I found this novella included in my Audible membership so i decided to give it a go. I already had the author on my TBR with another book so I listened to this title instead. Another plus was that is was narrated by Neil Shah, a voice I admire. I enjoyed the novella but I did not think it was something special. The fact that I do not remember much, 3 months after I finished, is a proof to that.
Here is the blurb: "When the Soviet army arrives in Afghanistan, the elderly Dastaguir witnesses the destruction of his village and the death of his clan. His young grandson Yassin, deaf from the sounds of the bombing, is one of the few survivors. The two set out through an unforgiving landscape, searching for the coal mine where Murad, the old man's son and the boy's father, works" The novella consists mostly of waiting for a way to enter the mine to find Murad and encountering a nice man who helps them and who also has a tragic story to share. The old man does not have the reception he expects, when he finally reaches his son.
Este libro te deja literalmente sin palabras. Es un coraz贸n roto de principio a fin. Y con eso hace poes铆a. Incre铆ble. (despu茅s escribo m谩s, es muy fuerte!!) ------------------------------------------- Ya regres茅. Me qued茅 un poco en shock despu茅s de leer este libro. Es una cosa tan triste, pero hace algo incre铆ble con esto. La historia es un hombre que va a avisar a su hijo que toda su familia acaba de morir en un bombardeo de los rusos a su aldea. H谩ganme el favor con eso. Es una novela corta, de 80 p谩ginas, y concentra todo: amor, muerte, dignidad, honor, espiritualidad, tristeza profunda, muda, y con palabras. Adem谩s de todo eso, est谩 contada en segunda persona, lo que le da otro nivel de fuerza, como que el narrador es el protagonista (el abuelo-padre) es el mismo que te hace ver esta historia, porque no te la est谩 contando, te la est谩 mostrando, y es como mirar al horror desde un lugar, y a la vez estar adentro de 茅l. Es dur铆simo, pero se los recomiendo mucho. Lo inexplicable de la guerra, lo horrible y triste, y la respuesta a ese horror, desde esta historia conmovedora. Una belleza. Nunca hab铆a le铆do a este autor!! Buscar茅 m谩s libros suyos por supuesto. De esto se trata gente, la literatura nos hace comprender las cosas desde adentro, y es algo que de alguna manera nos salva.
Lo peor de todo es que esto me hizo pensar en M茅xico, o en muchos pa铆ses de Latinoamerica:
"-Sabes muy bien, amigo m铆o, que, para averiguar algo, en este pa铆s hay que empezar por hacer hablar a los muertos en sus tumbas."
One of the most haunting works of fiction to address the turmoil going on in Afghanistan. By telling the story of a father and son the story 'scales' down the overwhelming problems the country faces - we are able to connect in a way that we could not have in the past. The writing is sparse and crisp: reminiscent of Hemingway.
6 Punkte f眉r poetische und ber眉hrende 98 Seiten 眉ber einen Gro脽vater, der in Afghanistan mit seinem Enkel zu seinem Sohn reist, um diesem mitzuteilen, dass Ehefrau, Mutter, Bruder tot sind. Nach dem wei脽en Dampfer ein weiterer Gro脽vater, hier einer, der nicht wei脽, ob er stark genug f眉r seine Aufgabe ist und Angst hat vor der Begegnung mit seinem Sohn. Sehr kurz, wenig und verborgener Kontext zu Zeit und Geschehen, eine Prise Mythos, krasse Armut. Intensiv trotz Skizzencharakter. Du-Form kurz irritierend, dann stimmig.
This Afghani novella of only 81 pages is one of the most poignant, moving pieces I've ever read! Upon finishing it, I closed the book and took a long pause to get my breath back; this simple story of a grandfather, Dastaguir, and his little grandson, Yassin, broke my heart. Written in stark, spare prose with no wasted words, this tragic story encapsulates the whole broken war-torn land of Afghanistan through two peasants.
During the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, a grandfather and grandson, the only survivors from their bombed-out village, make a journey to see the boy's father, who is a coal miner in another location. The little boy has been deafened by the loud noise of bombs. From time to time Dastaguir remembers his family and the day of the bombing. He daydreams about family or himself as a child or naps, having strange dreams as the truck carries him to the mine. We read his interior monologues: what will he say to his son about the attack and his family?
Dastaguir and Yassin are vivid characters, as well as others: a shopkeeper, a guard, a truck driver. The author painted a masterful picture using few uncomplicated words. I could see everything before me on every page. For some reason the author's device of using an omniscient narrator talking to Dastaguir [casting the story in second person] was very effective. References to the Persian epic Shahnama are worked into the plot. [Rostam and Sohrab are as well known in that part of the world as Agamemnon and Orestes are here in the West.] I had never heard of this novella before; now I highly recommend it to everyone!
Book 1/197 Countries and this read was one of my most anticipated Atiq Rahimi books. Hopefully, many more to come. The bitterness pervading the novel tears any reader up :(
This is a short novel, but it is poignant with meaning and emotion. To say that Earth and Ashes is a touching and haunting novel would be an understatement. This novel has absolutely broken my heart to pieces but I love it for it. Earth and Ashes is an amazing profoundly novel about war and loss. Perhaps not everyone will feel so or be able to understand its depth, but this book has both heart and soul...and what a heart and soul it has! I'm sure I will never forget it.
A grandfather travels with his grandson (now deaf) to his son to tell him the news of their entire family being killed. There is a moment in this book when the grandfather drops his apples. In this moment, I felt it all. His despair, sadness and tiredness without a hope of a rest.
The style of writing is simple and poetic but at times it also feels cut off. It is perfect for portraying mental fragility of a man who has lost it all. This novel is about the civilian casualties and loss experienced during Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, but it could be applied to speak of any time and place for war is ever present and this world is a horrible place. The novel never mentions the Soviets or politics. This is a very personal story of loss. It is easier for the dead, it is the living that suffer. How to forgive, how to live?
Kad su djedu ispale jabuke, to膷no sam imala osje膰aj da sam i ja tamo, kako i ja mogu osjetiti gubitak svega, svake nade, umor onkraj odmora i tugu tako duboku da ne mo啪e prona膰i izraz....kako i ja mogu osjetiti pra拧inu kako natapa svaki dio tijela, kako ulazi u plu膰a i gu拧i svaki trag svjetlosti.
Stil pisanja je odsje膷en, jasan i jednostavan, a u ovoj pri膷i preklapaju se san i java i do膷aravaju savr拧eno krhko psihi膷ko stanje 膷ovjeka koji je izgubio sve, djeda koji putuje s malim unukom koji je oglu拧io od bombardiranja kako bi sinu donio vijest o smrti cijele obitelji. Uvijek su nevini ti koji stradaju.Ovaj kratki ali upe膷atljivi i sna啪ni roman (samo 84 stranice) pro膷itala sam u ne拧to jako kratko vremena ali to je roman koji 膰e me pratiti cijeloga 啪ivota.
Prah i pepeo. Rahimova je proza jako sna啪na, prenosi svu strahotu rata, a pri膷a se mo啪e primijeniti na svaki rat, okupaciju i potla膷enost bilo kojeg naroda, ne samo u ratu ve膰 u okolnostima svijeta. Kakav je to svijet u kojem nevini stradaju? Mrtvima je lak拧e, 啪ivi su ti koji pate....ta re膷enica do膷arava 膷estu i gorku istinu. Kako oprostiti, kako 啪ivjeti?
鈥淲e're on the eve of destruction. Men have lost all sense of honor. Power has become their faith instead of faith being their power.鈥� 鈥� Atiq Rahimi, Earth and Ashes
te拧ko je zvijezdicama ocijeniti knjigu koja govori o tragediji i u啪asu rata. (afganistan, u ovom slu膷aju)
pisana u 2. licu, pri膷a prati nekoliko sati u 啪ivotu oca koji odlazi u susjedno selo gdje njegov sin radi u rudniku da bi ga obavijestio o bombardiranju njihovog sela i pogibelji cijele obitelji, osim njegovog sina koji je od bombardiranja oglu拧io. tih nekoliko sati ustvari je unutarnji monolog kojeg starac, shrvan boli i tugom, prolazi do susreta sa sinom.
jezik je krajnje ogoljen, mjestimice realisti膷an, a mjestimice poeti膷an - kakav 啪ivot sam, zapravo i jest. knji啪ica se pro膷ita kao pri膷a, u dahu, a upe膷atljivi ujed tragedije ostaje. bazira se na emocionalnom do啪ivljaju i u tome je atiq rahimi uspje拧an... kad napravi ovakav emocionalni rez, onda ostali kriteriji padaju u drugi plan.
This novella is absolutely stunning. Written with the sparsity of a poem, it tells the story of a grandfather in Afghanistan, journeying his his little grandson, who has become deaf when Russian bombs destroyed their village. Not too many books are written in the second person. But this one pulls it off, and the constant reference to "you" only adds to the dramatic effect on the reader. You go inside the heart of a person still in shock, trying to make sense out of a world that has just been destroyed. The author doesn't go into politics or sides. Instead he just focuses on what it feels like to survive total horror. The story leaves you completely numb and devastated, yet in a way that also makes you feel connected to fellow members of the human race, no matter how unfortunate.
Atiq Rahimi is the first Afghan writer I've read. This very short book is very much a psychological novel going into the mind of an old man who has been traumatized by war and the destruction of his village and family. The language is almost poetic at times.
Besides their realtives, properties and the entire village itself, their faith in a higher being has also been smoked down to ash. How can a God let his subjects go through this? This is what war does to people.
This book was my pick for Afghanistan and what a book it was. Within a span of 70 something pages it tells a story so haunting you'll need some quiet after that last line.
It tells the story of Dastaguir, a grandfather, who travels with his grandson Yassin, in search of his son and Yassins's father, Murad at the mine where he works. But this is no ordinary family reunion. He carries the news of death and destruction.
With the Soviet army's arrival in Afghanistan, Dastaguir lost everything, his entire village was burnt to the ground and the people in it reduced to ash, but that is not enough, he has to carry this message of loss to his oblivious son who works his youth away in a mine - all for what? To feed a family that no longer exists?
Yassin has lost his hearing to the bombs, but the child doesn't know that, he thinks the tanks brought along silence with them. He doesn't realize that he is the one who has gone deaf. He asks "Grandfather, have the Russians come and taken away everyone's voice?" The child thinks only the people whose voices have been taken away are alive, whereas those who refused to give up their voices, like his grandmother, were killed. A child's mind can work in ways so wonderful. In a way he is right, he just doesn't know the gravity of this thought yet.
On his way to meet Murad, Dastaguir contemplates which details to leave out and which to include to save Murad from losing his sanity. The poor old man has no one to share his grief with, no one to mourn the loss of his family with. Yet he thinks about his son and decides to omit the details that haunt him.
I would definitely have to pick up the Shahnama after reading this book. The story of Rostam and Sohrab caught my interest. If anyone knows of a good English translated version, please let me know.
Vivamente consigliato da @Dominga, l'ho trovato oggi, per puro caso, in biblioteca e, vista la brevit脿, l'ho preso, come lettura di fine anno.
Il libro rappresenta lo spaccato di una realt脿 molto cruda, quella della devastazione bellica in Afghanistan durante l'occupazione russa. Rappresenta soprattutto il dolore, in questo caso concentrato in un vecchio, che questa devastazione ha portato.
Dalla quarta di copertina: "Il rombo della guerra ha divorato i suoni e le voci. Un vecchio e un bambino nella polvere, aspettando, su una strada dell'Afghanistan."
Ed ancora: "... 猫 un libro straordinario: secco, allucinato, tragico, desolato, ineluttabile. Un grido senza voce al di l脿 della disperazione, una pugnalata per squarciare l'indifferenza e l'oblio."
Ma mi ha fatto pi霉 tenerezza la condizione del bimbo, Yass铆n: "E un giorno non senti pi霉 nulla. Perch茅? Anzi, se ti dicessero che sei sordo, ti sembrerebbe una parola stupida! Non senti, non comprendi. Non immagini che sei proprio tu a non sentire pi霉! Credi che siano gli altri ad aver perso il suono. Il suono ha abbandonato l'uomo, il suono ha abbandonato il sasso. Il suono ha abbandonato il mondo. Allora perch茅 gli uomini aprono e chiudono la bocca inutilmente?"
A huge disappointment. Many of my GR friends liked this a lot, but not me. You learn nothing about the Russian occupation of Afghanistan. There is no history in this book, and on an emotional level it fails to properly evoke the horror, suffering and grief inherent to all war experiences. Perhaps only confusion is expressed, and this incoherently and through bizarre dreams. You can read this in one sitting, but I recommend you spend your time elsewhere.