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The Last Summer of Reason
The Last Summer of Reason | Tahar Djaout
4 posts | 4 read | 4 to read
This elegant, haunting novel takes us deep into the world of bookstore owner Boualem Yekker. He lives in a country being overtaken by the Vigilant Brothers, a radically conservative party that seeks to control every element of life according to the laws of their stringent moral theology: no work of beauty created by human hands should rival the wonders of their god. Once-treasured art and literature are now despised. ø Silently holding his ground, Boualem withstands the new regime, using the shop and his personal history as weapons against puritanical forces. Readers are taken into the lush depths of the bookseller's dreams, the memories of his now-empty family life, his passion for literature, then yanked back into the terror and drudgery of his daily routine by the vandalism, assaults, and death warrants that afflict him. ø From renowned Algerian author Tahar Djaout we inherit a brutal and startling story that reveals how far an ordinary human being will go to maintain hope.
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Dilara
Dilara
The Last Summer of Reason | Tahar Djaout
post image

This book gives us the reflections of Boualem, a non-religious bookseller in a place run by Islamic fundamentalists, pretty transparently #Algeria. He is isolated & harassed. It was written during the Algerian civil war and the FIS rule. Djaout was murdered by the GIA & the book was published posthumously. I'm not sure it should have been: it's badly written & edited. ⬇
#FoodandLit
@Catsandbooks @Texreader

Dilara I've seen the rave reviews by readers of the English version: I can only surmise that the translator did a lot of work on it.

Pic of Place des Martyrs, Algiers by Salaheddine Gharib, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons 2w
31 likes1 stack add1 comment
blurb
Dilara
Dilara
The Last Summer of Reason | Tahar Djaout
post image

My #10BeforeTheEnd are:
The Adventure of Vela for #Samoa
The Last Summer of Reason by Tahar Djaout and Black Suits You so Well by Ahlam Mosteghanemi for #Algeria
The Devil in Love by Cazotte and Fontamara by Ignazio Silone for #Italy
Paris noir
Edith Wharton's Ghost Stories
Jami's Mejnun & Leila
The Last Quarter of the Moon by Zijian Chi
Soul Mountain by Gao Xingjian
(tagged countries for #FoodAndLit )
@ChaoticMissAdventures

Liz_M I just read EWs Ghost Stories! Excellent writing even if the stories are not great. 2mo
Dilara @Liz_M I agree. have a couple left to read: the plots are hit and miss, but Edith Wharton could make the phone-book interesting... And she has such an ear for dialogue. 2mo
34 likes2 comments
blurb
Smrloomis
Smrloomis
The Last Summer of Reason | Tahar Djaout
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How have I never heard of this before??? It sounds great! @bookishbitch

bookishbitch It is definitely a hidden gem. I've never seen it anywhere other than my local bookshop. 5y
Smrloomis @bookishbitch I ran across the title while looking at lists of books picked for community reads programs in the US. Never heard of it and now I need to get a copy! 5y
32 likes2 comments
review
bookishbitch
bookishbitch
The Last Summer of Reason | Tahar Djaout
Pickpick

This is a haunting story that I found beautifully written. Sadly a reality for some and a possible future for others. It made me grateful to have been born in this country, even with its own political flaws. Yes even now. It also made me wish I were an English teacher so I could make it required reading for my students. I highly recommend. (Loaned to a friend or I would have added a photo.)

3 likes1 stack add