Passage of Tears

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 T l rama. Best Read [ Passage of Tears ] Author [ Abdourahman A. Waberi ] For Kindle ePUB or eBook – kino-fada.fr I didn t love this book but didn t hate it It left meup in the air I m a little confused by this book While beautiful albeit dark in some ways, it s a bit of a labyrinth In a way it is a book about contrasts between family members, friends, strangers religions, philosophies It is also a book about personal evolutions and the variables that send us down differing life paths and how that affects us Yet, it is also about the connections in the undercurrents of life If that all sound I didn t love this book but didn t hate it It left meup in the air I m a little confused by this book While beautiful albeit dark in some ways, it s a bit of a labyrinth In a way it is a book about contrasts between family members, friends, strangers religion...The protagonist in Passage of Tears, Djib short for Djibril , was born and raised in Djibouti, but left behind his parents and twin brother Djamal fifteen years ago to move to Montreal, Canada He works for an economic intelligence firm and is back in Djibouti to analyze the country for a company interested in its uranium potential According to Djib, My mission consists in feeling out the temperature on the ground, making sure the country is secure, the situation stable and the terrorists und The protagonist in Passage of Tears, Djib short for Djibril , was born and raised in Djibouti, but left behind his parents and twin brother Djamal fifteen years ago to move to Montreal, Canada He works for an economic intelligence firm and is back in Djibouti to analyze the country for a company interested in its uranium potential According to Djib, My mission consists in feeling out the temperature on the ground, making sure the country is secure, the situation stable and the terrorists under control He feels confident in his ability to put together the necessary reports, but the longer he s in Djibouti, thethe country seems to resurrect old memories and fears.Woven in between the chapters narrated by Djib are the writings of a condemned inmat...I found this overall to be disappointing.I thought, at a minimum, that I d get a decent picture of Djibouti it s pretty uncommon to come across a book set in Djibouti by a Djibouti born author But I never actually felt like I was reading about a place It was as if the book could be set anywhere, with Djiboutian signposts and city names scotch taped to the walls It just never felt real So, one of the main reasons I read this book didn t really go anywhere, but maybe I just was looking for t I found this overall to be disappointing.I thought, at a minimum, that I d get a decent picture of Djibouti it s pretty uncommon ...I was expecting too much from this book and it did not meet expectations Nonetheless, there aren t many books by novelists from Djibouti floating around so no regrets I have a second novel by Waberi on the shelf, so he ll get another chance in the not too distant future.In my quest to read at least one book from every country in the world, I picked up this slim novel by a Djiboutian expatriate author I m glad is was slim, because its mix of obvious post colonialism and hyper intellectualism totally failed to move or connect with me in any way The story not that there really is one is about expat Djibril, who managed to do well in school, emigrate to Canada, and works in risk assessment basically economic espionage for a bland Western corporation Adorno L In my quest to read at least one book from every country in the world, I picked ...I read the book as I was coming back to Djibouti for the first time almost 20 years after having lived there for two years The book offered me a striking parallel Djibril, born and raised in Djibouti, made his life in Canada and the US After a long absence, he comes back to his childhood country for an intelligence mission...Bab el Mandel la puerta de las l grimas es el estrecho que separa la Pen nsula Ar biga de frica y que conecta el mar Rojo con el Golfo de Aden, en el Oc ano ndico Se dice que el nombre viene de una leyenda rabe sobre el gran terremoto que separ frica y Asia Djibouti, un pa s muy peque o pero de un valor geopol tico inmenso, para el control de esa angosta puerta de mar Esta novela me ha hecho pasar por muchos sitios que conoc , en este pa s misterioso, caliente y acogedor Llena de po Bab el Mandel la puerta de las l grimas es el estrec...I just plain didn t like this book I can t really say why but I started skipping whole passages, and realized that if I didn t care at all about how it ended by page 150,I never would so why bother finishingA high 3 Brief, transporting, mysterious but with a predictable twist The ending was perfect.Technically brilliant, with only a few clunkers likely attributable to the translation Not sure what the Angel of History would make of it, though.

• English
• 23 December 2018
Abdourahman A. Waberi
• Hardcover
• 216 pages
• 0857420216
• Abdourahman A. Waberi
• Passage of Tears