Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10537 in Books
• Published on: 2005-05-05
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Synopsis
Moshen and his wife, Zunaira, met at the university and once looked forward to a happy and prosperous life together. But Moshem's dream of becoming a diplomat, halted by the war with Russia, dies with the ascendancy of the Taliban. Zunaira, formerly a lawyer who worked for women's rights, can no longer even appear on the streets of Kabul without a veil over her face. It is only in their own home that they can be themselves. One day, unable to resist Moshen's pleas, Zunaira dons her burqa and goes to market with him. The outing turns into a nightmare. Atiq, a veteran of the Russian war, is now a part-time jailer who watches over those condemned to death. The darkness of the prison and the wretchedness of his job have seeped into his soul. His home offers little respite from his rage and misery; his wife Musarrat, is suffering from an illness no doctor can cure and even the most furvent prayers cannot alleviate. As Atiq begins to lose all faith in his own ability to survive the arbitary demands and extreme cruelties of the Taliban, he is drawn to Zanaira, now in prison awaiting public execution.

In a final act of defiance, Musarrat conceives a plan that will allow her husband to live and hope again...Already a best seller in France, "The Swallows of Kabul" brilliantly exposes the differences between religiosity and dangerous religious extremism. Written in spare, exquisite prose, it is an unforgettable portrait of life under a fascist theocracy.

From the Publisher
A major bestseller in the tradition of THE KITE RUNNER and THE BOOKSELLER OF KABUL

About the Author
Y Khadra:
Yasmina Khadra is the nom de plume of the Algerian army officer, Mohammed Moulessehoul, who took a feminine pseudonym to avoid submitting his manuscripts for approval by the army. He is the author of two other books published in English, In the Name of God and Wolf Dreams. He lives in France.

Customer Reviews

Bigger would be better
Regardless of the nationality or gender of the author, I read this book in part to gain an insight into life on the other side of the west/east divide - inasmuch as that's possible by reading books. I'm reading lots of books with an Asian theme at the moment - so there is a balance to my reading.

Anyway, I thought this story, and the storytelling, had the potential for greatness. The moment when I cottoned on to a certain character's plan was - literally - breathtaking. But for a story that had the potential for a kind of Shakespearian greatness - by that I mean it could be a mythic, iconic tale - it fell a little flat. Ultimately, this felt to me like a first draft - a sketching out of a story that would be filled in, deepened, coloured at a later date. So often, the reverse is true, and I find myself wishing the editor had had the guts to put a red pen through a hundred pages or so - but with Swallows of Kabul, I felt it needed more, to give it the heavyweight status it deserves. Nonetheless, I shall be seeking out more from this author.

Swallows of Kabul written by an Algerian Army officer
This Book was written by a former Algerian Army officer who served in the war against the fundamentalist GIA in his country. He wrote the book and published it using his wife's name since he thought a female Muslim name would elicit greater attention by reviewers. Later after some positive reviews the publicity seeking author declared that Yasmina had not written the work after all but that he, Yasmina's husband was the author. The author has never been to Afghanistan.

Dreadful
Following on from Khaled Husseini, I picked this up to continue in the recent Afghan seem of literature. What a disappointment.
Cliched and wooden, there are far better books on the subject and I wish I hadn't wasted my time.