Ghost FactoryBy Ghaith El-LawziAuthor House, 2005
CAIRO: “People don’t know how to merge in Cairo . says the opening line of the debut novel “Ghost Factory by Gaith El-Lawzi, a fictional story about the culturally confused segment of Egyptian society where sex, drugs and late nights out are the norm rather than a taboo.
Although Jordanian, El-Lawzi has gained a good understanding of Cairo’s social ethos. The author lived in the city for 12-13 years while pursuing both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Political Science from the American University in Cairo, and later working.
The story begins as Zein returns to Cairo for the holidays just a few days before the turn of the millennium. Through his eyes, we are acquainted with the lives of the more privileged and westernized members of Cairene society. At first their lives seem filled with fun and laughter, but you soon realize how senseless their lives actually are.
Zein’s character is not a reflection of the writer’s personality. “[Zein] is alien to me. He is an amalgamation of characters I knew and met, El-Lawzi explains.
The book is written in a simple narrative form, without the rigidity of chapters. The author narrates predominantly in the present tense, but occasionally lapses into a flashback. El-Lawzi cleverly keeps the reader within his grip by leaving many loose ends in the plot, keeping the reader anxious to read on as the pieces of the puzzle slowly come together.
Zein is 20-something, and can’t get out of bed without popping a few pills. He sleeps in, locks himself in his room for days and hangs out with his friends, getting drunk in a bar or getting high at someone’s house. His parents seem oblivious; too involved in their own relationships and social events.
I imagine Zein is good-looking because throughout the book women of all ages throw themselves at him. His main love interest is a pretty girl called Nada; their on-off relationship creates considerable drama.
Omar, Zein’s best friend, is a lost soul who doesn’t seem to have a care in the world. Shehab is a good friend of his who becomes a major league drug dealer, and takes Zein on some entertaining adventures.
One of the most notable characters is Rasha, who was once part of the crew but “dropped off the face of the earth or merely just stopped hanging out with them. Discovering what happened to Rasha is taunting Zein, and he takes us on a wild tour of her life as he tries to uncover the mystery. This is the high point of the book, as together Zein and the reader find out her fate.
The one common characteristic shared by all the main characters is that they are not in touch with reality. Though they constantly accuse others of living in “la la land, they are all victims of the same predicament.
If there is a moral to the story, El-Lazi says it is “to tell young people to think more and stop to think that their parents, their governments or any authority . [do] have a clue.
Despite being young, educated, rich and good-looking, the key characters have no ambition beyond getting drunk. “Read, think, and do something with your lives. Money and status are dead idols to worship. Believe in yourself and not in anyone or anything else, says El-Lawzi to this genre of lost youth.
A special touch in this novel is its soundtrack. How can a book have a soundtrack? Well this one does. El-Lawzi always mentions what music is playing in the back ground, at a party, in the car, on the stereo at home. From classic rock to commercial pop, he sets the mood perfectly, and you can almost hear the music as you read.
El-Lawzi is working on another novel entitled “Suicide Songs about an amoral drug trafficker living during the Lebanese Civil War.
Ghost Factory is available at the AUC bookstore.
