THE BEGGAR

by F. M. Esfandiary ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 20, 1965

The Beggar is a sardonic little fable which many a writer would have disposed of in three pages. A crippled Syrian beggar who propels himself about on a dolly while begging suddenly tutu to get come money for his sometime mistress. She has dreamed that her daughter will die if she doesn't distribute five lire to the poor. The beggar scrounges around among his acquaintances. In a fit of pique he sends a message to the woman that he can't get the money. When he finally does and goes to the woman's house, she has looked herself in with a drunken woodcutter to earn her money the hard way. The hut catches on fire, she and the woodcutter are suffocated, and the beggar is unjustly dragged off to jail. Convicted, he suffers having his hands chopped off and is set outdoors again as a free man.... The dialogue tritely hashes and rehashes each event; everything lacks style and the characters barely exist.

Pub Date: Sept. 20, 1965

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Obolensky

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1965

Categories: FICTION