Human Dreams

About the Book

This book covers a collection of twenty seven short stories. They were inspired by real characters and true experiences of the writer and several of his friends and acquaintances. Some stories have included imaginary details and do not necessarily refer to certain real characters even if parallels can be drawn. Other certain incidents including those related to history reflect facts and real happenings such as those concerning conflict and war in the region. Some incidents are related to the period of the Iraq-Iran war; others are related to the times of the invasion of Iraq in 2003 by the US and Allied forces. On the other hand, there are also stories with different touches such as those of “The Lover”, “Scenes from Baghdad”, “Louise’s Family’ and “Gamblers”. They reflect various environments and characteristics of persons pursuing their dreams and practices through their daily lives during peaceful times in cities like Baghdad and London. “Human Dreams” is the title of one of the stories. However, many of the stories and characters’ behaviours in the book, and in real life, are generally influenced by the dreams and ideas of real men and women ending up pursuing such dreams trying to achieve certain goals in their lives with chances of success or failure. A view can be reflected through the following quotation from the story of Human Dreams: “The big question remains: “Is the end fast and tragic for most good people or dreamers? Do evil persons come out victorious and achieve what they wish in most cases? Or is there something else, and that Justice of Heaven takes its course even after some time, and that Good prevails over Evil in the end? Maybe the whole matter doesn’t need all such questions and that it was merely the life of a man and a woman who each lived his human dreams his or her own way”.

About the Author

Born in Iraq, and got in Baghdad his BA in English Language and Literature, 1st Class Honours. He worked with national and international organisations and companies. He later obtained his MA Linguistics& Translation from SOAS- London University plus a Diploma in International Relations, from the same university. He worked for few years in London before returning to Baghdad, where he joined the United Nations. His work took him to various countries and cities including Amman, Tripoli, Sirte, Khartoum, Darfur, and other cities in Europe. Despite the author’s numerous travels outside Iraq, he spent most of his life in Baghdad and witnessed the good and bad days including peaceful times and the years of Embargo, Conflicts, and Wars until the last Gulf War of 2003, which ended with the invasion of Iraq by the US and Coalition Forces. The author is residing in Switzerland. He has previously published, in Arabic, his short stories collection titled “Rihlah Afriqiyah/ African Journey. He later published in English his book titled “180 Days in the Green Zone”. The present book titled “Human Dreams” contains a collection of twenty seven short stories including various true historical events and incidents inspired by some real characters. Author contact e-mail: latifalbayati@yahoo.com