He demanded money from his mother, which she struggled to provide. Now that he was not going to be a doctor, as his father hoped, he continued to behave badly. When his father heard of both his failure and his truancy, he beat him so hard, he fell into a prickly pear plant and was covered in thorns. This led to the next major traumatic event. When it came to the key exam to enable him to move to the next stage, he was unable to even vaguely cope so he just drew all over the paper. As a result, he decided to stop going to school, and played truant. Things got worse when he went to school, as the teacher beat the children for any transgression and Mimoun had many. Mimoun was always having tantrums though his father tried to beat it out of him, realising that the child was spoiled. Another brother was born later (with, by tradition, the same name as the deceased older brother) but Mimoun was older by then and did not mind so much.
The baby died but Mimoun was not suspected. He was not happy with this so one day, when his mother thought he was playing outside, he took a pillow and smothered the baby.
However, his spoiling ended when his younger brother was born. His mother always said that this had a profound effect on the boy. He had various traumatic moments in his life but the first was being hit by his father, aged six months, because he was bawling and his father could not stand it. As the only boy (at that time), he was spoiled by his mother and sisters, though not by his father. He was the fourth child but first son of his parents, having three older sisters. He is not a historical character but a (more or less) contemporary one. The eponymous Last Patriarch is Mimoun Driouch and this is his story, as told by his daughter. «A highly original setting, an exquisite sensory universe, dominated by a highly naturalistic, well-structured, supple prose that keeps the reader glued to its pages.» A.Home » Catalonia » Najat El Hachmi » L’últim patriarca (The Last Patriarch) Najat El Hachmi: L’últim patriarca (The Last Patriarch) «Najat El Hachmi’s new novel is attractive, original, contemporary and strong.» Sam Abrams, El Mundo «The text, in its freeing exploration of a socially turbid sexuality, is incredibly valiant and its style shines for its poweful adroitness. She is a fine writer.” Michael Eaude, The Guardian
El Hachmi is not just bold in her themes, but intelligently and patiently teases out their contradictions. What makes it special is its extraordinary physical detail, both in the sex (not at all titillating) and cleaning (stimulating) and in the description of clothes, smells and factory work. To some degree the novel is a morality tale: promiscuous sex does not bring happiness. She is reminiscent of Mercè Rodoreda in her detailing of everyday objects to reveal the workings of her main character's mind and her use of a direct, colloquial voice. The novel is ably translated by Peter Bush from Catalan, one languaje with a rich literary tradition on which El Hachmi draws. “A brave Catalan writer fashions a heroine who really breaks the rules.
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