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The Prison of Life: An Autobiographical Essay
Hard to find
222 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1993
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June 11, 2018
This book reviews Tawfiq al-Hakim’s life up to about age 25. I’ll summarize it, then comment on it.
He begins with an account of his birth accompanied by stories about his parents and grandparents. Beginning early in The Prison of Life, al-Hakim lays the blame for nearly all his woes and weaknesses on his forbears. He reviews his own earliest memories, includes accounts of his wide-ranging childhood as the son of a government employee transferred several times a year, and details traumatic encounters with his parents. In one such encounter his father forced him to read and recite difficult classic Arab poetry, thus turning him off from poetry for decades until he rediscovered it for himself (72). All through his teenage years and higher studies, he faulted his parents for unintentionally negatively influencing him in sundry ways even in their attempts to help him build a successful family and career. The only weakness Tawfiq claims as his own is his laziness (204). The book ends as he returns home in disgrace from Paris without the doctorate in law he was sent to obtain, having diverted all his energies to cultural debates and the theater. He concludes that a man’s thinking is his only freedom, his only tool to contradict the prison that is nature (200-1).
This book shows me that Arab women have more influence and rights in the home than western media usually portrays (34-5). Though I don’t know if the comparison is entirely accurate, the education system, living conditions, and building methods al-Hakim describes mirror current conditions in India where I served my mission, so much of the context felt comfortably familiar to me. I disagree with al-Hakim’s conclusion that he is a prisoner of his nature, but I enjoyed his life story.
He begins with an account of his birth accompanied by stories about his parents and grandparents. Beginning early in The Prison of Life, al-Hakim lays the blame for nearly all his woes and weaknesses on his forbears. He reviews his own earliest memories, includes accounts of his wide-ranging childhood as the son of a government employee transferred several times a year, and details traumatic encounters with his parents. In one such encounter his father forced him to read and recite difficult classic Arab poetry, thus turning him off from poetry for decades until he rediscovered it for himself (72). All through his teenage years and higher studies, he faulted his parents for unintentionally negatively influencing him in sundry ways even in their attempts to help him build a successful family and career. The only weakness Tawfiq claims as his own is his laziness (204). The book ends as he returns home in disgrace from Paris without the doctorate in law he was sent to obtain, having diverted all his energies to cultural debates and the theater. He concludes that a man’s thinking is his only freedom, his only tool to contradict the prison that is nature (200-1).
This book shows me that Arab women have more influence and rights in the home than western media usually portrays (34-5). Though I don’t know if the comparison is entirely accurate, the education system, living conditions, and building methods al-Hakim describes mirror current conditions in India where I served my mission, so much of the context felt comfortably familiar to me. I disagree with al-Hakim’s conclusion that he is a prisoner of his nature, but I enjoyed his life story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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