2/02/2015

A Lens Through Saddam Hussein Books

By Ines Flores


Saddam Hussein is an Iraqi leader born in 1937 who became president in 1979. He is remembered for strengthening the oil industry in Iraq as well as its military. To maintain power, he often used brutal measures that eventually cost him his life at the hands of Iraqi government. In 2006, he was found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity that he was executed for in Dec 2006. What most people do not know about him is that he was an author of several Saddam Hussein books.

Saddam published a total of four books and several poems. His work was published anonymously with a pen name the author. Some of his books were included in the syllabus for Iraqi schools. However, after his death, both official and bootleg copies of the books sold out. The novels by the former Iraqi ruler include Men and City, Begone, Demons, Zabibah and the King and The Fortified Castle.

Saddams first novel is Zabibah and the King that is a romance novel and in 2000 published anonymously. Although mainly a romance novel, it is also an allegory and political metaphor. Hussein presents himself as the hero, the Arab while Zabibah is the people of Iraq. Her character is a beautiful woman married by unloving man and who is also the Arabs love interest.

According to the novel, the husband to Zabibah is unloving and cruel. The husband is mean to be an allegory to the United States. When he rapes Zabibah, it is a metaphor for the invasion of Iraq. Other characters represent the relationship with Israel, Jews and other the countries which the author perceives to be its enemies. This novel managed to sell over a million copies and its royalties shared among charities.

The other novel authored by the former Iraq leader is Men and the City. Published in 2002, it is third of his books to be published. Men and the City is slightly different from the others as it is more of an autobiography. It tells the story of Husseins grandfather and his war to defeat the Turks of the Ottoman Empire. Some people say that this book was ghostwritten but evidence exists to dispute this.

The third novel by Hussein is the Fortified Castle. Like almost all the others, its an allegory as well as a political metaphor. It was published in the year 2001 and tells the story of a delayed wedding. The protagonist is an Iraq war hero called Sabah getting married to a Kurdish girl. The war hero participated in the significant Iran-Iraq war and was left wounded.

Begone, Demons is Saddams fourth and last novel. It loosely translates to Get out of here, Curse You! It was written before the Iraq war in 2003 and published in 2006 in Tokyo by a Japanese publisher. Although fictional, it is believed to be a political metaphor. Published in Japanese and later translated into Turkish language. No other translation is available.

The four materials authored by Saddam Hussein were very significant to him. This is true because they were written and published at a time when his political demise had begun. They show hope, strength and a bit of ignorance by a leader who depicts himself as a hero in his work.




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