Syrian novelist Haitham Hussein begins his book "Why Should You Be a Novelist?"

Several questions, including: What are the benefits of the novel?

Why do we read novels?

Does reading waste the time of its reader?

Why does the novelist not write a summary of his work?

The book issued by the publications "Lines and Shadows, 2021" begins with an introduction in which the writer refers to the criticism submitted by some readers and critics to novels in terms of size, as if they were demanding writing according to an ideal format without taking into account the conditions of fiction writing, and the form that the writer deems appropriate for his fictional work.

Haitham Hussein rejects that criticism on the grounds that these opinions do not belong to objectivity, and are based on a lack of understanding of the structure of the fictional art, and at the same time, the novel demands the role of the story or its proxy, or the abolition of the novel by the statute of limitations as long as it wastes time and can be shortened.

local privacy

Haitham Hussein concludes with a question, does the novelist search for the truth in his work?

How can a novel gain strength to stand up to time and its changes?

Therefore, the writer points out that the legacy of the Spanish novelist Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616) - the author of Don Quixote, which is described as the first modern European novel - is the heritage of all humanity, because the novel documents what is happening in its time of variables and conflicts that play a role in shaping the future.

Haitham Hussein, the Syrian critic and novelist residing in Britain, has published novels and books on literary criticism (Al-Jazeera)

Therefore, there is no time wasted in reading, given that writing preserves a human heritage accumulated over time, extricating the forgotten and neglected from the angles of neglect.

According to the book, those interested in the art of fiction realize that building a novel in the form of messages exchanged between characters is one of the methods of construction that does not require a strong plot, nor a dramatic work so that the interweaving of threads and axes plots the worlds of the novel, but rather emerges as an art form that does not require great engineering to complete Narrative construction.

Haitham Hussein refuses to let the novelist begin his creative career away from his local privacy, explaining that the locality is the gate through which the novelist overlooks the other, and he may discover while writing many details and secrets about his city if he wants to write about it, and working on the novel is like looking through the third eye. To see what is in it, that any local is part of a vast global scene.

Identity and the epidemic

Is there a magic formula in writing?

Hussein believes that if we assume the existence of such a recipe, can it be learned and taught?

Certainly the response will be that there are many training workshops that seek to develop and refine the tools of those wishing to enter the writing profession, and perhaps some of them stem from the idea that it is possible to draw inspiration from the experiences of others.

Through the pages of the book, the writer reviews a number of Arab and foreign novels that dealt with epidemics, some of whom presented their works based on imaginary ways to crystallize innovative worlds, based on historical or supposed facts.

For example, the pioneering work "The Decameron" by the Italian Giovanni Boccaccio, the novel "The Last Man - Plague" by the English Mary Shelley, the novel "Ebola" by the Sudanese Amir Taj Al-Sir, and the novel "America" ​​by the Lebanese Rabih Jaber.

But how to answer a question of a type: Is the novel affected by climatic changes?.. Yes, the climate has formed a fertile field for the novel, as some novelists, especially foreign ones, have worked on presenting novels that warn and warn of imaginary disasters, as an example of this is the novelist’s “Novel” of the year of the flood. Canadian Margaret Atwood, who presented a work in which she foresaw the emergence of epidemics and floods that cause serious environmental change, leading to a catastrophic sea level rise in an imagined city.

At the same time, Haitham Hussein pointed out that the issue of climate change remained far from the interest of the Arab novelist.

The book referred to a topic that novelists give great importance in the novel's work, which is "identity", as an entrance to the human self, which the novel tries to give voices to express its concerns and ideas, without the restrictions imposed by the authorities of reality.

Hence, the novel defies erasure and belittling as a solo work that can be done anywhere.

This is what happened in the novel "Used Time.. The End of the Red Man", in which the Belarusian novelist and Nobel Prize winner for literature Svetlana Alexievich gave voices to those who came out of the battle of life under the Soviet Union, depicting how some of its heroes resisted what the totalitarian regime sought to manufacture. Soviet citizen according to the specifications you set.

fear of writing

Haitham Hussein talked about loneliness and how the novelist deals with it, and how it may be the motivation and instigator for some novelists to continue writing.

And if we talk about the fear of writing, it can be said that the volume of fear fluctuates from one writer to another, between a writer who is going through his first experience in publishing, and another veteran who has gone through many experiences.

The book included a number of chapters, including the novel a human issue, the novel and epidemics..how did viruses chart the paths and fates of humans?, the novel and climatic changes, the novel and identity, the masks of the ego and the mirrors of the other novelist, the novel and the art of living, the novel.. based on the structure, the novel and time How do novelists furnish their imagined times?

The novel and the place.. stricken cities and imaginary paradises, taming crises and wars fictionally, the novel and the game of binary, aesthetics and arts.

Haitham Hussein has published novels and critical works, including "Aram, the descendant of the arrogant pain", "Hostages of Sin", "The Needle of Terror", "A Noxious Weed in Paradise", "No One May Be Left", "The Novel Between Mining and Enlightening", And "The Novel and Life", "The Novelist Beats the Drums of War", and "The Novelist... The Probe of Detection and Launching".