Saddam City

by Mahmoud Saeed

One morning Mustafa Ali Noman, a teacher in Baghdad, is arrested as he reaches the school gates. For the next fifteen months he witnesses countless scenes of torture as he himself is brutally interrogated, shuffled from prison to prison and barred from contacting his family.

The question of his guilt or innocence clearly irrelevant, Mustafa must fight to retain a grip on reality. 'How do I know that I am not dreaming this?' he asks.

Mahmoud...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0863563503
• ISBN13: 9780863563508
• Release Date: April 2004
• Publisher: Saqi Books
• Length: 120 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.3" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

an extraordinary book

This is an extraordinary account of brutality, the banality of human evil, and at the same time--and this is perhaps what makes the book so extraordinary--tender humanity, discovery of fellow spirit in the most unlikely of circumstances. At times difficult to read, it is nevertheless "a great read"--filled with characters and fascinating details of language and culture. And through it all, we are transported by the narrator's rock-steady voice--terrified, ailing, grasping unsuccessfully to comprehend what is happening to him. This little work delivers large rewards.

Translated by Bianca Lewallen

This article was published in Al Hayat newspaper in London. I have translated this article from Arabic to English. The book is a must read for all. I praise Saeed for such a courageous feat in writing. Saddam City Mahmoud Saeed. The prisons are crowded, is there anyone walking in the street?" René Hayek. Issued by the Dar-term culture in Damascus and publishing the novel "I, who felt" by the Iraqi Mahmoud Saeed. Events taking place in Iraqi prisons. The story begins on Monday morning. Mustafa Numan steps out in order to meet with a contractor to discuss the final details of his house being built, so that he and his family can start planning on when to settle in and also some other errands in the neighborhood. It did not occur to Mustafa Numan that the day had something unusual in store for him. It began when his car stalled on the road, just in time to have boarded in a bus near the Institute where he was teaching. Two security men came to him and told him that they wanted him for questioning. Mustafa Numan asked them why they could not question him there. They indicated he should accompany them immediately. Initially, he thought that the issue of questioning him was a mistake. They entered Directorate of Security through the garage where he saw a plethora of cars, and was surprised by the sight of security men dressed as civilians. They approached him and wanted to blindfold his eyes with a very dirty piece of cloth. Mustafa Numan objected and suggested that they use a piece of his shirt instead. So, to his request, the security men took his tie and blindfolded him with it. In questioning, they asked him his name and whether or not he had ever heard some names of people whom he had not ever heard of. In the basement of SOS, voices were received as if coming from afar. It did not occur in the mind Mustafa Numan that his temporary state would exceed many hours, for he was sure the security men had inevitably confused him for someone else. As time passed, he remembered what happened to his neighbor who disappeared and how he had helped his neighbor's wife to look for her husband in the hospitals and police stations. He had many questions about why he was arrested. "What am I being accused of? I did not interfere with politics. I just hate the party and my wife's subordination. Sometimes I would meet with my friends and we would speak about politics, but never were politics the focus of conversation. After some time, it was not only voices of pain and torture that he heard, but was then taken along with a number of detainees from Basra to Baghdad to a prison. Prisons were not made to accommodate this huge number of prisoners. The causes of this overcrowding were many arrests; as well, the prisons did not exclude older people, children, incapacitated or ill peoples. Once they were accused, it was impossible to prove their innocence. They moved Mustafa from one prison to another, from one city to another and when asked about the reason for his

A definite must read!

This book is very expertly written from an insider's viewpoint. It will truly be an eye-opener for anyone that is not familiar with the reality of the political regimes that characterize most of the Middle East. Along with being highly informative it also keeps you turning each page to see what happens next. A definite must read!

fantastic by pat and ken

I am currently taking Arabic with Mahmoud Saeed with calligraphy. His life is truly an amazing story and so is his book. his life is truly an inspiration for everyday life and this book is a must read for all. it gives you a vision of what real life is like in the middle east and most americans need that image to stay clear in their minds. so many people today have it all backwards. Get this book

Wonderfully written

I read this in Arabic and it was one of the most insightful "must reads" in recent literature. I translated the review from Arabic to English because it must be read by all Americans and those who have misunderstood the situation in Iraq. The novel "Sadam City," is written by a well-known Iraqi writer, "Mahmoud Saeed," and it was issued in 2007, for a second time, by Dar Al-Hilal in Egypt. Before reading this book it must be known that the author took more than fifteen years in order to make his dream, publishing a novel, come true. He spent many years moving between the Arab countries in order to see the light at the end of the tunnel. In his novel he spoke about the rule of the Baathist Party of Iraq and Saddam's regime. Although he did not mention Saddam's name specifically, he described the qualities of the "tyrant" or "narcissist." He is not like the writers who curse the oppressive rulers after their departure, as in several books published after the occupation of Iraq and the killing of "Saddam." He did not curse Saddam's regime, but he simply described the reality of the situation in prison. "Mahmoud Saeed," wrote the novel in 1981, immediately after his release from prison, during the height of the "Saddam" regime. He found a courage rarely seen, and he was brave enough to leave the country in order to publish his novel. If he was captured leaving with writings like this, the punishment would be more chilling than that stated in the chapters of the novel by the witness behind bars! The novel began by depicting the life of the protagonist who was a teacher in Basra, Iraq, a father of two children, and a good husband. He never caused harm to anyone, and never talked politics to hay the quality of characters. Although he did not oppose the regime, what was happening to the people in his country due to the oppression made him discontent. One day, one of the Baathists came to ask him to join them. Tactfully he refused, pointing to his chest, he said to his wife that, "they can spoil his life, but they can not spoil his spirit." Soon informants came to his work at local high school, took him to their secret police office, beat him, and detained him. So the chapters of tragedy opened both torture and horror, which any human being could not tolerate. The novel speaks of the atrocities and violations that occurred during the police investigations: where the investigator played the role of the executioner, and the accused had no role to play at all. First of all, when they detained him, he thought it was a mistake because the investigator called him "Mustafa Ali Othman," but his name was "Mustafa Ali Numan." He became hopeful, but was soon distressed when he brought this to their attention and they replied: "It does not matter!" He witnessed the shocking arrests of citizens who mostly, like they, had nothing to do with politics. It was a strange thing for him to see people in prison because their car licence plate fe