Out of Time: The Collected Short Stories of Samira Azzam

by Samîra Azzâm, Ranya Abdelrahman (Translator)

In June of 1967, after watching the shape of her country suddenly change for the second time, with hundreds of thousands more Palestinians expelled from their homes, Samira Azzam destroyed the novel she had been working on. Its title must have seemed particularly tragic in the wake of ’67: Sinai Without Borders. Two months later, at the age of 39, Azzam went on a road trip with friends. They were outside of al-Ramtha, Syria, when she suffered a heart attack and died.

We had Samira Azzam (1927–1967) for far too few years, and we never got to read what she would do with a novel. Still, she did leave us with five vivid short-story collections, as well as reviews, articles, translations, and countless hours of broadcast radio. Yet after her death, her work fell into a half-shadow, in which she was acknowledged as great, but not quite canonized. In a 2018 article on the Palestinian short story, the critic Faisal Darraj says it “Azzam has not yet received the accolades she deserves.”

This translated collection -- full of her vivid snapshots of life in Palestine and Lebanon in the first half of the twentieth century -- is a start at giving Samira Azzam a few of the accolades she deserves.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Ebooks, Literature, Literary Fiction

215 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 4, 2022

Reviews

[Vishy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I discovered 'Out of Time : The Collected Stories of Samira Azzam' recently. I was very excited because this is the first time Samira Azzam's stories are getting translated into English.

Samira Azzam was born in 1927 in Palestine. When the Naqba happened in 1948 and Palestinians were thrown out of their homes and many of them became refugees abroad, she was 21. She worked as a journalist and wrote short stories. She died in 1967, just shy of her fortieth birthday, very young and many more years of life still ahead. It was heartbreaking. It was also the year when the next wave of violence was unleashed on Palestinians and many of them lost their homes.

This collection has 31 stories. Many of the stories are about simple people who are struggling to get through the day, and the joys and sorrows they experience, and how their social and economic situation tries to crush them and how sometimes they resist it with defiance. One of my favourite stories 'No Harm Intended' is about a man who comes to a sweetshop everyday and tries samples but doesn't buy anything. He can't afford to buy anything and he knows it and the people working in the shop know it. How things unravel after that is told in the story. Another of my favourite stories 'Lest the arteries harden' is about a old woman who visits the bar everyday at a particular time and the story behind that. 'The Little Things' is about a young woman who doesn't believe in love but suddenly find herself falling in love. 'From Afar' is about a young man who has been cut off by his dad and who is struggling to pay his college fees, when his friend who has an unconventional job helps him out. It is one of the most beautiful stories in the book. 'Her Story' is a moving letter that a sister writes to her brother. 'The Ironing Man's Apprentice' is about a boy who works with an ironing man and the small dreams he has. 'The Bicycle Pump' is one of the most moving stories in the book. One of the main characters says in the end – "But isn’t it miserable that I can’t promise you I’ll stop this terrible behavior, unless I choose a life of hunger for myself and for my family?" We feel a deep pain in our heart when we read that. 'When Wives Fall Ill' is structured like a play. 'Night of Riddance' is about an old dog. It is a heartbreaking story and there is more to the story than meets the eye. 'The Rival' is about a washerwoman who has to compete against technology which makes her job obsolete. 'Another Year', 'Zagharid', 'When Hajj Mohammed Sold Out His Hajj' are all about people who suffer because they've lost their homes or they've lost their families who are either dead or on the other side of the border where they can never go. 'Zagharid' is about a mom's sorrow at not being able to go to her son's wedding, because she lives in Palestine and he lives outside and she'll never be able to see him again. It is a story which makes us cry.

I loved 'Out of Time'. Many of the stories in the collection are poignant and heartbreaking. Some of them have happy endings. Some of them are fun reads. Ranya Abdelrahman's translation is beautiful. The book has a beautiful essay by Adana Shibli in which she contemplates on the beauty and power of Samira Azzam's stories.

The book also has a beautiful introduction which quotes what Samira Azzam said about the Arabic short story. It goes like this –

“It seems to me that the Arabic short story is going through difficult times. The reason might not lie in its nature, as much as it does in factors outside of it, including its subjugation to the novel. Writers of the short story have become convinced that writing a novel is the measure of their creativity, especially since short story collections are not heralded by critics the same way novels are : The publication of a story collection goes by without anyone even trying to say a single word about it… And publishing houses hesitate to accept story collections, as if publishing them is a risky venture.”

It is very fascinating, because this is very true today as it was then, and it is true, not just for Arabic short stories, but for short stories in any language. Writers use short stories as a stepping stone before they can publish their novel, publishers regard short stories as an inferior art form when compared to novels, novelists are rewarded with money and fame if they become successful, while short story writers struggle. Alice Munro said after she won the Nobel Prize that the short story is a beautiful art form and it is beautiful for its own sake, but no one is listening and nothing has changed. It is sad.

I felt sad after reading the book, because this is the only Samira Azzam book out there, this is all there is, and there'll never be another new story by her. But I'm also glad I read it.

I'll leave you with one of my favourite passages from the book. It is from one of my favourite stories, 'When Hajj Mohammed Sold Out His Hajj'.

"People had become addicted to grief, and death seemed a logical, acceptable, and happy ending for everyone, no matter their age. The dead died once, and their deaths were certain and final; they knew why they had died, and they didn’t have to live wondering what they were living for, with their voices smothered by roaring tractors that sliced open the stolen land behind the barbed wire fence. The grief of the living was drenched in sunlight, and they had to grieve with their eyes wide open."

Have you read Samira Azzam's 'Out of Time'? What do you think about it?

[Dots · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't think I've ever experienced such a talented short story writer before in my life.
Samîra Azzâm, in just a handful of pages, can bring to life a whole village, highlight the main character, make you FEEL for them, and want to know more about their story-- but then the chapter is over and she does it all over again!! It was absolutely incredible. I kept expecting her to revisit characters and stories but nope- each chapter is unique.

I feel like I was gifted a glimpse into the life of Palestinians- joy, sorrow, overcoming obstacles, family, food, celebrations, funerals, small businesses, etc etc etc. There is so much in just a few pages. It was easy to read a chapter or two and put it down and come back to the book later.

Quotes:

"Give her my greetings and tell her I said that, if I live another year, I'll crawl here on all fours to see her. And if God takes me before then, I will die with grief in my heart for only two things: grief for my country and grief for Mary and the kiss I ache to plant on her cheek.

[aliaareadstoo · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Out of Time" by Samira Azzam is a collection of thirty-one short stories that explore a variety of themes—life, death, survival, love, grief, friendship, wealth, poverty, loyalty, infidelity, bravery, and more.

"The dead died once, and their deaths were certain and final; they knew why they had died, and they didn’t have to live wondering what they were living for-- The grief of the living was drenched in sunlight, and they had to grieve with their eyes wide open.”

- Since they are short stories, they evoke a wide range of emotions in me: happiness, sadness, amusement, anxiety and distress, among others.

- However, what’s even more significant is how the author draws us into her characters’ lives in a way that brings us back to reality. I know it’s fiction, but somehow, I also know that somewhere, these happy or sad stories are unfolding in real life. With that realization, after finishing the book, I had to take a breather.

- Let me spoil a bit: one of the stories that moved me the most is "The Bicycle Pump." It’s about a boy who deliberately punctures people’s bicycle tires so they are forced to come to his shop for repairs. The boy said "But isn’t it miserable that I can’t promise you I’ll stop this terrible behavior, unless I choose a life of hunger for myself and for my family?” Ahhh, I really felt that in my bones.

Fun fact: Samira Azzam was born in 1927 in Palestine and was 21 when Palestinians were forced out of their homes. She wrote short stories while working as a journalist, but she passed away in 1967. I just found out that this is her only book 😭

[N. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Azzâm’s her stories are both grounded and somehow even dreamy? She is also an extremely consistent writer, her last few stories follow a similar style and structure as her first ones, but the images have become clearer, her characters more complex… all delivered with the same gentle, restrained voice. I wish I could read another volume of her short stories and I’m so heartbroken that her life was so short.

[Tiana · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent collection of short stories, but I think I would’ve enjoyed it more if I had read them in the original Arabic

[Kiki · Rating 5 out of 5]

OUT OF TIME is a short stories collection by author + translator Samira Azzam (1927-1967) who was also a teacher, school director, and radio broadcaster. Translated from Arabic into English by Ranya Abdelrahman, these stories published (I think) during the 1940s-60s brought me back to the short story as portraiture in a big way. With many no longer than 3/4 pages, Azzam combined brevity and careful detail created intense life panels. Even as I moved on to the next story I imagined the ones before as still active panels, the characters telling another story in exchange for a drink, sitting far from home in the night time dark straining to hear a cherished pet's bark, restless in bed sobbing for water.⁣⁣
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This was aided by an excellent arrangements of the stories. Read in order one notices how one character's story sounds echoes of others, a similar theme that plays out differently, or a side character who seems to have another life in a different timeline. Abdelrahman's sensitive translation carried over the characters in their memorable mundanity and the world in its turns of poetic beauty.

Every so often there were these emotive, descriptive passages that prompted sharp inhalations of wonder. From "Lest the Arteries Harden":⁣
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The evening grew dark, and a heavy gray sky pressed down on the city, where small colored lights couldn't hold on to the daylight. Drizzling rain had wrapped them in mist, soaking up their glow until they were as faint as nightlights, glimmering red or green.
⁣
I loved these stories about death, grief and morning; about love and romance; dreams and desires; hope, betrayal, and ordinary malice; about those who flow with and adapt to changing time and those who stubbornly resist; about those who wields power, those who resist that power, those who achieve some kind of escape and those who don't. As you read on stories of displacement, of scattered families, of repressive surveillance, of so much stolen time, increase. Age, class, gender, just their own individuality inflected everything in ways that broke my heart. (That grandma with her boiled eggs. 💔)⁣

The short introductory material was great: M Lynx Qualey's introduction provided helpful information about the author and the time she wrote in, and Adania Shibli's personal essay was a great contrast to the dry academic stuff readers usually get. (I like that stuff too but they can be drag.)
⁣
Yesterday I was most fond of the marriage stories: who wants, who seeks it, who avoids it, how do they cope with it etc. Today it's the girl forced into sex work to survive is on my mind. But I want to leave you with words from "Because He Loved Them" because the words still play out behind my eyes.⁣
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Yes, I know each and every one of them.⁣
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The thief, the criminal, the whore, and the sonofabitch.⁣
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And they're no worse than anyone else. They tried to find themselves identities that would set them apart from the herd, which had been reduced to mere numbers in the lists, growing with every birth and shrinking with every death. Half the herd was spitting up blood, and everyone who belonged to it had been stripped of the power to reject anything.⁣
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No, you didn't lie, Investigator, when you said, 'My friend, in circumstances like yours, who knows when anyone might be driven to become a thief?'⁣
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And tomorrow, when you read my words and I am in another place, please don't consider them an apology. I did it because I don't want to become a thief, or to live forever a traitor who feeds his people rocks to suppress their despair by way of their stomachs.

Thanks so much to ArabLit Books for gifting me a copy.⁣

[mariam · Rating 4 out of 5]

charming!!

[Saajid Hosein · Rating 3 out of 5]

I unfortunately was not as enthralled as I expected to be, but upon reflection I don't think that's important.

From my understanding, the value of Samira Azzam's work is not found in one's subjective enjoyment of her stories, but the wider context of what they mean for Palestine. As Adania Shibli notes in the forward, most of Azzam's stories (save for a few at the end of this collection) do not directly, if at all, address the occupation. Her work therefore offers reflections on what was and imaginings of what can be a normal life for Palestinians, one not defined by settler-colonialism, and rather focuses on the smaller tragedies of life.

I loved some stories, I thought most were fine, and there were some I found jarring. Azzam's writing (or perhaps Abdelrahman's translation?) was just okay in some stories, but beautiful in others, likely due to the fact that she wrote them at very different times in her life as an author.

But as I said, none of that really matters. I'm happy to have read a classic Palestinian author, one who is important to their literary cannon, and one who I agree deserves to be celebrated.

[Jacob Heartstone · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of various short stories written by the late Palestinian writer Samira Azzam.

They have a lot of different topics depicting everyday life in Palestine (and of course some are better than others, some are super exciting and on point, others less so), but all in all all 31 short stories in this book worked quite well together. Not all of them were as meaningful and significant as I would have preferred, but they were all of them well written (and nicely translated from the original Arabic, too), and overall this book is highly readable.

[Samah (samahcanread_) · Rating 4 out of 5]

you know a book is overall amazing when the stories between the pages are as much important as the author's own story. Samira Azzam was born in 1927 in Palestine and like most Palestinians during the '48 Nakba, she was forced out of Palestine when she was only 21. She lived the rest of her life in exile, longing for her country, till her unexpected death in 67, when a new wave of aggression was about to be unleashed on Palestinians during the Naksa.

The thing i liked about the stories was that in the heart of it all, during hardships because the occupation, these are normal people with the same problems as us, like in the story "The Little Things" , about a young woman who doesn't believe on love finds herself falling in love rapidly, or the story "From Afar" about a young boy struggling to pay his college fees because his dad cut him off, and is helped by his friends through unconventional jobs. Humanizing Palestinians in very important in the eye of the west who is fed propaganda and biases about Arabs in general, that's why this translation will do more than enhance and share stories by palestinians, but open a door to a world that is surrounded by biases from the media.

Thank you ArabLit and Publishers for Palestine for providing us this free copy.

[Helga Wolf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before talking about this book, I should say that the introduction part was good, because M. Lynx Qualey, writer of the introduction part, offered useful information on the author and the time period in which she wrote.

Out of Time is a short stories collection about love, death, sorrow, dreams, hopes, betrayals. The stories of dislocation, separated families, coercive surveillance, and so much stolen time become more common. Age, class, gender, and their personal uniqueness all influenced things in ways that shattered my heart.

Many of the stories in the collection are painful and poignant. Some of them have happily ever afters. Some of them are entertaining to read. The translation by Ranya Abdelrahman is absolutely stunning. Adana Shibli wrote a brilliant article in the book about the beauty and intensity of Samira Azzam's stories. After finishing the book, I was upset because this is the last Samira Azzam book available, and there would never be another fresh narrative by her. But I'm glad I read it as well.

[Mattie]

I meant to read this as part of Read Palestine Week, but I fell behind. I'm glad I kept with it. The poignancy of Azzam's writing reminded me at times of Katherine Mansfield—and both women died in their thirties.

I sometimes had trouble figuring out when certain stories were supposed to be set, particularly because my knowledge of Palestinian history is still quite limited (something I'm working on). It was clear, though, that the last few stories were shaped by the Nakba, and the shift in content was quite stark. For me, though, many of the best stories come early in the collection; 'Sheik Mabrouk', in particular, stood out to me.

Well worth a read, not only for an insight into Palestinian literature but also for a number of impressive short stories. I don't read a huge amount of short fiction, but this made me think that maybe I should make it more of a habit.

[Ash Stockman · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent collection of short stories, showcasing small vignettes of Palestinian life both under occupation in Palestine and in exile. I enjoyed the pacing of this collection, how the themes become more explicit as it goes on. The book also features a lovely introduction by the brilliant Adania Shibli.

[Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m not usually big on short stories but I really enjoyed these. I was surprised at how current they felt despite being written around the 1950s
Truly a wonderful collection that I think anyone would enjoy

[Stefan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A vaiety of short stories. Some seem mundane but need more attention. Others are intense and emotional. The most impressive one is "On the water to Solomon's Pools", which took my breath away and required me to take a break from reading to be able to process what I had just read.

[Chandradhika P Atletico · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't get into some stories, either because of pure language barrier or my inability to connect. However, when some of those stories happened (the one that gets into my soul), it feels different to me (at leats that's how I feel).

[Ia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written, and perfectly paced, which is hard to find in a collection of shorts. Sweet and insightful, and devastating in places.

[sasa · Rating 5 out of 5]

the book contains 31 short story from the lives of Palestinian. No Harm Intended & Night of Riddance are my favorites, but On the Way to Solomon's Pools brings me to tears 🥲

[Kai Wiesner-Hanks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Astounding collection of short stories and a look into a Palestine and a way of life that have been lost.

Samira Azzam was a Palestinian author, translator, and teacher. Her stories focus largely on women, marriage, and loss, and the early part of this collection highlights the small joys and tragedies of life. The later half of the collection tends much darker, as Azzam makes you feel the collective weight of Palestians’ exile and oppression.

Reading Azzam’s stories I was often reminded of Shirley Jackson, another female author gone too soon. Both focus largely on domestic settings, and while Azzam’s work is shorter and more often unabashedly sweet, there's a similar dark undercurrent that can border on horror at times.

In 1967, Azzam destroyed a novel manuscript she’d been working on following the Third Arab-Israel War, then unexpectedly died of a heart attack a few months later. It’s a single tragedy amidst a mountain, but reading this collection there’s a real loss for what else she could have created.

A wonderful collection from a writer who should be much better known. Recommend for any short story or Shirley Jackson fans.