Tarek Eltayeb

"My heartless body advances towards my fate, while my heart - disembodied - remains at my mother's side"
By sally tarbox on 22 March 2017
Format: Kindle Edition
Short (90p) novella which opens in a remote Sudanese village; narrator Hamza is mulling over his lot - his father has gone off with another women leaving him and his mother and sisters. In a disease and famine-stricken region, there is no future for them:

"I look at the child and his two large, expectant eyes seem to cover his entire face. One of his hands clutches his mother's breast and the other her braids, and all the while flies gather around his eyes and pustules; they crowd around the wounds of his rickety body. Then they move to his mouth, hoping to share in his mother's milk; but nothing is there, so they return to assailing his emaciated body, falling upon its every wound - if there is no milk then let there be blood."

And so Hamza sets out to seek his fortune, first to Cairo and then into Europe. Uncertainty, poverty, racism, border guards... this is a very readable little work which I read in one sitting. I can't say it's hugely memorable although there are some well-written passages. But brings the plight of the immigrant to life.… (mer)

Driven from home.

This novella was short but powerful. It is narrated by nineteen year old Hamza, whose father had remarried and left him, his mother and two sisters, with no support. They had managed for several years with the help of a neighbouring family, but when drought devastated their village and the surrounding areas, the other family moved away. Hamza now feels the weight of responsibility and decides to seek work in the city. He is inexperienced and uneducated, but ready to turn his hand to anything.

He travels on foot, by bus and in trains, firstly to the nearest big city, Omdurman, then on to Khartoum, into Egypt and finally over to Europe - France, Italy and Holland. Work is never easy to find and the line between employment and crime is distinctly blurred. He makes friends on the way and jobs often come via these contacts. As he travels he sends money back to his family but communication from them is sparse and he worries the whole time, missing his home.

I agree with other reviewers that Hamza is not sufficiently overawed by the sights and sounds he encounters in the big cities and doesn't get into as much trouble as he might, given his circumstances, but this did not detract from the book's message for me. In very few, well chosen words, Tarek Eltayeb paints the picture of desperation that would surround a young man, forced to leave behind everything he holds dear, just to save them. I could clearly see how desperation might turn such a man to crime.

An excellent translation and an author to watch. Recommended.… (mer)