Le dernier seigneur de Marsad par Charif Majdalani (review)

Reviews 273 (84) montrant le côté désespérant de ce système où, même quand on a surmonté les obstacles de classe et pénétré l’antre du savoir; où, spécialiste de Lyotard et invité à France Culture, on se retrouve bloqué dans des postes d’enseignement secondaire provisoires, aux acronymes ténébreux (TZR, ATER), à enseigner le futur simple ou ce qu’est une note en bas de page à des élèves prénommés Hissam, Youssef ou Brad. Face à un avenir bouché, vivant de jobs alimentaires, il n’est pas étonnant que ces personnages se demandent s’ils n’ont pas “raté [leur] vie” (65). Mobiles offre une lecture entraînante et montre bien que ce qui compte, ce n’est pas d’établir un“système pérenne”mais une société qui fonctionne:“ce qui compte c’est [...] trouver un agencement qui, pour un temps, permette à chacun de se réaliser dans un groupe” (180). Reste à savoir si les jeunes pourront naviguer dans ce système et s’y réaliser. Formant ces constructions en équilibre précaire, leur mobilité est loin d’être ascensionnelle. Eastern Connecticut State University Michèle Bacholle-Bošković Majdalani, Charif. Le dernier seigneur de Marsad. Paris: Seuil, 2013. ISBN 978-20211 -9. Pp. 256. 19 a. A family’s story is one of relationships, an infrastructure within a culture, circumscribed by time and place. The family’s story central to the novel is situated in Beirut, Lebanon, tracing the Greek Orthodox Khattar family’s rise to prominence from the late nineteenth century to the end of the twentieth, its principal focus. The 1960s saw the apogee of this merchant family. In 1964, Marsad, an elegant Beirut neighborhood , is shaken by news of a presumed elopement. Simone, youngest daughter of the Khattar family, has disappeared with her suitor, Hamid Chahine. The latter, a close and trusted associate, together with his father are simply employees of the Khattar family. Chakib Khattar, formidable industrial magnate and patriarch desires above all to preserve his family’s legacy in eminence. While the novel opens with romantic intrigue, it unfolds into history: a city, a neighborhood, a family led by Chakib, who, during the civil war, negotiates relationships and rivalries, be they political, religious or commercial. The author has an insider’s grasp of the breadth of social upheaval. The narrator, a neighbor and friend of Chakib’s children, is a firsthand witness to the events. The affluent neighborhood in which Chakib resides is composed mainly of Greek Orthodox Christians. His lifestyle mixes friendships and social gatherings in his community with those of his Sunni Muslim business associates, maintaining a cordial entente. For a time, Chakib smoothly increases his fortune, but as the political situation evolves, changes in population occur in Beirut, even in the prestigious neighborhood of Marsad. During the initial phase of the civil war, the wealthy classes believed it to be containable. Christians and Muslims strove to assist one another, but things grew complicated as Israeli-Palestinian hostilities spilled into Lebanon. Disorganized groups of displaced persons, evicted by militias in the city’s center, wandered into any available quarter of the city and set up camp or occupied empty buildings. In these places, refugees seeking food and shelter were determined to occupy properties abandoned by the former owners seeking safety elsewhere. Chakib exercised tight control over his affairs, building an empire in which none of his sons had an interest as each followed his own pursuits. No one ever outmaneuvered Chakib. One person proved to be his match—Lamia, Hamid’s mother and the wife of the superintendent of his country estate. Her inscrutable ways, obstinate temperament, and fervent attachment to her son’s interests, made her capable of anything. Chakib’s control ran headlong into her wily web. A father, striving to prevent the disintegration of his lifelong labor while searching for an heir, Chakib decides to hold fast against forces ready to encroach on his property, remaining a heroic but lonely figure unyielding to the winds of change. Taking us inside politics, cultural diversity, and family tensions in Beirut during the civil war, Charif Majdalani writes with...