OT - for the French speaking out there

[Inuca]

Below is quote a friend emailed me, it is from a novel by an algerian novelist (he writes in French), from a recent novel entitled The Sirens of Baghdad". I oufn it extremely moving, sad, and well written, and just wanted to share.

"Resté seul, je tourne le dos à la villle et me souviens de Kafr Karam....Kafr Karam est une bourgade misérable et laide que je n'échangerais pas contre mille kermesses. C'était un coin peinard, au large du désert. Auqune guirlande ne défigurait son naturel, aucun tapage ne troublait sa torpeur. Depuis des génération immémoriales, nous vivions reclus derrière nos remparts en torchis, loin du monde et de ses bêtes immondes, nous contentant de ce que Dieu mettait dans nos assiettes et le louant aussi bien pour le nouveau-né qu'il nous confiait que pour le proche qu'il rappelait à Lui. Nous étions pauvres, humbles, mais nous étions tranquilles. Jusqu'au jour où, dans les jardins de Babylone, des brutes bardées de grenades et de menottes sont venues apprendre aux poètes à être des hommes libres..."

I dare not even attempt to translate the whole thing, I will just give the last 2 sentences a try. The first few sentences describe a simple life in a forgotten little town, and then the last 2 sentence read, more or less: "We were poor, humble, but we were at peace. Until the day when in the gardens of Babylone, brutes with grenades and handcuffs have come to teach the poets how to be free people..." It sounds terrible in English, at least in my translation. The original French is lyrical and beautiful. And the whole thing speaks volumes about the inability to understand the cultural differences that are among the main reasons this whole thing is such a horrible disaster.

[Mass]

1. I agree - It is a beautiful text, very moving

"Once alone, I turn my back to the town and remember Kafr Karam....Kafr Karam is a wretched and ugly lttle town that I would not exchange against one thousand fairs. It is a happy place, in the middle of the desert. No festoons to distort its natural, no uproar to trouble its torpor. As far as one can remember, we were living enclosed behind our ramparts made of torch. far of the world and its filthy beast, happy with what God filled our plates with and thanking him as well for a new-born he was giving is as for the loved-one he was calling back to him"

It is far from reproducing the beauty of the text, but it is the gist of it.

What is the gist of the story? From this excerpt, it could be as well the Algerian war as the the Iraq War (and, honestly, these last few years have shown so many parallels between the two that it is frightening).

EDIT: I found the background - The writer is a former superior officer from the Algerian army who is writing books about terrorism.

If anything, his background allows him to know the issue. Algeria has been plagued by violent terrorism during the 80s and 90s, and he probably writes from direct knowledge.

[Inuca]

2. Thanks for the help

with the translation. You found him though I forgot to mention the name! How did you manage? This is web page http://www.yasmina-khadra.com/. I did not read a book, did no tread anything by him just got the quote from a frind who is reading the book. I will try to get from my school library another one in the same series he wrote entitled, if I remember correctly The Swallows of Afghanistan. I checked Amazon and did not find the one the quote is from, I assume it has not been translated yet.

[Mass]

3. There are actually 3 books in this series.

-the attack
-the swallows of afghanistan
-the sirens of Bagdad (not available before next year - Amazon.com link).

http://www.amazon.com/Sirens-Baghdad-Novel-Yasmina-Khadra/dp/038552174X/sr=8-15/qid=1161448805/ref=sr_1_15/104-2447712-7331926?ie=UTF8&s=books

He has been writing many other books in collaboration with other authors before.