Passage of Tears
-
- $14.99
-
- $14.99
Publisher Description
Djibouti, a hot, impoverished little country on the Horn of Africa, is a place of great strategic importance, for off its coast lies a crucial passage for the world’s oil. In this novel by Abdourahman A. Waberi, Djibril, a young Djiboutian voluntarily exiled in Montreal, returns to his native land to prepare a report for an American economic intelligence firm. Meanwhile, a shadowy, threatening figure imprisoned in an island cell seems to know Djibril’s every move. He takes dictation from his preaching cellmate known as his “Venerable Master,” but as the words are put on the page, a completely different text appears—the life of Walter Benjamin, Djibril’s favorite author.
Passage of Tears cleverly mixes many genres and forms of writing—spy novel, political thriller, diary (replete with childhood memories), travel notebook, legends, parables, incantations, and prayers. Djibril’s reminiscences provide a sense of Djibouti’s past and its people, while a satire of Muslim fundamentalism is unwittingly delivered through the other Djiboutian voice. Waberi’s inventive parody is a lesson in tolerance, while his poetic observations reveal his love and concern for his homeland.
Praise for the French Edition
“Disguised as a political thriller, Passage of Tears is above all a great novel of childhood, murderous identities, and exile.”—Le Monde des Livres
“A gripping book, burning with urgency and tension.”—Télérama.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The eponymous passage ("the strait that separates the Arabian peninsula from Africa") lies near Djibouti, the former homeland of Djibril, a 29-year-old man returned, post-9/11, to make "sure the country is secure, the situation stable, and the terrorists under control." In the employ of an "economic intelligence company," Djibril is determined "not to feast at the table of nostalgia." But as he navigates a country on the verge of transformation into a "showpiece," he increasingly loses himself in recollection, most often of his twin brother Djamal, who Djibril hasn't seen in 15 years. The records Djibril keeps, his new observations, and his old memories are interspersed with letters from an unknown prisoner who seems to observe Djibril's every move. These menacing missives filled with encomiums to Allah, condemnations of Djibouti's government, and accusations against Djibril mysteriously give way to excerpts from a book about the life of German writer Walter Benjamin. As the two strands of narrative converge, Waberi (In the United States of Africa) illustrates how "shadow reveals light, silence reveals words, an instant reveals history." An inventive and compelling experiment, the novel never loses sight of human feeling even as it grapples with the heaviest of socioglobal matters.
