Set in Kabul, Afghanistan. Reread on 2019/01: https://www.instagram.com/p/BtKSr7XHo8h/
Every time I read this book I can’t put it down. But if you ask me about the plot, I’m still not sure what exactly is going on here. I believe it’s impossible to be a 100% sure of what happened, happens or will happen at any given time in #acurseondostoevsky . Is this an account of all the things #rassoul ever wanted to do or say but never managed to? Is this an alternative world in which #crimeandpunishment gets transported into a #kabul ravaged by a #fratricide civil war? It definitely reminded me of Elias #khoury which I #reread also this month and other great #lebanese writers such as #alameddine and #barakat and their treatment of civil wars. There’s a feeling of absurdity and complete loss of sense and hope which permeate their stories and allow them to implode the sacrosanct narratives which feed that same war. Their stories as much as #rahimi ‘s feel heretic and provocative. They aim at the core of where it all went wrong, the bleeding heart where the venom is spreading its hateful tentacles.
#otherpress #afghaniliterature#highlyrecommended #rereadmarathon#unresolvedmurder #atiqrahimi#everythingagainstme#MauditsoitDostoïevksi#MauditsoitDostoievksi #کابل #عتیق_رحیمی
Reviewed on 2018/10: https://www.instagram.com/p/BphiDylFOSR/
As I have said before numerous times, there are at most 7 or 8 stories out there that we just keep repeating ad nauseam. And if the latest world political news are any proof of anything is that we are in dire need of these endless repetitions. However in this particular case I think #atiqrahimi has managed to write something completely new. And how does he do that? Two things mostly. First it’s the old tale of reviving a well known classic text and transport it into a different setting. The case here is #crimeandpunishment by #Dostoevsky in #kabul in war-ravaged #afghanistan . Instead of focusing on the traumatizing ever-climbing death toll, he gives us a psychological and existentialist drama putting the spotlight on the survivors and those left to live these atrocities daily. How do you survive? How do you grasp with what’s real and what isn’t? Isn’t it all a #farce anyway? The setting of this book really makes it even more compelling and quite the ride which brings me to my second point. Absurd #russianliteraturestyle in the face of a brutal war gives #rahimi the incisive and incendiary angle to see the real root causes of our collective tragedies. The seemingly simplicity of #acurseondostoevsky maximizes our attention to the details of the story to ultimately lose sight of anything, even the story itself. I just couldn’t put it down and I can’t wait to read more by him and possibly in the original French version. #otherpress #afghaniliterature#highlyrecommended #intrigue#unresolvedmurder #mute#everythingagainstme#MauditsoitDostoïevksi#MauditsoitDostoievksi #کابل #عتیق_رحیمی
hebdo_readings 