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The Hakawati

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The Hakawati

By: Rabih Alameddine
Narrated by: Assaf Cohen
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About this listen

In 2003, Osama al-Kharrat returns to Beirut after many years in America to stand vigil at his father's deathbed. As the family gathers, stories begin to unfold: Osama's grandfather was a hakawati, or storyteller, and his bewitching tales are interwoven with classic stories of the Middle East. Here are Abraham and Isaac; Ishmael, father of the Arab tribes; the beautiful Fatima; Baybars, the slave prince who vanquished the Crusaders; and a host of mischievous imps. Through Osama, we also enter the world of the contemporary Lebanese men and women whose stories tell a larger, heartbreaking tale of seemingly endless war, conflicted identity, and survival. With The Hakawati, Rabih Alameddine has given us an Arabian Nights for this century.

©2008 Rabih Alameddine (P)2014 Audible Inc. Family Life Fantasy Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Magic Middle East Royalty Africa Middle Ages Crusade
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You are swept away amidst the dimensions of the stories. Brilliant. Moreover as a Lebanese Druze, it resonates a lot with my childhood and family 🙏

Brilliant story telling

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Horrific accents, the Lebanese characters sound like caricatures of Italians. And 'oud' is pronounced 'ood', not 'ode'. Next time please do your very basic homework or don't accept the commission, Assaf Cohen.

Inauthentic narration / performance

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