En la Argelia de entreguerras, el pueblo del joven Turambo desaparece sin dejar rastro tras un corrimiento de tierra. Su familia pierde todo lo que tenía, pero Turambo es un chico muy especial. No está dispuesto a dejarse llevar por la miseria y, mucho menos, a abandonar sus sueños. Un día, alguien le dice que lo difícil no es forzosamente imposible, que lo único que hay que hacer para alcanzar la luna es ponerse en marcha y, así, Turambo emprende una apasionante aventura hacia lo que siempre ha deseado: una vida nueva en la ciudad "europea" de Orán.

Itinéraire d'un enfant pas gâté. Assez facile à lire, mais sans grande surprise ni subtilité. Un personnage qui pourrait être attachant si l'écriture ne créait pas une distance. ( )

> Les anges meurent de nos blessures, de Yasmina KHADRA (Julliard, Paris, 2013, 403 p.)
Se reporter à la critique de Soundouss EL KETTANI
In: (2013). Compte rendu de [Fiction]. Nuit blanche, (133), p. 17… ; (en ligne),
URL : https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/70955ac

I have long been a fan of Yasmina Khadra, whose books usually give one a realistic look at Arab culture and family life, alongside the cultural oppression and fundamental extremism that has saturated their daily lives. This book takes us back a bit further than others I have read.

The Angels Die is set in 1920s and 1930s Algeria during a time when French colonials ruled over the Arab nation and the native population has been decimated by a century of bloody conquest and rampant disease. Those born in Algeria are treated as if they are foreigners in their own land. The French live in luxury while the Algerians live in squalor.

Twenty-seven year old Turambo grew up in a shanty town in Oran. Turambo tells us of his life growing up in Oran where he constantly rages at the unfairness of life. But Turambo’s willful spirit doesn’t allow him to give up his dream of a better future. At home, he is embarrassed by and resentful of his father, while he longs for an unspoken but promising love with his cousin Nora. When Turambo finds an unlikely friend in a French boy, Gino, who cares for a sick mother, he begins to take refuge from his life in Gino’s apartment. As Turambo grows from a boy to a man, he is sure that his chance to become a boxer is his way out of the harsh life he was brought up in. He will make a success of himself, win the girl he loves and show the oppressors that Algerians are a proud and indomitable people. But Turambo’s rage at all the inequities of the world could very well cause him to be his own worst enemy.

Maybe you can tell that this book caused me to take a little look at the history of Algeria. Khadra continues to educate me each time I read one of his books. The history of Algeria is both tragedy and triumph at different times as is so much of the world. IMHO, we need to continue translating all authors of this caliber.

I want to thank the publisher (Gallic Books) for providing me with the ARC through NetGalley for an honest review. ( )

"Blows were part of life; they were the price of perseverance."

Having previously read two of Yasmina Khadra's books, I knew this was not going to be cheerful reading, but as the author is attending our literary festival in March, I decided this was a good opportunity to read his latest book.

It is set in Algeria between the two world wars, during a time of colonial rule.
It was quite an eye-opener to realise that the native Arabs were quite so low in this artificial caste system and in their own country, at this time.

Turambo's village had been washed away in a landslide, many of its inhabitants lost and all the animals dead. He moved to the city with his mother, aunt and teenage uncle, who became head of the family, being the oldest male. They were cripplingly poor but managed to scrape enough together by baking. Turambo tries to get work but he was not very successful - what he was good at though, was boxing. Originally used in self defense, a talent scout saw him in action and offered to train him in his gym. Thus Turambo rose to fame - but still he was just a pawn in someone else's game, racism, it seemed, affected even the famous.

The end of the book, which explains how Turambo came to be in prison facing the guillotine, was not what I'd expected and I'm still not sure what I feel about this ending - other than very sad :(

I found myself reading this at the same time as Yalo by Elias Khoury, both books had a young man imprisoned and going back over how they'd arrived at this point, one in Algeria, the other in Lebanon, so I put this one down to concentrate on Yalo. I'm glad I did, as reading the two together was confusing, and this was by far the better read for me.

Also read:
The Swallows of Kabul (4 stars)
The Attack (4 stars) ( )