventh or eighth sense. I’m expected to speak as long as my words please you and to stop the moment they become repetitive chatter. I’m supposed to stay close as long as every other woman is ugly and to disappear the moment other women regain their beauty. I’m supposed to be content with the small space allotted to me in the garden of your soul, leaving the rest for your grandmother, your aunt, and the rest of the esteemed family. I’m supposed to know when you want to sleep with me and when you prefer to sleep with your nightmares, or with Jane, or with Cheetah… I’m supposed to accept that you change night after night, and that I change with you… And after all this, you tell me I can’t escape you because every time your body honors me with a touch… He: Listen! Listen!” “That I Decided to Go.” This is the title of the novel before us, in which Al-Qusaibi chronicles a dialogue between a man and a woman from the world of acting. The man is a writer and actor, and the woman a famous actress. This allows Al-Qusaibi to explore, through their characters, the realities of the artistic field and the conflicts within it. It also allows him to transform the novel into a battleground for an age-old, bloody war, its protagonists a man and a woman struggling for life, offering thousands of contemporary and historical examples and interpretations in support of the cause of women’s liberation and their struggle with men.