Abdourahman A. Waberi,David Ball,Nicole Ball
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 worldâ€™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 Djibrilâ€™s every move. He takes dictation from his preaching cellmate known as his â€œVenerable Master,â€ but as the words are put on the page, a completely different text appearsâ€”the life of Walter Benjamin, Djibrilâ€™s favorite author.Â ,Passage of Tears ,cleverly mixes many genres and forms of writingâ€”spy novel, political thriller, diary (replete with childhood memories), travel notebook, legends, parables, incantations, and prayers. Djibrilâ€™s reminiscences provide a sense of Djiboutiâ€™s past and its people, while a satire of Muslim fundamentalism is unwittingly delivered through the other Djiboutian voice. Waberiâ€™s inventive parody is a lesson in tolerance, while his poetic observations reveal his love and concern for his homeland.Â ,Praise for the French Edition,Â ,â€œDisguised as a political thriller, ,Passage of Tears ,is above all a great novel of childhood, murderous identities, and exile.â€â€”,Le Monde des Livres,Â â€œA gripping book, burning with urgency and tension.â€â€”,TÃ©lÃ©rama.
Eastern Africa,Djibouti,Fiction,Literature,African Literature,Cultural,Africa,Contemporary
Passage of Tears