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La felicidad conyugal by Tahar Ben Jelloun
From March 11, 2014 until March 31, 2014
Book PresentationMarch 25, 2014 - MADRID
A painter, living the best moment in his career, is suddenly paralyzed by a stroke while at his mansion in Casablanca. His art career and enviable life of exhibitions and travel are abruptly brought to a halt. He dreams about using his paintbrushes once again, but he is hindered by all sorts of thoughts about his misfortune, which he blames on his marriage in part. In order to escape the depression which stalks him, he decides to write a diary with the help of a friend, to describe the hell that his marital life has become.
Although he acknowledges that he is no model of virtue and does not hide the occasional relationships which he has had throughout life, he feels that the relationship with his wife is perverse and destructive. However, she discovers the manuscript in his painting studio and decides to tell her side of the story, responding point by point to the version her husband has given.
Tahar Ben Jelloun attempts to provide an answer to the questions brought up by something as complex as it is common: the relationship between a married couple. And he deals with the topic from the two perspectives of his protagonists, in a novel instilled with irony from the title to the very last page, amid the passions and resentments of a couple for whom the passage of time and differences of all sorts have left behind their mark. But is all hope lost?
Casa Árabe, with the cooperation of Alianza Editorial publishers, is presenting La felicidad conyugal (Marital bliss), by Tahar Ben Jelloun, on Tuesday, March 25 at 7:00 p.m. in our Madrid auditorium (address: Calle Alcalá, 62).
Participating in the event along with Tahar Ben Jelloun are Lourdes Ventura, a novelist, essay writer and literary critic, and Malika Embarek, the Spanish language translator of La felicidad conyugal (Marital bliss). Presented by Nuria Medina, coordinator of Casa Árabe’s Culture and New Media area.
The presentation will be given in French, with simultaneous translation into Spanish. Free entry until the event’s capacity is reached.
About the Author
Tahar Ben Jelloun is one of the best-known Moroccan writers internationally. Born in Fez in 1944, he is a novelist, journalist, poet and essay writer. In 1987, he was awarded the Goncourt Prize for his novel The Sacred Night. In addition to La felicidad conyugal (Marital bliss), he has had The Return and The Arab Spring published by Alianza Editorial. For the latter, Tahar Ben Jelloun received acknowledgment in the form of the prestigious Erich Maria Remarque Peace Prize for 2011. Tahar Ben Jelloun also cultivates an interest in painting. The image on the cover of this novel is a painting by the author titled Arab Night.
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