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The Stone of Laughter (Arabic: حجر الضحك) is a Lebanese novel, written in 1990 by author Hoda Barakat set during the Lebanese Civil War. The book was translated into English by Sophie Bennett. It is a winner of the Al-Naqid prize and the first book by an Arab author to have a main character who is homosexual.
Historical background[edit]
Plot summary[edit]
The novel opens with Khalil, the protagonist, and Naji, a friend, heading to Khalil's room to talk. They discuss the possibility of Naji moving to Saudi Arabia to live with his sisters. The audience learns that Khalil is romantically attracted to Naji, as he repeatedly secretly admires him. As they progress down the streets of Beirut, the narrative digresses to describe the state of things there. It is revealed that people are fleeing the city in droves and are not coming back.
War damage to apartments during the same period
The next chapter begins with Khalil ritualistically cleaning and straightening his room. He always does this after battles in the streets. Some time has passed since the opening conversation, and Naji decided to leave the area. Khalil visits Naji's abandoned apartment, which he was asked to look after. As Khalil cleans up glass, we learn that Naji and his mother claim that they plan to come back. Khalil does not believe them.
Naji is supposed to come over for a visit with Khalil, but he doesn't come. After waiting for a long while, Khalil decides to visit another friend, Nayif. Nayif is having a small party with friends that he knows from his job at a newspaper. We learn that Nayif is involved in a political party.
Another car bombing takes place near a market that Khalil often shops at. When Khalil goes to the scene days later, he finds that it has seemingly healed and that life there is back to normal. Next, he visits Naji's house, and, while he is there, the phone rings. He picks it up and it is Naji's sister, whom he has met only once before. She tells him that Naji is dead. Khalil is unable to dwell on this, because the city starts getting bombed in the 1982 Israeli-Lebanese conflict. He hides with others in the newspaper offices where Nayif works. The newspapers have immunity from the bombings. There is a frantic party-like atmosphere here as the reporters rapidly write stories on the bombings. Once the bombings are over, Khalil returns to his apartment, going through war-damaged streets. He comes to his room to find that the window has been blown open and feels that his room has been somehow changed. Disturbed by this he goes outside in time to see an anti-Israeli march pass by.
Since the bombings are over, Khalil is forced to face Naji's death. He stops sleeping and spends most of his nights lying awake. Nayif comes over in order to tell him that Naji was killed because he was an agent for a group responsible for attacks. Khalil doesn't want to believe this and uses his usual defense of denial. Later, after much thought, he decides to accept what Nayif has said as true. He isolates himself from everybody. He sleeps all day and spends all night listening to other people's problems on FM radio shows.
War damage in Downtown Beirut
The bombing starts again, and Khalil hides with others in the higher floors away from the fighting on the street. After several days, the fighting stops and the people go out to see the damaged streets. Khalil's uncle's family comes to Beirut, having fled their village, and Khalil sets them up in Naji's apartment. His daughter, Zahrah, has a crush on Khalil, who is pleased to be loved despite the fact that he feels little attraction to her. Khalil has a crush on her brother, Youssef.
The narrative goes on to describe Khalil's own struggles to form his political views and gain acceptance with the other young men his age. This struggle is paralleled by Youssef, who comes to Khalil's apartment to ask his advice on whether or not he should join a local militia. Khalil stays neutral and rather asks Youssef questions to help him think it over. He decides to join the group.
Youssef's new job keeps him busy during the day and greatly reduces the time he spends with Khalil, which causes Khalil much distress. Khalil decides to take the job that Nayif offered him at the newspaper. He goes in for an interview and embarrasses himself by saying things that make him seem radical despite his lack of involvement in politics. Sporadic street fighting starts again. In one such episode, Youssef is killed.
As Khalil is suffering emotionally from Youssef's death, he becomes sick and starts coughing up blood. He isolates himself from the world much as he did after Naji's death. Nayif comes by the apartment, but Khalil doesn't answer the door, hoping that Nayif will break in out of concern. After doing this twice, he finally answers the door and lets Nayif in. Nayif tells him that one of his political friends, called The Gentlemen, wants to clear out an abandoned apartment in Khalil's building in order to house his mother. They agree to clear out the furniture and sell it.
Khalil takes a taxi ride to the hospital to have himself examined as he had acute abdominal pain. On the way there the taxi encounters traffic and the driver decides to take side streets. He accidentally drives up to a roadblock and Khalil and the other passengers are interrogated and nearly killed by armed men. Khalil manages to get by and make it to the hospital. It turns out that Khalil had an ulcer, which he needs an operation to remove. Khalil enjoys the hospital, which he views as a sanctuary. Khalil soon acquires a reputation for cowardice among the hospital staff, who, nevertheless, like him.
One of Khalil's neighbors, Mustafa (usually called the bride groom), recommends that Khalil should rent out Naji's apartment. He rent it to a woman and her son. As he looks it over he encounters his memories of Naji and Youssef. Khalil likes his new tenants but has a feeling that the woman dislikes him.
At a party with friends of Nayif, Khalil becomes acquainted with the Brother, a man who is involved in Nayif's newspaper and is a leader of a military organization. He suspects that Khalil is gay, which he confirms in a conversation, and reveals that he is gay as well. He makes advances, which confuse Khalil, who ends up going home. The Brother begins inviting him on business dealings, which involve the buying and selling of drugs and weapons. On one walk back to apartment after a deal Khalil is accidentally assaulted by the Brother's men, who apologize and offer to take him home.
The author describes the city of Beirut. She explains how is corrupting Khalil and sucking away at his soul. Some time passes before the next scene. Khalil, now referred to as 'Mr. Khalil' by Mustafa, is talking about storing weapons he has brought in the apartments. The woman who is still his tenant complains that it is dangerous and he tells her to go upstairs and that he will come and talk to her. He goes up and rapes her. The author explains how her Khalil has changed from how he was to 'a man who laughs'.
Characters[edit]
Khalil- The protagonist of the novel, a young man who constantly struggles with his own feminine nature and his desire to be accepted by others.
Naji- A friend of Khalil who is shot by a sniper in response to his involvement with armed groups.
Youssef- Khalil's cousin who dies in street fighting near the end of the novel.
Nayif- A friend of Khalil who works at a newspaper.
Madame Isabelle- Naji's mother who persuades him to leave Beirut with her.
The Brother- A friend of Nayif, who is involved in his Newspaper. He, like Khalil, is gay and he makes advances on Khalil.
Mustafa- An estate agent and arms merchant who works with and later for Khalil. He is also called the Bridegroom.
International reception[edit]
The novel received the prestigious Al-Naqid prize and has been widely acclaimed. It also however, has its critics. Barakat suggests in her novel that while men are constantly talking a politics and the war, women typically talk more mundane matters. The women in the novel are portrayed as lucky in one sense as they, unlike Khalil, do not have to pick a side in political conflicts. However, on the other hand their talk is sometimes portrayed as simplistic and banal. This has spawned the suggestion that her views are anti-feminist.[1]
Footnotes[edit]
^Whitaker, Brian. 'An interview with Hoda Barakat'. Modern Arab writers. Retrieved 2007-07-09.
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Stone_of_Laughter&oldid=875536989'
You can still use the legacy Xbox One voice commands with Kinect if that's your preference, but if you enable Cortana or Alexa on your console you'll be able to issue commands via a headset microphone or a connected smart speaker, and access features that make multitasking far easier. Here's everything you need to know about Cortana or Alexa commands on Xbox One.
Related reading
How to activate a Cortana or Alexa speaker on Xbox One
If you want to use a product like an Amazon Echo speaker or a Harman Kardon Invoke, you'll need to first enable digital assistants on your Xbox One. These are available with the October 2018 Xbox Update.
Double tap the Xbox logo button on your controller. Or, if you're using a Kinect, just say 'Xbox, go to settings' and skip to step #3.
Select Settings. It is the gear icon.
Select All Settings.
Select Kinect & Devices.
Select Digital Assistants.
Tap the A button on your controller to enable digital assistants.
Note: Cortana or Alexa support is currently only available in the US. You can change your language settings in an unsupported region to enable Cortana or Alexa connectivity, but this might not give you full access to their features, and in the case of an Amazon Echo, may restrict what features you can actually use on your speaker.
Set up a smart speaker for use with Xbox One
To use Alexa or Cortana with Xbox One, you'll need a compatible smart speaker.. Note that at present, these services are only available for US customers, with more territories planned for 2019.
First, activate the corresponding skill on your speaker. Click here to activate the Alexa Xbox beta skill, and click here to find and activate Cortana for Xbox.
You'll have to sign in with your Xbox-connected Microsoft Account to both services in order to use them.
Follow the instructions in each corresponding app, and select enable to connect your speaker to your console.
How to activate the Cortana app the Xbox One
Cortana is an app you can activate on Xbox One for use with a Kinect microphone, or headset microphone. You don't need to do this in order to use a Cortana or Alexa speaker, this is purely if you want to use a microphone connected directly to your console.
Double tap the Xbox logo button on your controller. Or, if you're using a Kinect, just say 'Xbox, go to settings' and skip to step #3.
Select Settings. It is the gear icon.
Select All Settings.
Select System.
Select Cortana Settings.
Tap the A button on your controller. You will then be guided through some telemetry agreements and prompted to reboot your Xbox.
Note: Cortana is currently only available in select regions, with more features supported in the US. You can change your language settings to enable more features on Cortana, but some features may not work as intended.
For information on how to disable Cortana, hit the link below.
Using the Cortana app on your Xbox One
To use Cortana directly on your Xbox, you either need a (now discontinued) Kinect or a compatible microphone connected to your console. Any Xbox One compatible headset microphone should work.
To trigger Cortana, simply say 'Hey Cortana.' In my experience, she takes a little while to 'warm up' after the first use.
Follow up 'Hey Cortana' with your voice command.
With the legacy voice commands, it was usually a good idea to leave a brief pause after saying 'Xbox.' It seems less necessary to do that with Cortana on Xbox One. Simply saying 'Hey Cortana is Daniel Rubino online?' should trigger the correct command, even without a pause after 'Hey Cortana.'
List of Xbox-specific Cortana or Alexa commands
When you're using Cortana directly on your Xbox One, you need only say 'Hey Cortana,' followed by your command. If you're using a connected smart speaker or mobile device with Alexa or Cortana, you need to say 'Hey Alexa/Cortana, tell Xbox to' or 'ask Xbox to,' followed by your command.
Turn on your Xbox
'Turn on my Xbox.'
'Start my Xbox.'
'Xbox on.'
'Turn on.'
Turn off your Xbox
'Turn off my Xbox.'
'Turn off.'
'Xbox off.'
'Reboot.'
Capturing game footage
'Take a screenshot.'
'Broadcast.'
'Stop broadcasting.'
'Record that.'
'Record the last (number) minutes.'
Find out what your friends are currently doing
'What is (Gamertag / real name) doing?'
'Is (Gamertag / real name) online?'
Invite friends into parties
'Invite (Gamertag / real name) into a party.'
'Start a party with (Gamertag / real name).'
Send messages
'Send a message to (Gamertag / real name).'
Select items on screen
'Select.'
'Make a selection.'
'Select mode.'
When you've finished making a selection, say 'stop listening.'
Open apps and games
'Open (app/game name).'
'Go to (app/game name).'
'Snap (app name).'
Note: Universal apps like Baconit and Cast currently cannot be snapped.
Switch between and close snapped apps
'Switch.'
'Change view.'
'Unsnap.'
Media controls
'Pause.'
'Play.'
'Rewind.'
'Fast forward.'
TV controls
'Watch/go to TV.'
'Watch (channel name).'
'Open/show OneGuide.'
'Volume up (number).'
'Volume down (number).'
'Mute.'
Note: Some TV-specific commands require either the Xbox One S, X, or Kinect's IR blaster to function.
General navigation
'Go home.' To return to the dashboard.
'Go back.' To cycle backward through previous actions.
'Show/open menu.' To open menus in certain apps.
'Show/open guide.' To open the Xbox quick guide.
'Show/open notifications.'
'Show/go to my Friends List.'
Signing in
'Sign in as (Gamertag/name).'
'Sign out.'
Search the Xbox Store
'Search the store for (app/game name).'
'Search the store for (movie/tv show name).'
Help
'What can I say?'
Redeem a code
'Redeem a code.'
Pairing a specific speaker to a specific console
'Pair my device.'
List of Bing-powered Cortana Xbox One commands
If your console region is set to the US or the UK, you can perform dozens of commands and queries using Cortana's cloud-powered search engine. If you have a Windows 10 PC, you are likely already familiar with these commands, but if not, here's some of the most useful. These commands seem to only work while using Cortana directly on your Xbox One, rather than via a speaker.
Internet search
'Search the web for (search query).'
Open websites in Microsoft Edge
'Go to (website.com).'
Weather queries
'What's the weather like in (location)?'
'What's the weather like at the moment?'
Dictionary
'What's the meaning of (word)?'
'Define (word).'
Time
'What's the time in (location)?'
'What time is it?'
Calculations
'Convert 10 kilograms into stone.'
'Convert 15 American dollars into British pounds.'
'What's 10 multiplied by 10?'
'What's 5 divided by 3?'
Directions
'How do I get to (location)?'
'How far away is (location)?'
'How do I get from (location) to (location)?'
Facts
'How old is (famous person)?'
'What is (company's) share price?'
'Who was the director of (movie)?'
Fun stuff
'Tell me a joke.'
'Tell me a riddle.'
'Sing me a song.'
'Do an impression.'
'Tell me something interesting.'
'Tell me something funny.'
'Tell me a scary story.'
There are dozens of additional commands Cortana can perform and even some hidden ones. You can say to Cortana 'what can you do?' to get more suggestions, and sometimes she'll make her own suggestions when she's snapped.
Bookmark this article and check back for future updates on how Cortana and Alexa work on Xbox One, as we'll be consolidating all the latest information into this piece.
What's your favorite Cortana or Alexa command? Are there any missing from this list? Do you have any questions? Let us know in the comments!
Need more?
Update October 2, 2018: We've updated this article with information on how to get started with Cortana and Alexa-powered smart speakers.
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