BOOK REVIEW
The President’s Gardens by Muhsin Al-Ramli
By Wajeeha
Mohsin
It is seldom that a book translated from another language maintains its
‘feel’ without compromising the prose-like quality of the original. Luke
Leafgren manages to achieve this daunting task in his translation of this epic
novel by Muhsin Al-Ramli. Priced at a high price of PKR 1,875 while purchasing
I wondered whether or not the book is truly worth this amount. However, to my
great surprise, the Al- Ramli not just met my expectations but in fact exceeded
them.
The President’s
Gardens is a saga about friendship, love, war and betrayal in Saddam Hussain’s
Iraq. Iraq stayed in the headlines throughout the world in the 1980s and
1990s which subsequently generated a lot of references to Saddam in books,
literature and movies. However, few are able to provide an insiders’ view of
this era. Those of us who have grown up reading about the Iran-Iraq war
through the viewpoint of American or Iranian writers this book provides a brand
new perspective. This multi-generational story takes us on a journey with
Abdullah Kafka, Tariq the Befuddled and Ibrahim the fated. Born in 1959,
the three are fast friends. Together (although each in a different way) they
are a representative of a generation that has lived through turmoil for a great
part of their lives. Abdullah and Ibrahim get conscripted for military services
just as Iran-Iraq war breaks out. Abdullah is captured by the Iranians while
Ibrahim returns only to face the horrors of war once again as Saddam makes a
disastrous decision to invade Kuwait. The writer is direct in his
narrative and does not shy away from describing the horrors of war. At
merely 400 pages, the book is fast-paced yet philosophical and deeply
introspective.
As much as I have
enjoyed reading The President’s Gardens the book is not without its flaws. The
most glaring flaw, in my opinion, is that of structure- there are parts
that don’t fit in as well as the others while some pertinent information is
revealed to the reader a bit too late thus disrupting the wonderful flow that
author has created. Overall I would rate it at 4 stars out of 5. It is
only recently that the books narrating the life in Iraq have started to be
translated into English especially since the downfall of Saddam Hussain making
The President’s Gardens a rare gem. Though rooted in the context of Iraq, the
book deals with some universal themes even if you are not interested in this
region’s history I would recommend that you give it a try.
Wajeeha Mohsin is an HR professional
from Lahore, Pakistan. She has done her master’s from London School of
Economics and Political Sciences. She enjoys reading, travelling and
binge-watching crime shows.
