Reuters News reports that a new translation of Saddam Hussein's novel, "Get Out of Here, Curse You," will be released this week in Japan. The novel is believed to have been written on the eve of the 2003 invasion and smuggled out to Jordan by one of Saddam's daughters. The book was banned in Jordan but became an underground bestseller, probably because of its catchy title.
Japanese journalist and translator Itsuko Hirata ensured that the book would be published in Japan. She claims that although it is set in the ancient past, the tribal warfare depicted in the novel is "strikingly similar" to what has happened and is now happening in Iraq. "Totally," she added, to make clear that the similarities were total. Hirata extolled the virtues of the book and said Saddam had written it with a "melodic clarity" that suggested it could be adopted to the stage.
"I really think this book should be made into a musical," she said. "And once this is done, it should play in the heart of his enemy's country, on Broadway." I'll forgive her lack of knowledge of U.S. geography because of her gift to me in suggesting that this book should be made into a musical. "Honey, what do you think? Cats, Spamalot or Get Out of Here, Curse You? Tickets to Curse You seem to be a lot easier to get."
Those who can get seats to Get Out of Here, Curse You! may be treated to rip-roaring musical numbers including "The Foreigner Who Sold the Tribes," "Retaliatory Tactics" and "The Burning of the Twin Towers" (all chapter names from the book), so it sounds like fun for the whole family. (Hirata claimed that the latter did not specifically refer to the towers of the World Trade Center, and so apparently it refers to the burning of those other twin towers in, like, Assyria or something.)
Other possibilities: "Don't Cry for Me, Fallujah," "I'm Gonna Wash Those Kurds Right Outta My Hair," "I (Just) Can't Do It Alone" (performed by Uday and Qusay), and "I Am Still the President of the Republic of Iraq and You Are American Puppets."
The book is expected to get its ass kicked by "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," also being released in Japan this week.
Link: Reuters via My Way News
