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Bagdá noir
Bagdá noir faz parte da premiada série de antologia noir da Akashic Books. Uma das cidades do mundo mais devastadas pela guerra entra para a coleção com um volume de histórias sombrias, reunindo 14 contos ambientados em diferentes regiões de Bagdá, que formam um complexo mosaico de experiências e perspectivas.
315 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 7, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
May 25, 2018
In yesterday’s New York Times Book Review, Cynthia Ozick wrote the following in connection with a review of a William Trevor collection: “The novel in its spaciousness allows world enough and time for epochs to evolve, but the short story must seize in its thimble, all at once, crisis and its crux.”
I had just finished Baghdad Noir when I read Ozick’s quote and thought, yes, this. When short stories are most successful, they use each word efficiently, stay on point, and the reader is never tempted to see how many pages are left before one story ends and a new story starts.
Baghdad Noir is a new entry in Akashic Books’ Noir Series. (Pub release date is August 7, 2018.) Each of the stories in the collection take place in and around Baghdad and, thankfully, a detailed map inserted at the beginning grounds the reader not familiar with this ancient city with its streets, distances, relationships between locations, et. al. The introduction that follows on the heels of that map strikes the perfect balance between too much and too little background information on both the history of Iraq, including Baghdad, and these stories.
By the way, there’s nothing like a well-written Introduction to reveal the ignorance of a reader to herself. Facts I learned from Baghdad Noir which may, of course, be long-known to readers of this review:
• “Historically, Iraq has been one of the world’s most ethnically diverse countries. In the more distant past, before Arab tribes emerged on the scene, it was the land of the ancient Sumerians and Assyrians. Then, as the center of the Islamic Caliphate for a thousand years, it attracted various commingling nationalities. Until relatively recently, marriage by Iraqis to Circassians, Turkmens, Kurds, and Iranian people was commonplace, along with intermarriage between these groups. If we add to this the many Mughal, Turkic, and Iranian conquests of Iraq, an the innumerable pilgrimages to the Shia holy sites by various ethnic groups over the centuries, we are confronted with a picture that makes it impossible to countenance the idea of a singular national ethnic identity.”
• “The majority-Muslim population is divided between Shia and Sunni adherents . . . The robust Christian population within the country comprises a vareity of origins and denominations, forming a large part of the population in the north, while the Yazidis mostly settled around Mount Sinjar.”
• “… [T]he development of the modern novel is a relatively recent phenomenon in Iraqi literature. Most people consider Jalal Khalid by Mahmoud Ahmed al-Sayed, published in 1928, to be the first Iraqi novel. . . . The Iraqi novel became much more ubiquitous after the US invastion in 2003…. In less than fifteen years, close to seven hundred novels have emerged from the country (more than had appeared over the entirety of the twentieth century, including works that deal with contemporary topics such as the UN-enforced sanctions, the Iraq-Iran War, the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait, and, of course, the US invasion of Iraq.”
• “The Iran-Iraq War was the beginning of the end for Iraqi civil society, with half a million soldiers and half a million civilians killed on each side, effectively wiping out an entire generation…. Cementing the destruction of Iraqi life was Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990. The seventeen days of bombs falling on Baghdad and other cities, dropped by the US-led military coalition in defense of Kuwait, and the subsequent thirteen years of crippling economic sanctions took Iraqi society back to the stone age.”
Shimon commissioned 14 new short stories for this collection. The majority of them take place post-2003. Ten are written by Iraqui authors; four by non-Iraquis. All of the non-Iraquis (1 American, 1 Persian, 1 Tunisian and 1 Lebanese) have spent time in Baghdad and “know the city well.” I wish I’d realized while reading each story that, at the end of Baghdad Noir, Shimon includes mini-bios and photos of each author.
If you either appreciate noir short stories or are intrigued by the fact that the stories in this collection are set in Baghdad, this collection is for you. If neither of those factors is a major plus for you, you might rate this as a 3 star read, instead of 4 or 5. As is typical of short story collections written by different authors, inconsistency is the word of the day, but the range is from good to great, not weak to great.
For the noir reader, all of the moral ambiguity, darkness, sense of being trapped with unappealing and dangerous options you love are present. Dead people abound. Amnesia. Waking up in an abandoned building surrounded by armed children. Attacks on family members. Attacks on others either out of revenge or to benefit family members. No flashes of moral revelation or character epiphanies. And the plots are everywhere in Baghdad – in the streets, the cafes, the aromas; in the darkness of prohibited curfew excursions, alcohol consumption (notwithstanding legal prohibition), in family relationships and family memories; in the suffering, the losses, the schemes, the abandoned hopes. The damage. The dreams.
For the reader interested in reading literature set in Iraq, Baghdad Noir provides the intense sense of place and culture we seek. These stories could only take place in Baghdad.
There are no axes to grind and no politics, per se. The experiences of these characters are what they are because of numerous political decisions, but their stories are the stories of people on the ground – the ones who live, breathe, dream, fight for their country, birth babies, marry and die no matter who is in charge. The same in Iraq as in all other countries.
The standouts? “The Apartment” by Salima Salih, “Jasim’s File” by Sinan Antoon and “Baghdad on Borrowed Time” by Salar Abdoh.
Thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss+ for giving me access to an ecopy of this wonderful collection.
I had just finished Baghdad Noir when I read Ozick’s quote and thought, yes, this. When short stories are most successful, they use each word efficiently, stay on point, and the reader is never tempted to see how many pages are left before one story ends and a new story starts.
Baghdad Noir is a new entry in Akashic Books’ Noir Series. (Pub release date is August 7, 2018.) Each of the stories in the collection take place in and around Baghdad and, thankfully, a detailed map inserted at the beginning grounds the reader not familiar with this ancient city with its streets, distances, relationships between locations, et. al. The introduction that follows on the heels of that map strikes the perfect balance between too much and too little background information on both the history of Iraq, including Baghdad, and these stories.
By the way, there’s nothing like a well-written Introduction to reveal the ignorance of a reader to herself. Facts I learned from Baghdad Noir which may, of course, be long-known to readers of this review:
• “Historically, Iraq has been one of the world’s most ethnically diverse countries. In the more distant past, before Arab tribes emerged on the scene, it was the land of the ancient Sumerians and Assyrians. Then, as the center of the Islamic Caliphate for a thousand years, it attracted various commingling nationalities. Until relatively recently, marriage by Iraqis to Circassians, Turkmens, Kurds, and Iranian people was commonplace, along with intermarriage between these groups. If we add to this the many Mughal, Turkic, and Iranian conquests of Iraq, an the innumerable pilgrimages to the Shia holy sites by various ethnic groups over the centuries, we are confronted with a picture that makes it impossible to countenance the idea of a singular national ethnic identity.”
• “The majority-Muslim population is divided between Shia and Sunni adherents . . . The robust Christian population within the country comprises a vareity of origins and denominations, forming a large part of the population in the north, while the Yazidis mostly settled around Mount Sinjar.”
• “… [T]he development of the modern novel is a relatively recent phenomenon in Iraqi literature. Most people consider Jalal Khalid by Mahmoud Ahmed al-Sayed, published in 1928, to be the first Iraqi novel. . . . The Iraqi novel became much more ubiquitous after the US invastion in 2003…. In less than fifteen years, close to seven hundred novels have emerged from the country (more than had appeared over the entirety of the twentieth century, including works that deal with contemporary topics such as the UN-enforced sanctions, the Iraq-Iran War, the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait, and, of course, the US invasion of Iraq.”
• “The Iran-Iraq War was the beginning of the end for Iraqi civil society, with half a million soldiers and half a million civilians killed on each side, effectively wiping out an entire generation…. Cementing the destruction of Iraqi life was Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990. The seventeen days of bombs falling on Baghdad and other cities, dropped by the US-led military coalition in defense of Kuwait, and the subsequent thirteen years of crippling economic sanctions took Iraqi society back to the stone age.”
Shimon commissioned 14 new short stories for this collection. The majority of them take place post-2003. Ten are written by Iraqui authors; four by non-Iraquis. All of the non-Iraquis (1 American, 1 Persian, 1 Tunisian and 1 Lebanese) have spent time in Baghdad and “know the city well.” I wish I’d realized while reading each story that, at the end of Baghdad Noir, Shimon includes mini-bios and photos of each author.
If you either appreciate noir short stories or are intrigued by the fact that the stories in this collection are set in Baghdad, this collection is for you. If neither of those factors is a major plus for you, you might rate this as a 3 star read, instead of 4 or 5. As is typical of short story collections written by different authors, inconsistency is the word of the day, but the range is from good to great, not weak to great.
For the noir reader, all of the moral ambiguity, darkness, sense of being trapped with unappealing and dangerous options you love are present. Dead people abound. Amnesia. Waking up in an abandoned building surrounded by armed children. Attacks on family members. Attacks on others either out of revenge or to benefit family members. No flashes of moral revelation or character epiphanies. And the plots are everywhere in Baghdad – in the streets, the cafes, the aromas; in the darkness of prohibited curfew excursions, alcohol consumption (notwithstanding legal prohibition), in family relationships and family memories; in the suffering, the losses, the schemes, the abandoned hopes. The damage. The dreams.
For the reader interested in reading literature set in Iraq, Baghdad Noir provides the intense sense of place and culture we seek. These stories could only take place in Baghdad.
There are no axes to grind and no politics, per se. The experiences of these characters are what they are because of numerous political decisions, but their stories are the stories of people on the ground – the ones who live, breathe, dream, fight for their country, birth babies, marry and die no matter who is in charge. The same in Iraq as in all other countries.
The standouts? “The Apartment” by Salima Salih, “Jasim’s File” by Sinan Antoon and “Baghdad on Borrowed Time” by Salar Abdoh.
Thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss+ for giving me access to an ecopy of this wonderful collection.
March 7, 2020
Akashic Noir is slowly but surely covering the known universe with its noir series. At last count (and the count keeps changing), the series is well over 80 books strong and growing. Each volume features 12-14 crime stories all centered around a geographic location from a number of local authors familiar with the geographic centerpiece of the volume. Baghdad Noir is one of the more exotic locales featured. And, one of the amazing thing about this 14-story volume is that there is crime fiction tradition in Iraqi literature, let alone a noir tradition. Yet, this book perhaps more than many others in the series, really brings to life the city of Baghdad and its diverse people, both under Saddam’s rule and the aftermath. And, amazingly, you can really feel the noir-ness of these stories, the darkness, the ennui.
“I Killed Her Because I Love Her” by Mushin al-Ramli, is the first such dark selection and it is a quintessential Baghdad story of murder and despair. The actual murder presents itself starkly in all its bloody glory like it was ripped right out of American pulp fiction.
Doomsday Book by Nassif Falak tells us how Baghdad even under Saddam was like life being on a knife’s edge with imagery of grenades buried under houses, crucified infants, yellow buses like giant coffins. A scent of death is inescapable as is an atmosphere of hopelessness.
Jason’s File by Sinan Antoon is a glimpse into the chaos that enveloped Baghdad when the Americans came. It was just as if the asylum gates had opened and all the crazies were let out of the looney bin. Absolutely brilliant work capturing a moment in time, of lawlessness, chaos, confusion.
A Sense if Remorse by Ahmed Saadawi explores a world of endless killings, animosity, revenge, and tests.
Where is the Trust? Baghdad on Borrowed Time by Salar Abdoh features a private eye in Teheran whose clients all tell him he’s like Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett. The action however is all back in Baghdad.
POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS REALITY IN QADISIYA BY HADIA SAID is a story about property and squatters and deeds and despair.
THE FEAR OF IRAQI INTELLIGENCE BY HAYET RAIES takes us into Saddam’s secret police state with spies and informed and distrust everywhere, even among college students.
ROOM 22 BY MOHAMMED ALWAN JABR is a story about a kind snapping and a ransom payment but it has a distinctly Baghdadian feel to it
THE APARTMENT BY SALIMA SALIH is a traditional murder mystery about clues and theories.
EMPTY BOTTLES BY HUSSAIN AL-MOZANY brings to mind the everyday violence in modern Baghdad and how much it became a part of the city’s atmosphere
GETTING TO ABU NUWAS STREET BY DHEYA AL-KHALIDI Bab al-Moatham is a story about wandering into the wrong neighborhood after curfew. Dreamlike prose.
BLOOD ON MY HANDS HOMECOMING BY ROY SCRANTON
This is a story about family obligation set in 2007-2008 when Daesh/Isis held The Western part of Iraq and making deliveries could be rather hazardous duty. Great adventure story.
BAGHDAD HOUSE BY ALI BADER is set in the 1950’s, a little different than the other stories in this volume. It’s a different Baghdad, but dark, mysterious, suspicious.
TUESDAY OF SORROWS BY LAYLA QASRANY is also set in an earlier period, but after the Baathists took power.
“I Killed Her Because I Love Her” by Mushin al-Ramli, is the first such dark selection and it is a quintessential Baghdad story of murder and despair. The actual murder presents itself starkly in all its bloody glory like it was ripped right out of American pulp fiction.
Doomsday Book by Nassif Falak tells us how Baghdad even under Saddam was like life being on a knife’s edge with imagery of grenades buried under houses, crucified infants, yellow buses like giant coffins. A scent of death is inescapable as is an atmosphere of hopelessness.
Jason’s File by Sinan Antoon is a glimpse into the chaos that enveloped Baghdad when the Americans came. It was just as if the asylum gates had opened and all the crazies were let out of the looney bin. Absolutely brilliant work capturing a moment in time, of lawlessness, chaos, confusion.
A Sense if Remorse by Ahmed Saadawi explores a world of endless killings, animosity, revenge, and tests.
Where is the Trust? Baghdad on Borrowed Time by Salar Abdoh features a private eye in Teheran whose clients all tell him he’s like Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett. The action however is all back in Baghdad.
POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS REALITY IN QADISIYA BY HADIA SAID is a story about property and squatters and deeds and despair.
THE FEAR OF IRAQI INTELLIGENCE BY HAYET RAIES takes us into Saddam’s secret police state with spies and informed and distrust everywhere, even among college students.
ROOM 22 BY MOHAMMED ALWAN JABR is a story about a kind snapping and a ransom payment but it has a distinctly Baghdadian feel to it
THE APARTMENT BY SALIMA SALIH is a traditional murder mystery about clues and theories.
EMPTY BOTTLES BY HUSSAIN AL-MOZANY brings to mind the everyday violence in modern Baghdad and how much it became a part of the city’s atmosphere
GETTING TO ABU NUWAS STREET BY DHEYA AL-KHALIDI Bab al-Moatham is a story about wandering into the wrong neighborhood after curfew. Dreamlike prose.
BLOOD ON MY HANDS HOMECOMING BY ROY SCRANTON
This is a story about family obligation set in 2007-2008 when Daesh/Isis held The Western part of Iraq and making deliveries could be rather hazardous duty. Great adventure story.
BAGHDAD HOUSE BY ALI BADER is set in the 1950’s, a little different than the other stories in this volume. It’s a different Baghdad, but dark, mysterious, suspicious.
TUESDAY OF SORROWS BY LAYLA QASRANY is also set in an earlier period, but after the Baathists took power.
July 17, 2025
Catorce cuentos distribuidos en cuatro partes, como la estructura de un soneto (cuatro en las dos primeras, tres en las últimas partes). Cada uno es contado por un escritor diferente, mayoritariamente iraquíes, aunque hay algunos de otros países (Túnez, Líbano, Irán y hasta EEUU).
La antigua ciudad de Bagdad (la de El ladrón de Bagdad, entre otros), arrasada por la violencia, vista mientras ocurría, como era antes, y como quedó después: la guerra Irán-Iraq, los sucesivos ataques estadounidenses, la guerra con la agrupación terrorista Estado Islámico (Daesh). Y con la presencia atemorizadora de Saddam Huseín, su partido, Baaz, y el trasfondo de la violencia.
Pero en esta obra polifónica habla la ciudad, las voces de quienes la habitan y la padecen, su vida cotidiana, sus historias familiares, los sitios emblemáticos que recorren o visitan. La violencia es el trasfondo que hemos conocido a través de las noticias; ruidoso, sí, pero el trasfondo.
Me pareció especialmente bello, lo referido a Abū Nuwās, antiguo poeta persa-bagdadí, la calle con su nombre que bordea el río Tigris, y su parque como lugar de encuentro y alegría.
Un muy buen libro, muy valioso.
PD. Este libro forma parte de la colección Akashi noir, que se centra en distintas ciudades del mundo, con autores locales: Bronx, Alabama, Amsterdam, Addis Abeba, Beirut y Barcelona entre otros (https://www.akashicbooks.com/subject/...)
La antigua ciudad de Bagdad (la de El ladrón de Bagdad, entre otros), arrasada por la violencia, vista mientras ocurría, como era antes, y como quedó después: la guerra Irán-Iraq, los sucesivos ataques estadounidenses, la guerra con la agrupación terrorista Estado Islámico (Daesh). Y con la presencia atemorizadora de Saddam Huseín, su partido, Baaz, y el trasfondo de la violencia.
Pero en esta obra polifónica habla la ciudad, las voces de quienes la habitan y la padecen, su vida cotidiana, sus historias familiares, los sitios emblemáticos que recorren o visitan. La violencia es el trasfondo que hemos conocido a través de las noticias; ruidoso, sí, pero el trasfondo.
Me pareció especialmente bello, lo referido a Abū Nuwās, antiguo poeta persa-bagdadí, la calle con su nombre que bordea el río Tigris, y su parque como lugar de encuentro y alegría.
Un muy buen libro, muy valioso.
PD. Este libro forma parte de la colección Akashi noir, que se centra en distintas ciudades del mundo, con autores locales: Bronx, Alabama, Amsterdam, Addis Abeba, Beirut y Barcelona entre otros (https://www.akashicbooks.com/subject/...)
August 18, 2018
Baghdad Noir is the most recent release in the phenomenal Akashic Noir Series of short story anthologies with a noir sensibility. The genius feature is that each edition is edited and written by locals, people intimately knowledgeable of the people and the place that is the focus of each edition in the series. Samuel Shimon, the author of “An Iraqi in Paris” and founder of “Banipal” a respected Arabic literary magazine seems a perfect choice to edit the Baghdad edition.
Baghdad Noir has fourteen stories in four sections called ‘Murder in the Family’, ‘Where is the Trust?’, ‘Wake Me Up,’ and ‘Blood on My Hands.’ It encompasses the time before and during Saddam, during and after the American invasion and includes men and women who currently live in Iraq and others in exile as well as a story by an American soldier. In his introduction, Shimon points out that noir is not a common genre in Arabic literature and he had to explain the concept of commissioning a story and of noir itself, it’s clear he had a hard row to hoe.
There were a few stories I liked. My favorite, to my chagrin, was the one written by the former American soldier, “The Homecoming.” It is the story that most felt like a noir story. There was menace throughout and it was unrelentingly grim. “Post-Traumatic Stress Reality in Qadisiya” and several others struck me more like magical realism. Mainly though what I found off-putting about the stories was the propensity for final paragraph “surprise” revelations. Not that they all surprised, but there was this O’Henry or Guy de Maupassant quality to the stories. I have rows and rows and rows of Akashic Noir books so I dug out the “Queens Noir” book to reread “Alice Fantastic” by Maggie Estep, the story Shimon used as an example for writers who didn’t know noir. It does have a surprise twist, but it works because it’s part of the story’s natural progress. If you look at “The Apartment”, the surprise at the end is motivated by people who were not in the story. That’s not how it’s supposed to work.
This is the first time I have felt disappointed by a book in the Akashic Noir Series and considering the dozens they have published, that pretty amazing. I have read stories from many other cultures with pleasure, so I don’t think my disappointment is rooted in parochialism, particularly since what I find most disappointing is the twist ending from old classic short story writers of the West. Still, it is a useful book to read, not just because we know too little and understand too little about Iraq, some first-person story-telling can only help us all.
I received an e-galley of Baghdad Noir from the publisher through Edelweiss.
Baghdad Noir at Akashic Books
Akashic Noir Series
Samuel Shimon bio in “Banipal”, a magazine he co-founded with Margaret Obank.
https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpre...
Baghdad Noir has fourteen stories in four sections called ‘Murder in the Family’, ‘Where is the Trust?’, ‘Wake Me Up,’ and ‘Blood on My Hands.’ It encompasses the time before and during Saddam, during and after the American invasion and includes men and women who currently live in Iraq and others in exile as well as a story by an American soldier. In his introduction, Shimon points out that noir is not a common genre in Arabic literature and he had to explain the concept of commissioning a story and of noir itself, it’s clear he had a hard row to hoe.
There were a few stories I liked. My favorite, to my chagrin, was the one written by the former American soldier, “The Homecoming.” It is the story that most felt like a noir story. There was menace throughout and it was unrelentingly grim. “Post-Traumatic Stress Reality in Qadisiya” and several others struck me more like magical realism. Mainly though what I found off-putting about the stories was the propensity for final paragraph “surprise” revelations. Not that they all surprised, but there was this O’Henry or Guy de Maupassant quality to the stories. I have rows and rows and rows of Akashic Noir books so I dug out the “Queens Noir” book to reread “Alice Fantastic” by Maggie Estep, the story Shimon used as an example for writers who didn’t know noir. It does have a surprise twist, but it works because it’s part of the story’s natural progress. If you look at “The Apartment”, the surprise at the end is motivated by people who were not in the story. That’s not how it’s supposed to work.
This is the first time I have felt disappointed by a book in the Akashic Noir Series and considering the dozens they have published, that pretty amazing. I have read stories from many other cultures with pleasure, so I don’t think my disappointment is rooted in parochialism, particularly since what I find most disappointing is the twist ending from old classic short story writers of the West. Still, it is a useful book to read, not just because we know too little and understand too little about Iraq, some first-person story-telling can only help us all.
I received an e-galley of Baghdad Noir from the publisher through Edelweiss.
Baghdad Noir at Akashic Books
Akashic Noir Series
Samuel Shimon bio in “Banipal”, a magazine he co-founded with Margaret Obank.
https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpre...
September 18, 2024
LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOKO. GENTE NORMAL, GENTE FUDIDA, GENTE RICA, FUMAÇA, NOME E SOBRENOME, FUCK YOU USA, SADDAM HUSSEIM, TUDO DÁ ERRADO E CERTO AO MESMO TEMPO. ESSE É O DIA MAIS FRACO NO IRAQUE.
March 16, 2019
This is my second Akashic Noir Series book. I read Sydney Noir because it contained a story bout the suburb where I was born and grew up. That piqued my interest in the series so I purchased Baghdad Noir and Tehran Noir - why I don't know but they looked interesting and exotic.
Like any collection of short stories, there are gems and some dross. Several of the stories I found interesting and one or two verged on unreadable.
Overall, worth a read if you have an interest in Iraq.
I'll put off Tehran Noir for a while and get back to mainstream crime and espionage. My next read will be either Abir Mukherji's A Necessary Evil or Garry Disher's Under the cold bright lights.
NOTE: Philip Kerr's last Bernie Gunther novel Metropolis is released on 9 April 2019. If you've not read any of Phillip's books, do yourself a favour and try one. They are not in any particular chronological order so just pick one and enjoy!
Regards,
Peter
Like any collection of short stories, there are gems and some dross. Several of the stories I found interesting and one or two verged on unreadable.
Overall, worth a read if you have an interest in Iraq.
I'll put off Tehran Noir for a while and get back to mainstream crime and espionage. My next read will be either Abir Mukherji's A Necessary Evil or Garry Disher's Under the cold bright lights.
NOTE: Philip Kerr's last Bernie Gunther novel Metropolis is released on 9 April 2019. If you've not read any of Phillip's books, do yourself a favour and try one. They are not in any particular chronological order so just pick one and enjoy!
Regards,
Peter
June 8, 2025
Se me atragantó feo este libro.
Los cuentos en su mayoría están solo ok. Por supuesto hay unos muy buenos y otros absolutamente terribles. Creo que mi principal problema es con Shimon, el editor. Es que todos los cuentos son demasiado similares. Las mismas vibras, el mismo contexto, tramas similares. Los cuentos individualmente pueden no estar del todo mal, pero cuando lees uno tras otro se vuelve todo cuesta arriba. Aún así me llevo un par de escritores apuntados.
Pequeña mención. Este libro es de la colección Noir (tiene otro nombre, pero x) que recopila relatos policíacos de diferentes partes del mundo. Los de Bagdad Noir no son realmente policíacos, son más políticos. Para mí eso estuvo bien, fans del género y la colección tengan ojito.
Favs:
- Recuento del Día del Juicio Final, de Nassif Falak
- Sentir remordimiento, de Ahmed Saadawi (el mejor con diferencia)
- Llegada a la calle Abu Nuwas, de Diya al-Jalidy
- Martes triste, de Layla Qasrany
En fin:
Youtube
Instagram
Los cuentos en su mayoría están solo ok. Por supuesto hay unos muy buenos y otros absolutamente terribles. Creo que mi principal problema es con Shimon, el editor. Es que todos los cuentos son demasiado similares. Las mismas vibras, el mismo contexto, tramas similares. Los cuentos individualmente pueden no estar del todo mal, pero cuando lees uno tras otro se vuelve todo cuesta arriba. Aún así me llevo un par de escritores apuntados.
Pequeña mención. Este libro es de la colección Noir (tiene otro nombre, pero x) que recopila relatos policíacos de diferentes partes del mundo. Los de Bagdad Noir no son realmente policíacos, son más políticos. Para mí eso estuvo bien, fans del género y la colección tengan ojito.
Favs:
- Recuento del Día del Juicio Final, de Nassif Falak
- Sentir remordimiento, de Ahmed Saadawi (el mejor con diferencia)
- Llegada a la calle Abu Nuwas, de Diya al-Jalidy
- Martes triste, de Layla Qasrany
En fin:
Youtube
May 5, 2020
لا يتأثر من يقرأ رأيّ او رأي غيري بالكتاب، اذا أراد ان يتعرف قبل أن يشتري فليشتري، فالكتاب يستحق الاقتناء لأسباب عده، منها انه ولابد مليئ بالقصص القصيره المشوقه، وواقعها عراقي ضمني يرسم لنا أحداث تراشقناها ومواقع تولهنا بها، وغير هذا فبعض القصص لجواهر لا تتكرر (سنان أنطون، احمد سعداوي، علي بدر، محسن الرملي، حسين الموزاني، حياة الرايس)
١) العوده الى الوطن، الشورجه- روي سكرانتون
انها قصه قصيره! نعم لكنها ابعد ما تكون عن أي أبداع سواء من المنظور البعيد او القريب، الأخطاء تداهم الأحداث والشخصيات والوقائع، ولا ترم إلى النفس الحقه للشخصية العراقيه خلال الوقت الذي تقع فيه أحداث هذه القصه، كل هذا اللغط لابد أن يكون سببه أن كاتب القصه اجنبي كلياً بالمعنى الوصفي والكياني ذلك ما رمى للقصه ان تكون سفيهه بغيضه عن كل مبغى.
٢) بغداد هاوس، شارع الرشيد - علي بدر
لم اقرأ من مؤلفات علي بدر سابقاً، لكن قد سمعت عنهُ كل الحسن في الكلام عن مخطوطاته التي لا يفارقها التشويق، كانت هذه القصه القصيره أولى قِرائاتي له، وقد ابدع فعلاً.
٣) ثلاثاء الحزن، حي الأندلس - ليلى قصراني
القصه تبدو مختصره جداً لكنها تروي حدث واقعي مهم في حياة الشعب العراقي، وهذا ما يبدو جيداً.
ملاحظه: يُذكر "حي الأندلس" في القصه كثيراً وحسب الأحداث "مستشفى ابن رشد قريبه للحي" فأن الحي المقصود بالقصه هي المنطقه الواقعه بجانب "ساحة الأندلس" وشارع النضال" لكن وللتصحيح هذه المنطقه تسمى" حي النضال" وليس" حي الأندلس" اما المنطقه المسماة بهذا الاسم فعلاً تقع ضمن أحياء منطقة "المنصور" بجانب الكرخ.
٤) قتلتها لأني احبها، محلة الفضل - محسن الرملي
القصه واقعيه جداً وقد تكون حقيقيه، فما لحقنا من دمار ارضنا قد أنهى ارواحنا ومسقبلنا كذلك، الأسلوب سلس جداً ورحب يسير بك دون تكلف وكلل، قد انهيتها خلال عشر دقائق لا غير.
٥) سجل يوم القيامة"مدينة الحريه - نصيف فلك
عندما تقرأ هكذا قصه قد تتسأل من واقعيتها او عدمه، لكن لن تتسأل أبداً ان كانت قد حدثت في العراق فعلآ ام لم تحدث!
٦) "ملف جاسم" مستشفى الرشاد - سنان انطون
الجوهره تبقى جوهره دون أدنى شك ومبالغه، افتقد دائماً اسلوب سنان الانيق والرحب جداً.
٧) " الشعور بالندم" البتاوين - احمد سعداوي
القصه عميقه جداً ومثيره الي الحد الذي لا يجعلك قادراً على التنازل ولو للحظه ان تنزل الكتاب من يدك او تميل عيناك، تجربتي الفعليه الأولى لقراءة اسلوب سعداوي بعد أن خسرت نسختي من "فرانكنشتاين في بغداد" ولم أكملها بل لم اتعدى العشر صفحات منها، والآن بعد هذه القصه كلي شوقاً لبقية مؤلفات سعداوي.
٨) "بغداد في الوقت المستقطع" - سلار عبدو
تبدو القصه كأنها مشتته نوعاً ما، لكن قد تمثل موسوعة مقتضبه جداً وجدلاً عن أحوال العراق وركائز الأحداث الأليمه وبعض من أهم المناطق التي تأثرت بالنزاع. اعجبني اسلوب سلار في الكتابه يبدو موفقاً وجدير بقراءة أخرى من مؤلفاته.
٩) "صدمة الواقع في حي القادسية" - هاديا سعيد
ارتباك الأحداث لا يتكرر لغيره بل يكرر ذاته مره تلوى الأخرى. هذه المناجاة مؤلمه إلى الحد الذي يجعلها تخترق المكان والزمان وترحل إلى بعد وفضاء اخريات، ليست فقط للعراق فقط وليس للحاج "امين" ولا "للقادسية".
١٠) "ليلة اختفاء صباح" - حياة الرايس
أجمل ما في القصه هو واقعيتها، فكل التفاصيل الدقيقه التي يرهف لي قلبي برغبة عيشها كانت هناك بكل دقه، ربما لكل وقت جميل هناك بعض المنغصات التي ترمي إلى الخوف والتوجس، يبقى السؤال الأهم، أيُّ من العصور كان أجمل وأكثر طمأنينةٍ للقلب؟!
١١) " الغرفه ٢٢" الباب الشرقي - محمد عوان جبر
هذه الحقبه من الخطف والترهيب والتهديد قد عشناها بشدة المشاعر، تبدو من أقبح الفترات، لنأمل انها انتهت لكن هل ذهب معها الخوف والهلع؟
١٢) "الشقه في حي الغدير" سالمه صالح
دوافع الجريمه بأختلافها لا تزول حتى لو كانت دوافع بريئه.
١٣) " القناني الفارغه، مدينة الثوره" - حسين الموزاني
في هذا البلد جرائم الشرف لا تحمل شرف والحق العام مسلوب ولا يحق لأحد سوى كذباً.
١٤) "الوصول إلى شارع ابي نؤاس" ضياء الخالدي
الرحله التي لا تنتهي حتى عندما نتركها وننسى مسارها لكن لن ننسى اي توقفنا وماذا حدث ولما حدث والمصيبه الكبرى عندما لا تعرف سوى رغبة وصولك لأنهاء الرحله.
انتهت الرحله!
١) العوده الى الوطن، الشورجه- روي سكرانتون
انها قصه قصيره! نعم لكنها ابعد ما تكون عن أي أبداع سواء من المنظور البعيد او القريب، الأخطاء تداهم الأحداث والشخصيات والوقائع، ولا ترم إلى النفس الحقه للشخصية العراقيه خلال الوقت الذي تقع فيه أحداث هذه القصه، كل هذا اللغط لابد أن يكون سببه أن كاتب القصه اجنبي كلياً بالمعنى الوصفي والكياني ذلك ما رمى للقصه ان تكون سفيهه بغيضه عن كل مبغى.
٢) بغداد هاوس، شارع الرشيد - علي بدر
لم اقرأ من مؤلفات علي بدر سابقاً، لكن قد سمعت عنهُ كل الحسن في الكلام عن مخطوطاته التي لا يفارقها التشويق، كانت هذه القصه القصيره أولى قِرائاتي له، وقد ابدع فعلاً.
٣) ثلاثاء الحزن، حي الأندلس - ليلى قصراني
القصه تبدو مختصره جداً لكنها تروي حدث واقعي مهم في حياة الشعب العراقي، وهذا ما يبدو جيداً.
ملاحظه: يُذكر "حي الأندلس" في القصه كثيراً وحسب الأحداث "مستشفى ابن رشد قريبه للحي" فأن الحي المقصود بالقصه هي المنطقه الواقعه بجانب "ساحة الأندلس" وشارع النضال" لكن وللتصحيح هذه المنطقه تسمى" حي النضال" وليس" حي الأندلس" اما المنطقه المسماة بهذا الاسم فعلاً تقع ضمن أحياء منطقة "المنصور" بجانب الكرخ.
٤) قتلتها لأني احبها، محلة الفضل - محسن الرملي
القصه واقعيه جداً وقد تكون حقيقيه، فما لحقنا من دمار ارضنا قد أنهى ارواحنا ومسقبلنا كذلك، الأسلوب سلس جداً ورحب يسير بك دون تكلف وكلل، قد انهيتها خلال عشر دقائق لا غير.
٥) سجل يوم القيامة"مدينة الحريه - نصيف فلك
عندما تقرأ هكذا قصه قد تتسأل من واقعيتها او عدمه، لكن لن تتسأل أبداً ان كانت قد حدثت في العراق فعلآ ام لم تحدث!
٦) "ملف جاسم" مستشفى الرشاد - سنان انطون
الجوهره تبقى جوهره دون أدنى شك ومبالغه، افتقد دائماً اسلوب سنان الانيق والرحب جداً.
٧) " الشعور بالندم" البتاوين - احمد سعداوي
القصه عميقه جداً ومثيره الي الحد الذي لا يجعلك قادراً على التنازل ولو للحظه ان تنزل الكتاب من يدك او تميل عيناك، تجربتي الفعليه الأولى لقراءة اسلوب سعداوي بعد أن خسرت نسختي من "فرانكنشتاين في بغداد" ولم أكملها بل لم اتعدى العشر صفحات منها، والآن بعد هذه القصه كلي شوقاً لبقية مؤلفات سعداوي.
٨) "بغداد في الوقت المستقطع" - سلار عبدو
تبدو القصه كأنها مشتته نوعاً ما، لكن قد تمثل موسوعة مقتضبه جداً وجدلاً عن أحوال العراق وركائز الأحداث الأليمه وبعض من أهم المناطق التي تأثرت بالنزاع. اعجبني اسلوب سلار في الكتابه يبدو موفقاً وجدير بقراءة أخرى من مؤلفاته.
٩) "صدمة الواقع في حي القادسية" - هاديا سعيد
ارتباك الأحداث لا يتكرر لغيره بل يكرر ذاته مره تلوى الأخرى. هذه المناجاة مؤلمه إلى الحد الذي يجعلها تخترق المكان والزمان وترحل إلى بعد وفضاء اخريات، ليست فقط للعراق فقط وليس للحاج "امين" ولا "للقادسية".
١٠) "ليلة اختفاء صباح" - حياة الرايس
أجمل ما في القصه هو واقعيتها، فكل التفاصيل الدقيقه التي يرهف لي قلبي برغبة عيشها كانت هناك بكل دقه، ربما لكل وقت جميل هناك بعض المنغصات التي ترمي إلى الخوف والتوجس، يبقى السؤال الأهم، أيُّ من العصور كان أجمل وأكثر طمأنينةٍ للقلب؟!
١١) " الغرفه ٢٢" الباب الشرقي - محمد عوان جبر
هذه الحقبه من الخطف والترهيب والتهديد قد عشناها بشدة المشاعر، تبدو من أقبح الفترات، لنأمل انها انتهت لكن هل ذهب معها الخوف والهلع؟
١٢) "الشقه في حي الغدير" سالمه صالح
دوافع الجريمه بأختلافها لا تزول حتى لو كانت دوافع بريئه.
١٣) " القناني الفارغه، مدينة الثوره" - حسين الموزاني
في هذا البلد جرائم الشرف لا تحمل شرف والحق العام مسلوب ولا يحق لأحد سوى كذباً.
١٤) "الوصول إلى شارع ابي نؤاس" ضياء الخالدي
الرحله التي لا تنتهي حتى عندما نتركها وننسى مسارها لكن لن ننسى اي توقفنا وماذا حدث ولما حدث والمصيبه الكبرى عندما لا تعرف سوى رغبة وصولك لأنهاء الرحله.
انتهت الرحله!
April 21, 2025
"Solamente hablamos. Hablamos sobre coches, sobre sus hijos, sobre sus nietos. Hablamos sobre la guerra, sobre mi encarcelamiento, sobre sus años de lucha por liberar a nuestro país. Hablamos de política, de la división entre suníes y chiies. Hablamos sobre los kurdos. Hablamos de mujeres. Hablamos de armas y de qué celulares preferíamos usar. Hablamos sobre mi trabajo como detective privado. Hablamos del lugar de mierda en que Sadam había convertido a Jorramchar después de que los iraníes lo persiguieran y lo obligaran a irse de ahí. Hablamos sobre el perfecto desastre que había sido Sadam. Hablamos sobre el desastre que había venido después de Sadam, a saber, los estadunidenses. Hablamos de Beirut y Estambul, dos ciudades por las que ambos teníamos cierta debilidad. Hablamos de la vida después de la muerte, de Dios y del sentido del martirio del imam Husein, que la paz esté con él."
August 12, 2018
Another instalment in the Akashic Books collection of noir fiction from around the world. This time, the setting is pre and post war Iraq; during the reign of Saddam and under the US occupation.
Don't go looking for private detectives - there is only one in this collection; the element is entirely human, and the focus is family and the political climate of fear. In the introduction, Samuel Shiman states that this type of fiction is a new concept for Arab writers, so take their journey, one so different from the noir of the 1940s & 1950s that we are more familiar with. You wont be disappointed.
Don't go looking for private detectives - there is only one in this collection; the element is entirely human, and the focus is family and the political climate of fear. In the introduction, Samuel Shiman states that this type of fiction is a new concept for Arab writers, so take their journey, one so different from the noir of the 1940s & 1950s that we are more familiar with. You wont be disappointed.
February 7, 2024
This is one of the books Everand still allowed me to listen to after reaching my limit. And it was an interesting find. As with many such compilations, some stories are more compelling than others. Some are quite good. It is not however that much of a set of whodunnits, but rather a series of stories that show how the inhabitants of Baghdad dealt with the complicated and violent history of the city. It is a good book to get a feel of the city, which I still do hope to see at some point.
All in all, worth checking out.
All in all, worth checking out.
February 7, 2021
التعرف على كاتب جديد هو بحد ذاته مكسب وان لم يكن الكتاب لا يحمل من كتاباته شيئاً وذلك ما وضعني امام الكاتب العراقي صموئيل شمعون ، وكان هذا الكتاب والقصص القصيرة التي تحمل تواقيع كتاب عراقيين أو أجانب عاشوا ردحاً من الزمان في العراق
القصص لم تكن بالقوة عدا البعض منها أخص بالذكر فصة الكاتبين أحمد سعداوي وسنان أنطون التي جاءت محكمة البنيان في معالمها وصدقها وسهولة التعبير فيها رغم الحزن المخبوء في طياتها
القصص لم تكن بالقوة عدا البعض منها أخص بالذكر فصة الكاتبين أحمد سعداوي وسنان أنطون التي جاءت محكمة البنيان في معالمها وصدقها وسهولة التعبير فيها رغم الحزن المخبوء في طياتها
August 30, 2023
Honestamente tiene algunas de las historias más desgarradoras que he leído en un buen rato.
La capacidad de varios relatos incluidos de generar una atmósfera de tensión en un escenario que de por sí es complejo por la dictadura durante la cual se escribieron.
Algunos siguen la línea más clásica del relato noir, otros tienen una línea distinta, mucho más cercana a las películas de Fynch.
Una muy buena lectura.
La capacidad de varios relatos incluidos de generar una atmósfera de tensión en un escenario que de por sí es complejo por la dictadura durante la cual se escribieron.
Algunos siguen la línea más clásica del relato noir, otros tienen una línea distinta, mucho más cercana a las películas de Fynch.
Una muy buena lectura.
September 17, 2021
Es bellísimo. My soul traveled to Baghdad. A part of me is in Baghdad. The stories are captivating, defiant, tense, full of wonder. Many of them gave me the sensation I was opening a door to codes, mystical stories.
I do wonder, however, if this is "Baghdad" from the point of view of Iraqis in the diaspora and for foreigners. I do wonder whether this is rather universal literature before Iraqi.
I do wonder, however, if this is "Baghdad" from the point of view of Iraqis in the diaspora and for foreigners. I do wonder whether this is rather universal literature before Iraqi.
March 11, 2023
This is a set of dark stories, all set in Baghdad, most of them taking place since the US invasion in 2003. They are mostly mysteries or detective stories. I thought they were interesting overall, and the introduction, which discusses the renaissance of writing and literature in Baghdad since the fall of Saddam Hussein, was quite interesting and informative.
Read
October 29, 2025Os contos de Falak, Antoon e Abdoh (2, 3, 5) são bem bons.
Os de Al-Ramli e Saadawi (1, 4) são ok.
Os de Jabr, Salih e Scranton (8, 9, 12), com um pouco mais de esmero, poderiam ser bons, mas falham em um ou mais momentos.
O resto é fraco ou malsucedido, imho.
No todo, é um livro que vale a pena ser lido.
Os de Al-Ramli e Saadawi (1, 4) são ok.
Os de Jabr, Salih e Scranton (8, 9, 12), com um pouco mais de esmero, poderiam ser bons, mas falham em um ou mais momentos.
O resto é fraco ou malsucedido, imho.
No todo, é um livro que vale a pena ser lido.
July 24, 2023
Gritty and Dark Noir
Just an absolute great read. It can get dark but hey thats Noir for you. I ignorabtly never really took Baghdad as a place for such a genre but after reading this, wow, yeah definitely a unique setting with some real harrowing tales.
Just an absolute great read. It can get dark but hey thats Noir for you. I ignorabtly never really took Baghdad as a place for such a genre but after reading this, wow, yeah definitely a unique setting with some real harrowing tales.
October 14, 2023
Great stories with bad endings. Or at least not well developed. Some finals seems to be opened, others has no emotions. 3 stars because the book has it’s value, but the worst so far (between Marraquesh noir e Beirut noir).
This review comes from Brazil
This review comes from Brazil
August 10, 2019
ان عدد القصص التي تحمل رمزيه وتحكي واقعاً اقرب للواقع هو قليل جدا بهذا الكتاب الكبير ممكن ان نضع علي بدر وسعداوي سنان انطون فقط على راس القائمة
October 7, 2019
Great collection noir fiction written from a unique twist. First time reading noir, highly recommend!
September 7, 2021
A solid collection of short stories and one of the better Akashic Noir anthologies I’ve read to date.
April 10, 2022
ثلاثة قصص جيدة و الباقي !؟ ، احمد سعداوي قاص ممتاز و محترف ، و سالمة صالح و محمد جبر و النجمتين لهذه القصص الثلاث فقط
August 25, 2023
القصص ليس جميعها بنفس المستوى ولكن ربما تأتي بعض القصص لتنتشل المجموعة وتجعلنا نحبها ونواصل..اعجبتني قصة علي بدر بغداد هاوس وجدتها أفضل ما في المجموعة
December 2, 2021
This is a collection of short stories from different authors who are Iraqi or connected to Iraq. It's an exceptional and rare collection because it's not what you'd normally find in English (some are originally in English and some are translated). The concept of noir doesn't fully translate into all the stories however, some are more like ghost or horror stories. Some feel like the output of a creative writing course. But the insight into a world set in and around Baghdad is a treat so its worth powering through some of the not as great short stories. Others are really good and I hope those writers expand on the concept.
Audiobook: I listened to this for the narrator who did Djinn City and I really enjoyed his recording.
Audiobook: I listened to this for the narrator who did Djinn City and I really enjoyed his recording.
Read
January 1, 2020Of the themed Iraq collections, this one and the sci-fi Baghdad +100, this one is the more consistent.
This collection is by a majority of Iraqi authors but includes a few by authors of other nationalities.
I most disliked the inclusion of the Roy Scranton story. The character voice felt completely off throughout, sometimes to a cringeworthy degree, so I am rounding down for that. The other non-Iraqi authors (arabs and one Iranian all of whom had lived in the city at one point) wrote from the perspective of foreigners in Baghdad instead of ventriloquizing an Iraqi pov and that voice worked much better for them.
However overall this is very much worth reading.
This collection is by a majority of Iraqi authors but includes a few by authors of other nationalities.
I most disliked the inclusion of the Roy Scranton story. The character voice felt completely off throughout, sometimes to a cringeworthy degree, so I am rounding down for that. The other non-Iraqi authors (arabs and one Iranian all of whom had lived in the city at one point) wrote from the perspective of foreigners in Baghdad instead of ventriloquizing an Iraqi pov and that voice worked much better for them.
However overall this is very much worth reading.
February 16, 2024
achei as histórias mais ou menos mas gostei d ler sobre o iraque e tipo fluia fácil
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