Committee

This wry take on Kafka’s novel The Trial revolves around its narrator’s attempts to petition successfully the elusive ruling body of his country, known simply as "the Committee." Consequences for his actions range from the absurd to the hideous. Ibrahim offers an unbroken first-person narrative rendered in brief, crisp prose framed by a conspicuous absence of vivid imagery. Furthermore, the petitioner is a man without identity. The ideal antihero, he remains, as does his country, unnamed throughout the intricate plot with a locale suggestive of 1970s Cairo. The Committee pierces the inflammatory terrain between ordinary men, unbridled displays of power, and other broader concerns of the author’s native Egypt. The novel’s corrosive, shocking conclusion catapults satiric surrealism into a new realm.

Sonallah Ibrahim (1937–2025) was an Egyptian novelist and a major literary figure in the Arab world. He published short stories, historical and scientific children’s books, translations of American and German fiction, and seven novels, including Tilka al-ra'iha (The Smell of It), Beirut-Beirut, and Warda. Mary St. Germain is head of the Near East section at the University of Washington Libraries. She is the co-editor of the first volume of Essays in Arabic Literary Biography. Charlene Constable studied Arabic at the University of Washington and has traveled in Syria, Jordan, and Egypt.