Abstract

This conceptual novel is a meditation on exile and memory. Beginning at a point shortly after the protagonist has left his place of birth, Beirut, the work builds through a passage of various perspectives and locations as it slowly builds into a bildungsroman. Along the way, the reader meets the handful of people who, along with his surroundings, come to shape his life. Of great importance is the idea of how we remember, and how these memories inform our present situation. The narrative concludes with a novella written by the protagonist, a summation, not only of experience, but also of artistry. The principal locations over the course of the twenty-three years encapsulated by the story are Athens, Toronto, and Montreal. Characteristics of traditional narration are circumvented; rather, this novel builds a space that adheres to a complex system of intertwining imagery.