They Die Strangers

by Abd Al-Wali, Muhammad; Bagader, Abubaker; Akers, Deborah S.; Weir, Shelagh; Abdul-Wali, Mohammad

• ISBN13: 9780292705081
• ISBN10: 0292705085
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-01-01
• Publisher: Center for Middle Eastern Studies

Summary

They Die Strangers, a novella and thirteen short stories, is the first full-length work of the distinguished Yemeni writer Mohammad Abdul-Wali to appear in English. Abdul-Wali died tragically in an aviation accident, and his stories were collected after his death by the translators Abubaker Bagader and Deborah Akers.Abdul-Wali was born in Ethiopia of Arab Yemeni parents. His stories, filled with nostalgia and the bitterness of exile, deal with the common experiences of Yemenis like himself who are caught between cultures by the displacements of civil war or labour migration. His characters include women left behind, children raised without fathers, and men returning home after years of absence. He explores the human condition through the eyes of the oppressed and disenfranchised and is particularly sympathetic to the plight of women.Abdul-Wali writes in a realistic style, sparse and simple, a style that the translators have reproduced well in this volume. Abubaker Bagader is Professor of Sociology at King Abdul Aziz University in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia. Deborah Akers is associated with the Anthropology Department at Ohio State University.

Table of Contents

Introduction	1	(16)
Novella
They Die Strangers	17	(52)
Stories
The Ghoul	69	(6)
Brother, Are You Going To Fight Them All	75	(4)
Ya Khabiir	79	(4)
The Chinese Road	83	(6)
Nothing New	89	(6)
The Land, Salma	95	(6)
The Color of Rain	101	(8)
Saturday Market	109	(4)
Abu Rupee	113	(6)
The Slap	119	(4)
The Last Class	123	(4)
A Woman	127	(4)
On the Road to Asmara	131