We explore some of Wikipedia’s oddities in our 6,181,160-week series, Wiki Wormhole.
This week’s entry: Saddam Hussein’s novels
What it’s about: Hitler started off as a painter. Chairman Mao was an accomplished calligrapher who wrote books on philosophy. Even some of history’s greatest monsters had artistic ambitions, and Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was no exception. The Butcher Of Baghdad wrote four novels in the last few years of his life, published anonymously (with the traditional Arab attribution, “Written By He Who Wrote It”). But as this anonymous author’s books ended up on school syllabi across Iraq, it wasn’t too hard to figure out their identity.
Biggest controversy: We’re not 100% sure Saddam wrote all four of these books. His first novel, Zabibah And The King, about a rule of medieval Iraq who falls for a commoner and protects her from her abusive husband, was written in 2000. Esteemed literary critics the CIA believe Saddam hired ghostwriters to write the book under his supervision. But Saddam’s personal translator Sadoun al-Zubaydi insisted the dictator wrote 2002 book Men And The City (a fictionalized account of Hussein’s grandfather fighting the Ottoman Turks, and not, as we assumed from the title, four male friends bonding over Cosmopolitans and sharing details of their love lives).
Al-Zubaydi gives the backhanded defense that Hussein must have been the author because, “often the text is illegible… they were written in Saddam’s typically orderly handwriting, with few deletions and many repetitions. When he stumbled upon a new word… he would become fascinated with it and use it again and again, almost always inappropriately.”
Strangest fact: Zabibah was rumored to have a movie adaptation. When Sacha Baron Cohen began working with frequent collaborator Larry Charles on a film about a Middle Eastern dictator, rumors abounded that it was based on Hussein’s first novel. The resulting film, 2012’s The Dictator, was a modern-day spoof of self-absorbed dictators with no connection to Saddam.
Thing we were happiest to learn: Not all of Hussein’s books were thinly veiled excuses to cast himself as the hero. His 2001 book The Fortified Castle is about a veteran of the Iran-Iraq War whose wedding to a Kurdish woman is delayed; the book’s central allegory is that of unity between Iraq’s ethnic groups. His last book, Begone, Demons (supposedly finished the day before the American invasion began in 2003) is centered on “a Zionist-Christian conspiracy,” but is set in biblical times and doesn’t have an obvious Saddam stand-in character.
Thing we were unhappiest (but not surprised) to learn: Saddam’s writing was pretty heavy-handed. Zabibah’s title character’s rape and abuse at the hands of her husband (which she’s saved from by the story’s Saddam stand-in) is a clunky metaphor for the 1991 U.S. invasion. Demons unsubtly ends with its heroes destroying two massive towers.
Also noteworthy: While Saddam’s earlier books were (mandatory) bestsellers, Begone, Demons had trouble finding a publisher, given that its author had been ousted from power and executed as a war criminal. In 2006, three years after completion, a Japanese publisher printed just 8,000 copies. Saddam’s daughter Raghad, exiled to Jordan, hoped to print 100,000 copies of the book there, but the Jordanian government stepped in and prevented the book from going to press. In 2007, the book was translated to Russian, but again, only 5,000 copies were printed.
Best link to elsewhere on Wikipedia: While Hussein committed enough atrocities to condemn him many times over, we seem to remember a few allegations about his arsenal that turned out not to be true. Among them were claims that he and his son Qusay threw political opponents into a giant shredder, Fargo-style. While the shredder didn’t get as much press as, say, yellowcake uranium (thanks again, New York Times), it was also used as a justification for war. It also turned out, as Wikipedia delicately puts it, “it was determined there was not enough evidence to support the existence of such a machine.”
Further Down the Wormhole: Another false justification for war was tying Hussein and his regime to the September 11th attacks, of which he was apparently a fan, but not a perpetrator. The 9/11 page can send you down a pretty dark wormhole of terrorism-related reading, including List Of Terrorist Incidents In 2016, which features Iraq prominently (as well as mass shootings in the U.S.). But it mercifully also features a link to a far less fraught topic, the selfie. As by next Sunday we’ll no doubt still be reeling in one direction or another after the results of our 59th and final presidential election, next week as a palate cleanser we’re going to bury our heads in the silliest legal battle we could find: the monkey selfie copyright dispute.
21 Comments
TALK PAGE HIGHLIGHTSTranslationsAre there no english (or french, I guess?) translations of his works? I’d be interested in reading his books but I don’t read arabic or japanese. —A Sunshade Lust 16:53, 20 July 2006 (UTC)alas, I’m pretty sure there isn’t. I’ve been searching for along time and have found nothing 🙁 Although I do have an arabic version of Zabibah and the king I picked up in Londonistan and can safely say you’re not missing much, it’s a bit of a crime against the humanities(bad pun, sorry). Mostly his characters sit around talking about nothing in particular in florrid prose but with sentences that randomly end in creepy political rhetoric. O_o Elmo 08:04, 11 June 2007 (UTC)Cancel that, although Saddam’s presidental publisher al-hurriah(means freedom btw) didn’t publish an english language translation apparently Zabibah and the king was translated into english in 2004 post-saddams capture, no idea who published it though, no one I know.. Elmo 08:10, 11 June 2007 (UTC)Improvised familyCould someone explain me what this is supposed to mean? Before it said “poor”, could it be that someone meant “impoverished”? Get-back-world-respect 19:58, 23 May 2004 (UTC)That would be my guess anyway. – Hephaestos|§ 20:00, 23 May 2004 (UTC)Noting that Saddam was “pwned” is not necessarily vandalism…While the description was accurate, it was vague, and not precise; “hanged” is a more precise term describing what happened to Saddam, and, besides, not everyone understands leetspeak. That reversion probably should count as one of a good-faith edit, rather than one of vandalism, but a necessary revert all the same. oh yeah, and Saddam suxxed big time oops, personal opinion inserted! 68.36.214.143 19:44, 31 December 2006 (UTC)PhotosIs it just me, or is there something funny-looking about the first photo on this page? His arm looks far too small for his head. It’s probably better than nothing, but if anybody knows where to get a better photo of him (preferably not one where’s he’s firing a gun – using such a photo might be contrued as a political comment), then I think it should be replaced. —CamembertI do not understand the concept of an undoctored photograph violating NPOV. -º¡ºHe’s saying it makes him look like he’s a gun/bomb/nucelar weapons/ wilding maniac (reminds me of bush). – fonzyCamembert, by moving the photo are you admitting to some sort of antigun bias? Unless one sees firearms in a negative light, I’m not sure why this photo would be seen in a negative light. Whatever your reason, I’ve already pointed out [7] as an alternative. -º¡ºI’m not admitting to anything. Guns are associated with violence and our use of this photo might therefore be taken as a suggestion that Saddam Hussein is a violent man. Maybe Saddam Hussein is indeed a violent man, I don’t know, but that’s a POV and we can’t express it. And thankyou for the alternative photo, but it is too large to use as it is, and I don’t have the resources to shrink it. If somebody else does, it might be better to crop it to head-and-shoulders rather than shrink the whole thing, by the way (but I’m not really very great with photos, so I may be well off the mark there). —CamembertAh, Hephaestos just added a photo better than both the old one and the above-suggested. No gun, no benevolent grin. Thanks, Hephaestos. —CamembertAh, I too have done as you requested, Sahib. Personally, I thought the gun was quite a dashing fashion accessory. -º¡ºEvery picture “lies” or at least can show a POV. Every serious photographer knows. Framing in itself is choosing. EricdThank you for pointing that out. Also lens choice, film stock, lighting, distance to subject rah rah rah.Exposure, shutter speed, focus. (For instance, after 30 most people look younger slighty out of focus.) Ericd 01:01 Mar 18, 2003 (UTC)I think the best solution to the problem mentioned above is to have the photo of Saddam shooting his rifle, and also a photo of Saddam addressing the UN, and also a photo of him kissing babies, and so on and so forth. By giving a range of images of Saddam we would (A) liven the page up and (B) avoid NPOV.VideoI am doing a long term study on death, suicide, and other death related things, so could somebody give me a link to an uncut version of any videos relating to his death? Thanx —Preceding unsigned comment added by St.Jimmy666 (talk • contribs) 18:20, 22 January 2008 (UTC)September 11Hey, why isn’t there any mention on this article about Saddam’s plot to blow up the WTC on september the eleventh 2001? This was a huge event for America and probably the world (caused the war on terrorism) and since Saddam ordered the attack I think some mention should have been made on his own article! It is ridiculous the sort of bias on this article when Saddam’s role in the terror plot is not mentioned! I mean give me a break, plz!Peter Napkin Dance Party (talk) 11:57, 11 October 2009 (UTC)For facts like these you have to go to FoxNewsPedia. Lars T. (talk) 22:59, 11 October 2009 (UTC)Because Saddam had nothing to do with September 11 attack on WTC. I suggest that you stop watching Fox News as the previous commenter pointed out. —Salehjoon (talk) 21:16, 25 October 2009 (UTC)I suspect that Peter Napkin Dance Party does not watch Fox News, but rather was making a political joke. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.12.130.230 (talk) 03:12, 12 November 2009 (UTC)Gay porn filmsAccording to the tabloid Weekly World News, Saddam Hussein once starred in gay porn films. Is this true? If so, please add that into the article. Bawitdaba1999 (talk) 00:27, 19 October 2011 (UTC)That’s not a reliable source, or even a real news source. —OuroborosCobra (talk) 03:23, 19 October 2011 (UTC)
Wow, this week’s Talk Page Highlights is a ride! Thanks for that!
That one about the Polish Army bear where someone referenced Otherkin unironically is going to be my standard-bearer for many months to come.
Out of the hundreds of talk page threads I’ve dug through for these comments, that’s an all time top 5 for sure. My all time #1 is “The video of Winnie the Pooh worshipping Satan is a fake.”
I had to cheat a little bit, as I do whenever the week’s featured entry has a pretty barren talk page. Only the first thread comes from the literary career talk page; the remaining threads come from the talk page for the entry on the author himself.
> Maybe Saddam Hussein is indeed a violent man, I don’t knowWow. Just wow.
“When Sacha Baron Cohen began working with frequent collaborator Larry Charles on a film about a Middle Eastern dictator, rumors abounded that it was based on Hussein’s first novel. The resulting film, 2012’s The Dictator, was a modern-day spoof of self-absorbed dictators with no connection to Saddam.”They should have adapted the novel.
Is Larry Charles related to Glen and Les Charles?
No.
“Written by he who wrote it” is one of the best pen names of all time. Were I to ever write a book (which I never will), I would choose something similar, but maybe in a foreign language that isn’t well known to English speakers. Like, DeSchrijver.
Waiting for Kim Jong-un to write an off Broadway play
Why would the Glorious Leader slum it on Off-Broadway when he’s written all the great Broadway plays like Hamilton!?
General Garcia of Tijada was an outstanding amateur puppeteer. His art collection was also remarkable.
It is known fact that the North Korean Glorious Leader & Donnie ‘Jefe’ Drumpftard will both give up their World Wide Leadership roles after resounding 2020 election victories cause.. Glories of Golf. They will both join & conquer the Senior PGA Tour Circuit as a ‘Doubles Team/Tandem’ winning all four Major Tournaments their first year touring together & henceforth be known as the ‘Dueling Duo’. Also, DJT & Kim Jong-un will be selected People Magazine’s 2021 “Most Handsome World Leaders” —> Top Diplomats Category.
Probably still better than The Art of the fucking Deal
Something good came out of that book. The ghostwriter confirmed what everyone already suspected — Trump’s a lying narcissistic sociopath with a short attention span who doesn’t read.
Yeah but it didn’t matter
Waiting on Trump’s bestseller – General Woundwort? BBH – bigoted butt hole?
Wait. He hired ghostwriters for the books he published anonymously ?
Makes me sad to see non royals sticking their noses where they don’t belong: