The Blue Light

The Blue Light by Hussein Barghouthi is an autobiographical novel published by Seagull Books in 2023, featuring 168 pages in English. This work explores the author’s journey through memory, time, and language, recounting his experiences alongside Bari, a Turkish American Sufi, during his graduate studies at the University of Washington in the late 1980s. The narrative unfolds with multiple beginnings and returns, touching on themes of identity, color, and the complexities of life in a world marked by trauma and colonialism.
Readers will find a rich tapestry of reflections that blend memoir with fiction, as Barghouthi navigates diverse influences from Buddhist paths to the challenges of drug addiction. The Blue Light invites contemplation on the intersections of the sacred and the profane, offering insights into the author’s lived experiences. This unique literary work stands out for its depth and clarity, presenting a meditation on madness and liberation that resonates across cultures and languages.
Official synopsis Publisher
The Blue Light is an autobiographical novel in chapters and vignettes that travels through memory, time, and language.
Hussein Bargouthi tells his story with Bari, a Turkish American Sufi, during Bargouthi’s years as a graduate student at the University of Washington in the late 1980s. The Blue Light has several beginnings and many returns–from Beirut’s traumatic sea to musings on color and identity, from Buddhist paths to Rajneesh disciples, from military rule to colonial insanity, from drug addiction to sacred rock. Written and lived between Arabic and English, this is a unique book whose depth is as clear as its surface. It will tempt you to dismiss it as it compels you to devour it for illumination. Merging memoir with fiction, and the hallowed with the profane, The Blue Light is a meditation on and liberation from madness–a brilliant, inimitable literary achievement.
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