Una casa de carne

by Yusuf Idris

Yúsuf Idrís es, junto a Naguib Mahfuz, el artífice de la mayor revolución vivida por la narrativa egipcia contemporánea y maestro en el género del relato corto. Una casa de carne se compone de doce historias mediante las cuales el autor es capaz de presentar, con gran originalidad, un peculiar retrato de Egipto. Su visión literaria de la realidad se evidencia aquí por su capacidad de convertir pequeñas anécdotas cotidianas en historias y, al mismo tiempo, esas historias en reflejos de la felicidad, la tristeza, la esperanza, el dolor o la injusticia.Dudas, crisis de fe y dilemas morales de todo tipo asaltan a los personajes de estos relatos; en el primero de ellos un recitador ciego se casa con una mujer viuda, madre de tres hijas adolescentes. Al cabo de unos días, el hombre no sabe a ciencia cierta quién de las cuatro mujeres comparte su lecho noche tras noche. En el segundo relato, el joven imán de la mezquita Shubukshi sufre una crisis religiosa en cuanto posa sus ojos en su inquietante vecina, la bella Lili. Otro tema recurrente es el de la inquietante presencia de lo sobrenatural en un entorno cotidiano, así como la locura; los personajes sucumben a la enajenación a causa de varios motivos.Todos estos ingredientes forman parte del universo literario de Idrís.Su estilo conciso y directo sirve a la perfección para reflejar la realidad con gran frescura, y lo hace con un estilo espontáneo y sencillo que lo ha convertido en uno de los principales renovadores de la literatura árabe.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Novels, Literature, Classics, Audiobook, Egypt

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

Yusuf Idris (also Yusif Idris; Arabic: يوسف إدريس) was an Egyptian writer of plays, short stories, and novels.
He wrote realistic stories about ordinary and poor people. Many of his works are in the Egyptian vernacular, and he was considered a master of the short story. Idris originally trained to be a doctor, studying at the University of Cairo. He sought to put the foundations of a modern Egyptian theatre based on popular traditions and folklore, his main success in this quest was his most famous work, a play called "Al-Farafeer" depicting two main characters: the Master and the "Farfour" [=poor layman]. For some time he was a regular writer in the famous daily newspaper Al-Ahram. It is known that he was nominated several times to win the Nobel prize for literature.

From the English edition of The Cheapest Nights: "While a medical student his work against Farouk’s regime and the British led to his imprisonment and suspension from College. After graduation he worked at Kasr el Eini, the largest government hospital in Egypt. He supported Nasser’s rise to power but became disillusioned in 1954 at the time when his first collection of stories The Cheapest Nights was published . . Yusuf Idris’ stories are powerful and immediate reflections of the experiences of his own rebellious life. His continuing contact with the struggling poor enables him to portray characters sensitively and imaginatively."