Holes

Thuqoub (translated as Holes) by Yemeni writer and filmmaker Hamid Oqabi is a haunting short story collection that blends cinematic vision with raw, visceral storytelling. Set between war-torn Yemen and the red-light districts of Paris, the stories dissect the human condition under the weight of exile, war, lust, and spiritual collapse.

At its core, Thuqoub explores the body as a battlefield—violated, desired, commodified, and occasionally revered. The body becomes a site where social, political, and sexual anxieties erupt. War—especially the Yemeni civil war—is not depicted through explosions but through its psychological aftermath: hunger, despair, displacement, shattered masculinity, and moral erosion. Violence is slow, invisible, and internal.

Sexuality in Thuqoub is a double-edged force. It offers momentary escape but also magnifies alienation. Prostitutes, wounded lovers, and lonely men populate these tales, searching for touch and meaning in a world where both have become transactional. In stories like “Soirée en Pyjama” and “Girl of the Moulin Rouge”, lust is both delusion and revolt, while in others, it serves as a window into the politics of poverty, gender, and shame.

Oqabi’s background in cinema is palpable. His narratives unfold like film sequences—fragmented, visual, and punctuated by voice-over-like introspection. Doors become camera lenses; streets become stage sets. The tone shifts from surreal to grotesque to tender.

Throughout the collection, religious language and motifs appear, but they are stripped of power. There is no divine rescue—only prayers shouted into the dark. Amid collapsed dreams and failed intimacy, the stories resonate with loss, absurdity, and longing.