The Ghost Factory of Ghaith El-Lawzi
Ghaith El Lawzi was already past the age of most of his characters, and unemployed by choice, living in Cairo in late 2000, when he began writing ‘Ghost Factory’ as an intellectual catharsis. It was published in 2005, after many stops and turns in his life, including a period in Lebanon where he worked with Future TV Network on a 15-episode documentary about the Sabra and Shatilla Massacre and the Israeli Invasion of Lebanon in 1982. The book is not so much launched as much as creeping into the market. Now it is in Jordan.
‘Ghost Factory’ deals with a young man, Zein, returning from London to his home in Cairo on vacation. His return rapidly turns into a series of parties, sex and drugs. Indeed, the book seems at times to move from party to party to party, and the endless progression of parties, and clubs and drug deals forms a theme which runs throughout the book, with a dreadful conclusion towards the end when the hedonism and lack of morality goes too far. The book is extremely nihilistic, or rather the characters in ‘Ghost Factory’ are – the characters Zein surrounds himself with (not to mention Zein himself) are self-destructive – the combination of youth, wealth and parental neglect has had a disaffecting and damaging effect on a generation which has had too much money at too early an age and not enough sense. El Lawzi commented after the book’s release that it was “not about me, but about my generation. I may not be Zein but I am guilty of some his amoral crimes. Difference between us is that he is clueless, while I know it and I confess it.”
Yet it is also a critique of the rich, of whom El Lawzi is not and how they abuse their freedoms, and unlike the author, the protagonists have so much money they don’t need to work. They can have whatever they want and the logical conclusion is a search for cheap thrills, leading to boredom and desperation. The lives of the characters in the book are completely aimless and we see that without a direction, without a target or aim to work towards, life becomes quite hellish.
The book is by no means a pleasant or indeed an easy read. The text is fragmented and one-dimensional. The narrative seems bored and disinterested and simply presents occasions, often without comment, a reflection of the shallow and passive attitudes of the characters. This, curiously enough is what makes the book, in a paradoxical way, fascinating and unprecedented. El Lawzi writes this way for a reason – by giving us a bored narrative it better portrays the bored, detached and empty lives of the people in the book. It is an extremely lazy read with extremely lazy characters. Zein says at one point, “I finish the beer and the cigarette as Madonna tells me ‘nothing really matter’ and for some reason, I believe her.”
The sex in the novel, which is dispassionate and non-erotic, reflects how ambivalent Zein is about life. It’s not that there is a lot of sex in their lives, but when there is, its almost meaningless. In fact, Zein seems more concerned with the constant flow of alcohol, marijuana, Xanax, and speed, more than anything else. The characters are almost impossible to like. El Lawzi says, “ I hated all of them at one point, especially Zein. When I went out while I was writing the book, I found myself seeing people and places like he did and I hated that.” He adds, “But once the novella was finished, there were characters that I liked, and one that I loved, but I won’t say who.”
Still, The characters here are all about artifice and appearance, looking good, wearing the right clothes, listening to the right music, having the right ‘look’, and this is a theme which El Lawzi explores to great lengths. Zein, for example, always makes a note of what people are wearing and the style that they have, particularly the girls.
A series of marginal characters float in and out throughout the book, serving no purpose, it seems, than to provide the main characters with something to gossip about. As one character says while commenting about movies, “People appear then disappear without reason, but it’s like that in real life, isn’t it?”. This applies to some characters in Ghost Factory.
Here, one must stop and point out a fact. At different sections, the narrative, written in the present tense, stops and a flashback, written in the past tense and in italics, appears. In the flashbacks, scattered as they may be, we see a different Zein, a little more alive, a little happier, and a little more energetic. In those flashbacks, we understand a little bit more about why he is and who he is. Zein doesn’t give us much, but he gives us more in those brief flashbacks than in the present day narrative.
El Lawzi says that he was told that this book was for the video clip generation. He wasn’t insulted. It reads MTV-style; a series of short shots, one after the other, here and there, are a series of snappy vignettes. There are no chapters, in the traditional sense. Just passages of text broken up into scenarios and situations. MTV is mentioned frequently throughout the book as well, and many very different artists are mentioned, such as Leonard Cohen, Madonna, Britney Spears, Chemical Brothers, Wallflowers, Cure, Crowded House, and others. Each song and artist, you will see, and specifically the lyrics are strategically placed within the book for maximum effect. El Lawzi himself admits that when he was thinking of the title for the book, he was thinking more in terms of a title for an album rather than for a book.
There are several unsettling and even disturbing scenes within the book. For example, when Zein and his younger sister have an argument in the car about her stealing his marijuana, with the mother there, not uttering a word or reacting in any way. Another is Zein’s rather uncomfortable meeting with Omar’s mother, a woman with loose morals towards the end. In fact, among the many disturbing elements in the book, the dysfunctional family relationships in the book are the most difficult to deal with. Not because they include any abuse or violence, but because the parental neglect and selfishness are at the root of the problem leading to the moral collapse among the 90’s generation. There is no real relationship between Zein and his parents, conversation is minimal and Zein and his sister generally ignore whatever is said by their mother, a retired actress, who almost always has a glass of alcohol in her hand or Prozac in her blood stream. El Lawzi comments that, “If I’m ever asked, who is the villain in their novel, I would say the parents.”
Be aware that this book can be frustrating. The central conflict is an internal one, and only vaguely delineated, and never really resolved. At times, the book is less a narrative more an experience. There are longer sections where the reader is submerged in dialogue or details, particularly towards the end. You may think that this would lead to a book that is challenging to read, but would be completely mistaken to think so. Besides being easy to read, this is a compelling, thought provoking, disturbing and quite an intelligent read. El Lawzi is excellent at writing about the 90’s decade and his deadpan style can often be quite funny. Check out the Vampire Party scene in the last third of the book. Nevertheless, this is not for everyone and is deeply unsettling in terms of themes.
Ghaith El Lawzi, voice of a generation? “No, no, no. I just wrote a book about my generation. Let others be the voices, I’m merely a voyeur.” What can be said is that the man is a skilled writer, and has written a piece of compelling fiction. If what you read above tickles you curiosity, find it, buy it, and read it. You may find it cold and off-putting and weird and like nothing you've ever read before, but page-by-page, you get drawn further and further in. A blank, unblinking world, but one that will open your eyes profoundly to an Arab World you’ve never seen before.