In the Hour of Signs

by Jamal Mahjoub

Nineteenth-century Sudan, wracked by religious, cultural, and political differences, is brilliantly evoked in the most ambitious book yet by this talented novelist.

Genres: Africa, Historical Fiction, Sudan, Literature, African Literature, War, Religion

252 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Aka Parker Bilal

Jamal Mahjoub was born in London in 1960. After living in Liverpool for several years, the family moved to Sudan, his father’s home country. Mahjoub attended Comboni College, run by Italian priests. He subsequently received a grant from Atlantic College in , and continued his studies in geology at the university of Sheffield. While still a student he began publishing his literary texts in magazines. After several changes of location, northern Europe eventually became his home base – yet his African roots still play a central role in his books. They incorporate stories and history, science and superstition and at the same time discuss the living conditions in which people from different backgrounds live together or in close proximity with each other.

»In the Hour of Signs« (1996) tells the story of the British conquest of at the end of the 19th century. The book transforms both protagonists of the conflict, the Muslim leader Mohammed Ahmed, called Mahdi, and the English General Gordon into symbolic figures. The main characters are farmers, shepherds or simple soldiers, and the uprising is described from their perspective as country dwellers or representatives of the colonial power. Mahjoub’s historical novel »The Carrier« (1998) deals with one of the pivotal moments in European thought: the development of the telescope and the corresponding astronomical methods of calculation, which paved the way for the heliocentric view of the world and the separation of science and religion. Mahjoub described his motivation: »I was fascinated by the question of why such a significant change in thought as marked by the Renaissance in Europe, didn’t occur in the Islamic world.« The young scholar Rashid al-Kenzy, son of a Nubian slave and falsely accused of murder, is reprieved by the dey of Algiers on condition that Rashid procure him the optical device, of whose capabilities people tell the most wondrous tales – and thus Rashid sets out on a long journey. In 2006 Majoub published his novel »Nubian Indigo«, whose story is set during the construction of the Aswan High Dam. »The Drift Latitudes« (2007) has present-day London as its setting. A successful architect, daughter of an immigrant from Trinidad and a German father whom she can hardly remember, receives several letters from her half-sister in , which cause her to begin to deal with her background.

The author has been awarded the Prix d’Astrobale for the novel »Travelling with Djinns« (2003) and the Guardian/Heinemann African Short Story Prize. After spending many years in the Danish city of Aarhus, Mahjoub is now living in Barcelona.

Reviews

[Burak Candan · Rating 4 out of 5]

19. Yüzyılın sonunda Osmanlı'ya bağlı olan Sudan'da ortaya çıkan, önce Mısır'dan Osmanlı'ları, sonra da bölgeden zamanın müttefiki İngilizleri kovmayı amaçlayan 'Mehdi İsyanı'nı anlatıyor roman. İslam'ın yozlaşmış değerlerine karşı saf bir İslam'ı yeniden tesis etmek adına Mehdiliğini ilan ederek ortaya çıkan ve kendine çok büyük taraftar toplayan Muhammed Ahmed'in kısa sürede bölgeye hakim olmasını, bu ayaklanmanın yükseliş ve alçalış sürecini görüyoruz. Mahjoub, bölgenin fiziksel yapısı kadar psiko-sosyal iklimini de muazzam betimliyor ve bu çöl insanlarının sefalet, cehalet ve çaresizlikleriyle bizi bu hareketin dinamiklerine tanık ediyor. Her yönüyle İslam'ın doğuşu dönemini örnek alan, fakat bunu yaklaşık '13 yüzyıl' sonra bambaşka bir çağda yapmaya çalışan köktenci-idealist bir hareketin çağın gerçeklerine nasıl çarptığının acı bir örneğini de gösteriyor roman aynı zamanda.

Alametler Saati'nde karşılaştığımız her şey, yakın geçmişte ve günümüzde Ortadoğu'da gerçekleşenlerle çok büyük benzerlikler taşıyor.

[Mohammed Yusuf · Rating 3 out of 5]

الرواية تمر سريعا عبر الفترة بين صعود الثورة المهدية و افولها ، سريعا يعني سريعا جدا حتى المعارك الكبرى وسقوط الخرطوم كانت تمر في لحظات فقط لان الكتاب يعالج فترة طويلة من الزمان، التاريخ هنا ينقطع الى لمحات بينما في هذا الانجراف تاخذ هذه اللمحات اثار عن الحياة عموما ، المؤمنون بالمهدي أعوانه وجنوده وحاشيته، ود النجومي و طباخه التعايشي و فقيهه حاوي ، الافرنجيين ، الباش بوزوق ، امن الناس بالمهدي تبعوه مات جاء التعايشي رجع الانجليز انتهت المهدية ، الرواية لا تعطينا انطباع عن شخصية المهدي تبدو غامضة ولا تشكل صورة مكتملة عن الذين يتبعونه في البداية كانوا كانهم زومبي يخرجون خلفه هل هذا الوصف الصحيح وهل البلاد فتاة مسكونة بالجن مشت مع الكولونيالي الذي لم يحبها و التركي الذي طمع فيها و المهدوي الذي تركها بعد ضياعه و انتحبت عليه في النهاية

[~ ديــدى ~]

للتحميل
https://ia801507.us.archive.org/7/ite...

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating weaving of tales from multiple points of view: the Sudanese temporary ousting of the British in 1885, followed by British re-capturing of Khartoum in 1898. Interesting echoes with Iraq invasion--the easy fall of the city, followed by disaster. Mahjoub really knows how to pull threads together with great lines like "he [Kadaro--a boy who grew to a man in the novel:] understood then that the battle was not between men of different colours or faiths, but between two different ages. The world beyond, a world he did not know, existed in a different age--an age that was much faster than that which he knew and so much wiser. This was a war between yesterday and tomorrow."

[Mohamed Gamal]

الرواية دي هرجع اقرأها تاني بالتأكيد
الترجمة في الجزء اللي قرأته منها كانت جيدة جدا و لكن انا اقرأها بدون تركيز
واضح انها رواية مهمة و مش واخده حقها

[Mahmoud · Rating 3 out of 5]

كتاب جيد لا اكثر ..الكتاب يتناول قصة رجل ادعي انه المهدي المنتظر و ان الرسول جاءه في منامه يأمره بتكوين جيش ليحرر السودان ومصر من الانجليز ويحقق شرع الله حتي الاراضي المقدسة ،ويقودنا الكاتب في الحروب التي دارت بين هذا الجيش والانجليز ..تتميز اللغة بالبساطة الشديدة ولكن يعاب علي الكاتب الإطالة التي لا فائدة منها كما ان الكتاب غير شيق او ممتع علي الاطلاق بل انني شعرت بأنه عبء ويجب ان أنتهي من قراءته!

[Elli · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's probably a great book for a person with more knowledge and insight into the times, the people and their reactions to current issues. I would need more to be able to bridge this gap.

[RJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent exploration of the catastrophes of revolution, colonialism, and geopolitical ambitions, set against the backdrop of the Mahdist uprising in Sudan in the late 19th century.

It definitely helps to have broad strokes of the historical setting, namely that the Ottoman empire, through their Egyptian tributaries, and the British empire are colluding (and also competing, though the Ottomans may not fully realize that) to keep Egypt and Sudan under control, and the Mahdi, a man claiming to be the successor to the prophet, leads a rebellion against Ottoman/Egyptian rule, which drags his followers into a military conflict with the British. I had this very basic background and was able to follow what was going on and why the events were important. But it's worth doing a little reading on the background of the conflict to know what's up before getting into the book.

This story is told through a cast of interesting and mostly tragic characters, on both the Sudanese and the British sides, and no one is spared from a critical assessment of the costs of colonialism and conflict. The rise of hope at the outset of a revolution, and the inevitable collapse of that revolution and its ideals, are posed against the naivete and arrogance of colonial agents, and their equally inevitable descent into self-disgust and trauma. It's an artfully written picture of specific events in Sudan, and a compelling commentary on the toll of colonialism more generally.

[Content warning for gruesome descriptions of combat, some cruelty to animals in the course of war, and references to sexual assault.]

[Noha Emam · Rating 3 out of 5]

الرواية كانت ماشية ممتازة جدا.. لكن بعد كده في التلت الأخير فيها تقريبا حكى بطريقة ملغزة وكأنه بيرسم لوحة سريالية وعلى القارئ عبء التأمل والاستنباط!!!
ومش كل القراء يقدر على كده لإن المستويات بتتفاوت !
المهم هي رواية جيدة وعلى قلة صفحتها فهي محتاجة جهد للقراءة و أرشح معها لمن أحب القراءة في رواية أخرى تتكلم عن نفس هذه الفترة و الموضوع رواية شوق الدرويش .. والأفضل طبعا الرجوع للمصادر التاريخية التي أرخت لهذه الفترة .

[Jihan Niazy · Rating 4 out of 5]

ملخص للعبة السلطة والاستعمار والخيانة وما ينتج عنهما من تطرف وحروب داخلية بيدفع تمنها المواطن والأطفال والسيدات سيناريو متكرر وبيتكرر فى كل زمن وكل عصر ربنا يرحمنا
الكتاب فمجمله رائع يستحق القراءة

[Mazen Alloujami · Rating 4 out of 5]

القصة جميلة ومشوقة تدور أحداثها خلال ثورة المهدي في السودان، لكن الترجمة سيئة وصياغة اللغة العربية متواضع.