A second couple is struggling to survive her illness while the husband tries to succeed as a policeman in an arbitrary system. This is a beautifully written novel that will punch you in the gut, have you wanting to throw it against a wall in disgust, make you weep for the tragic characters and fall in love with the writing. Home. No anime ever has filled me with so much strange energy and gotten me so immersed in it. Then, he left and wandered around the city. The Swallows of Kabul is a novel by Algerian writer Yasmina Khadra. As a whole, although interesting, it wasn't as enthralling as A Thousand Splendid Suns, The Kite Runner, or Reading Lolita in Tehran (yes, I know that's in Iran, but it's the same genre, wouldn't you say?). Don't ask me to give up my name, my features, the color of my eyes, and the shape of my lips so I can take a walk through squalor and desolation. Mohsen decides that he wants to take a walk with Zunaira in the marketplace, but she says that she does not want to. People fighting to be the first to throw stones on a woman being executed in front of them. Yasmina Khadra is the pseudonym of a former Algerian army … The helplessness of both of them to protect each other in the face of such random brutality haunts me. ISBN-13. Start by marking “Swallows of Kabul” as Want to Read: Error rating book. The desperation of people trying to live under the radar in a Kabul ruled by the Taliban is gut wrenching. We eat so we won't starve to death. "The Swallows of Kabul", a film by Zabou Breitman and Eléa Gobbé-Mevellec.Summer 1998 – Kabul under Taliban rule. Quote Analysis This quote shows the extent that the Taliban has affected the physical and mental lives of the people of Kabul. From the first page, the reader of The Swallows of Kabul is drawn into a time and place that is synonymous with eternity: the wild emptiness of the Afghan countryside, where “erosion grinds away with complete impunity.” This is the land of the Pashtuns. It made me want to throw the book out the window; so much injustice, so much sadness, so much cruelty. Men have gone mad; they have turned their backs on the day in order to face the night. Such is life for Taliban supporter Atiq Shaukat, who works as a jailer at Kabul prison. The Swallows of Kabul Chapter 6 The next morning, Mohsen and Zunaira act like nothing had happened between them. The Swallows of Kabul by Yasmina Khadra is a heart piercing book about two couples living under the Taliban in Kabul. If I had a list of the most distressing books I've ever read, most likely this one would be near the top of the list! The Shirt of Nessus wouldn't do as much damage to my dignity as that wretched getup. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. A harrowing fictional account of life under the Taliban in Kabul, where women must envelop themselves from head to toe and renounce their careers and proper medical care; where men must comport themselves solemnly in the street and be herded at random into mosques to hear interminable diatribes from mullahs; where laughter, singing and dancing are forbidden; and where "justice" is meted out at the whim of the authorities. Ironic tale set in Kabul. Customers who bought this item also bought. With Simon Abkarian, Zita Hanrot, Swann Arlaud, Hiam Abbass. By focusing on the lives of the two couples and giving the Taliban only walk-on roles, Khadra (the pseudonym for Algerian writer Mohammed Moulessehoul) renders the repression all the more sinister. Even the people themselves have become just as ugly as the city, which once was filled with music and happiness. One of them, Zunaira, is the personification of Kabul--her beauty holds as she is destroyed. I'll definitely be returning to it. The Swallows of Kabul is a long anime, with the space and leisure to expand and explore its themes. A second couple is struggling to survive her i. By focusing on the lives of the two couples and giving the Taliban only walk-on roles, Khadra (the pseudonym for Algerian writer Mohammed Moulessehoul) renders the repression all the more sinister. You’re not piloting the ship, you’re following the course of your destiny.”, “اسمع قلبك، إنه الوحيد الذي يحدثك عن نفسك، الوحيد الذي يمتلك الحقيقة الحقة. At one point of the book, a decision to take a walk, a simple walk, becomes monumental. The Swallows of Kabul is a dazzling novel written with compassion and exquisite detail by one of the most lucid writers about the mentality of Islamic fundamentalists and the … The dust has stunted their orchards, blinded their eyes, sealed up their hearts. 3.5 stars. The novel was originally written and published in French. It revolves around four central characters: Atiq, Musarrat, Mohsen, and Zunaira. The Shirt of Nessus woudn't do as much damage to my dignity as that wretched getup. Don't ask me to give up my name, my features, the color of my eyes, and the shape of my lips so I can walk through squalor and desolation.". If I put that damned veil on, I'm neither a human being nor an animal, I'm just an affront, a disgrace, a blemish that has to be hidden. Mohsen und Zunaira aber wollen der allgegenwärtigen Gewalt mit Liebe und Zuneigung begegnen — bis Mohsen eine Unachtsamkeit begeht, die alles in Frage stellt. In one chapter a husband begs his wife to go for a walk with him and she finally agrees, only to have a solider abuse her and physically force her husband to attend the mosque, leaving her to stand in the heat boiling under a burka. 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