Horses of God

by Mahi Binebine

On May 16, 2003, fourteen suicide bombers launched a series of attacks throughout Casablanca. It was the deadliest attack in Morocco’s history. The bombers came from the shantytowns of Sidi Moumen, a poor suburb on the edge of a dump whose impoverished residents rarely if ever set foot in the cosmopolitan city at their doorstep. Mahi Binebine’s novel Horses of God follows four childhood friends growing up in Sidi Moumen as they make the life-changing decisions that will lead them to become Islamist martyrs.

The seeds of fundamentalist martyrdom are sown in the dirt-poor lives of Yachine, Nabil, Fuad, and Ali, all raised in Sidi Moumen. The boys’ soccer team, The Stars of Sidi Moumen, is their main escape from the poverty, violence, and absence of hope that pervade their lives. When Yachine’s older brother Hamid falls under the spell of fundamentalist leader Abu Zoubeir, the attraction of a religion that offers discipline, purpose, and guidance to young men who have none of these things becomes too seductive to ignore.

Narrated by Yachine from the afterlife, Horses of God portrays the sweet innocence of childhood and friendship as well as the challenges facing those with few opportunities for a better life. Binebine navigates the controversial situation with compassion, creating empathy for the boys, who believe they have no choice but to follow the path offered them.


Winner of the 2010 Prix du Roman Arabe and Prix Littéraire Mamounia

"The novel provides context and perspective to often little-explored issues, offering incredible insight into the complex lives of poor boys who are groomed to kill themselves for a cause and commit violent acts in the name of religion. Binebine portrays these young men as supremely human, victims of powers much larger than themselves, and like any Kafkaesque anti-hero, cogs in an incomprehensible and monstrous machine."
--Starred Publishers Weekly

"Moroccan painter, novelist, and former math teacher Binebine (Welcome to Paradise) writes with humor and pathos amid the novel’s grinding tragedy but never allows the narrative to veer into self-pity or cheap sentimentality. The book is based on the 2004 suicide bombings in Casablanca, and Binebine’s unblinking eye for detail makes this a haunting tale."
--Library Journal

Genres: Fiction, Morocco, Africa, Literary Fiction, Middle East, Contemporary, Novels

187 pages, Paperback

First published January 6, 2010

About the author

Mahi Binebine is a Moroccan painter and novelist born in Marrakech in 1959. Binebine has written six novels which have been translated into various languages.

Born in 1959 in Marrakech, Mahi Binebine moved in Paris in 1980 to continue his studies in mathematics, which he taught for eight years. He then devoted himself to writing and painting. He wrote several novels, which have been translated into a dozen languages. He emigrated to New York from 1994 to 1999. His paintings are part of the permanent collection at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. He returned to Marrakech in 2002 where he currently lives and works.

Reviews

[°°°·.°·..·°¯°·._.· ʜᴇʟᴇɴ Ροζουλί Εωσφόρος ·._.·°¯°·.·° .·°°° ★·.·´¯`·.·★ Ⓥⓔⓡⓝⓤⓢ Ⓟⓞⓡⓣⓘⓣⓞⓡ Ⓐⓡⓒⓐⓝⓤⓢ Ταμετούρο Αμ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Τα αστέρια του Σίντι Μουμέν είναι απο κάποιους μακρινούς γαλαξίες, απο συμπαντικές αρχιτεκτονικές συνθέσεις κόσμων και ψυχών ζοφερών.
Πλασμάτων και πνευμάτων μεταφυσικών, απογυμνωμένων απο κάθε αρχή συλλογισμού, με μοναδικό πεδίο ενάσκησης τους κάποιους αιώνιους σκουπιδότοπους και κάποιες παραγκούπολεις σε συνοικισμούς αγγέλων.

Αμέτρητοι άγγελοι με λερωμένα φτερά απο τις λάσπες και τη βρόμα της επιβίωσης τους στο καθαρτήριο του έγχρωμου πολιτισμού και της ασπρόμαυρης τρομοκρατίας.

Τραυματισμένοι άγγελοι απο την φτώχεια, τη στέρηση ηθών και δικαιωμάτων, την αμόρφωτη σιωπή που τους προκαλούσε κραυγές διαφθοράς και την μυρωδιά της σήψης του κόσμου που τους έπνιγε με αηδία και τους μελάνιαζε την ψυχή μέχρι να πεθάνει η ανοχή και η ενοχή.

Ματωμένοι άγγελοι, που γελούσαν και έκλαιγε ο θεός, διότι εκείνος γνώριζε πως όταν γελούν οι άγγελοι φωτίζεται η κόλαση απο καινούργια αστέρια και η κοιλάδα του παραδείσου βαλτώνει απο τα θολά απόνερα εκκένωσης αίματος, δακρύων, απόγνωσης και εκδίκησης.

Πρόκειται για μια σημαντική στιγμούλα της λογοτεχνίας που λαμβάνει χρόνο και χώρο σε αυτό το βιβλίο.

Πραγματικά γεγονότα τρομοκρατικής, δολοφονικής απογραφής με βομβιστικές επιθέσεις αυτοκτονίας στην Καζαμπλάνκα.

Στην πραγματικότητα η χωματερή της κυνικής θρησκευτικής παράνοιας, δίπλα και γύρω απο την οποία επιβιώνουν,κατοικούν και εκκενώνουν θρίαμβο δυστυχίας οι άγγελοι του πλανήτη δεν θα καταστραφεί ποτέ.
Θα μυρίζει αιώνια νεκρική, ψυχωσική, ιερή και θρησκευτική πεποίθηση προαναγγελθέντος θανάτου.
Δεν θα αδειάσει απο τη σαπίλα και δεν θα αρωματιστεί απο την ευδαιμονία και την παρθενική ομορφιά.
Θα συνεχίσει την σήψη ψυχών και σωμάτων που τη διατηρούν παραγωγική και εξελίσσιμη, μέσα απο την εξαπάτηση των απελπισμένων με τοξική θρησκεία, σε μια σπαταλημένη αιματηρή θυσία ολοένα και νεότερων εκρηκτικών συνδυασμών.

🌟✨🌟✨🌟✨🌟✨🌟✨🌟✨🌟✨🌟✨🌟✨🌟✨
Καλή ανάγνωση!
Πολλούς Ασπασμούς!!

[George K. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Βαθμολογία: 9/10

Πρόκειται για ένα πραγματικά εξαιρετικό μυθιστόρημα, για μια γροθιά στο στομάχι. Το Σίντι Μουμέν είναι ένας πραγματικός σκουπιδότοπος, στον οποίο ζουν χιλιάδες εξαθλιωμένοι άνθρωποι που δεν έχουν στον ήλιο μοίρα, που θα έλεγε κανείς ότι είναι καταδικασμένοι από γεννησιμιού τους σε μια ζωή γεμάτη μιζέρια. Σ'αυτήν τη γειτονιά γεννήθηκαν και μεγάλωσαν και οι βομβιστές αυτοκτονίας που έσπειραν τον θάνατο και τον τρόμο στην Καζαμπλάνκα, τον Μάιο του 2003. Αφηγητής είναι ένας νέος, ένας από τους βομβιστές. Η αφήγησή του είναι έντονη, αφόρητα ρεαλιστική και αφοπλιστική, μέσω αυτής ο συγγραφέας αναδεικνύει τη φτώχεια και την απανθρωπιά του Σίντι Μουμέν (και του κάθε Σίντι Μουμέν αυτού του κόσμου), αλλά και πως κάποιοι νέοι οδηγούνται σε τραγικές αποφάσεις ζωής, τόσο για τους ίδιους και τις οικογένειές τους, όσο και για άλλους, τελείως άγνωστους συνανθρώπους τους. Και, φυσικά, υπάρχουν αυτοί που εκμεταλλεύονται αυτούς τους νέους για τα δικά τους συμφέροντα, αλλά και αυτοί που δεν τους δίνουν ούτε μια ευκαιρία, ούτε μια διέξοδο από τη φτώχεια και τη μιζέρια. Η γραφή είναι πάρα πολύ καλή και οξυδερκής, με εικόνες και συναισθήματα που μένουν για καιρό στο μυαλό του αναγνώστη. Ειλικρινά απορώ που έκανα δυο και βάλε χρόνια μέχρι να αγοράσω και να διαβάσω την υπέροχη έκδοση της Άγρας. Αλλά σε τέτοιες περιπτώσεις, ποτέ δεν είναι αργά.

[Thodoris Fotoglou · Rating 4 out of 5]

Τα αστέρια του Σίντυ Μουμέν δεν έχουν ελπίδα.Γεννιούνται με μια προδεγιαγραμένη μοίρα.
Ο θάνατος είναι εκεί κοντά τους,πανταχού παρών.Τον υιοθετούν.Είναι ο σύμμαχος τους.Τους υπηρετεί και τον υπηρετούνε.Η μηχανή θανάτου στο Σίντυ Μουμέν είναι μέρος της καθημερινότητας τους.Οι άνθρωποι έρχονται,φεύγουν,ζουν ή πεθαίνουν χωρίς αυτό να φέρνει καμιά αλλαγή στην εξίσωση της μιζέριας τους

[Proustitute (on hiatus) · Rating 4 out of 5]

And at the end lay paradise… And I’m still waiting for the angels.

Mahi Binebine's Horses of God is an almost perfect little novel, a fictional account of an event in Casablanca on 16 May 2003 that saw twelve suicide bombers slaughter innocent people along with themselves. In just over 150 pages, Binebine manages to capture the innocence and depravity of childhood in the Moroccan slum, Sidi Moumen (“where all downward slides converge”); the dreams, hopes, and desires of our now-deceased narrator, Yachine (not his given name, but a name he adopts for himself after Soviet soccer champion, Lev Yashin), whose voice comes to us from after (beyond?) death; and the collective and ritualistic violence that marks Yachine and his young friends as byproducts of the socioeconomic structure that crushes dreams before they can be realized—making them susceptible to outside influence: any pathway out of the slum, any proffered hand, any kind word extended are the balms these teenagers need to eventually carry bombs on their backs.

Perhaps it is natural that a novel about the allure of Islamic fundamentalism and a deadly act of terrorism that ensues would be viewed as either exploiting post-9/11 fears or else as toeing the line dangerously between sympathizing with terrorists. I seem to recall some of the former at work in criticism leveled at Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist, which, to keep it brief as this is not a review of that novel, I think was largely unfounded and can be traced to a misreading of Hamid’s narrator’s idiosyncratic sense of deprecatory humor—one that can be misinterpreted as elitist or holier-than-thou, but which is in fact working in a different vein altogether. As for the latter side of the fence when it comes to literature and film, Julia Loktev’s 2006 film Day Night Day Night is one that many critics problematically viewed as a psychological portrait of a young, unnamed woman’s preparation to bomb a location in Manhattan. That the camera never has her out of the line of sight seems, to many, to suggest that Loktev is forcing viewers to identify with this unnamed terrorist, and therefore evoke empathy of some sort.



Rather, the major problem with all of the criticism leveled from any angle when it comes to cultural products dealing with fundamentalism and terrorism, is that a binary opposition is perpetuated, one that these very works are trying to suggest should not be invoked in any discourse on the subject. Instead of an us-versus-them or a “good-guy”-versus-“bad guy” dialectic, these works—and Binebine’s Horses of God is among them, but in a much quieter and more subtle way—suggest that we all have the potential to become terrorists, provided that environment and psychological factors collide while faced with influential and seemingly embracing figures who offer something—love, salvation, purpose—one’s life had hitherto lacked so utterly, so fundamentally.

Yachine, our narrator, is recounting events from the beyond, but it’s unclear where this is:

I won’t describe where I am now because I don’t know myself. All I can say is that I’m reduced to an entity now, to use the language of down below, I’ll call consciousness.Is it heaven? Is it an external sort of consciousness? Is it a wraith-like limbo haunting stage, causing him to relive his past wrongs? And now, as a lovelorn ghost, I feel the futile need to pour out my feelings and finally tell this story I’ve been turning over and over in my mind since the day of my death.

What makes Binebine’s prose so incisive in Horses of God are the ways in which he is able to vacillate back and forth between the young Yachine’s memories of his childhood, his triumph and loss at soccer, his heterosexual love for both Ghizlane, and friend Fuad’s sister, and also his queer love for Nabil with a voice that is young, naive, childish but brash; by contrast, when recounting familial events, events going on more globally (typically relayed at the family table by his brother Said), and his induction into the fundamentalist world of Abu Zoubeir, Yachine’s voice is more mature, steady, stern, and almost weary from the world—something that makes this read as much more than the thoughts of a sixteen-year-old boy. Binebine’s skill here is in interweaving these two voices of Yachine’s, and at no point do they seem discordant. Rather, we are getting a complete psychological portrait of our narrator at various stages in his development, but without a normative chronology, a portrait that is at times eerily reminiscent of Robert Walser’s choice of narrative voice in the eponymous novel Jakob von Gunten (link to my Goodreads review).

And yet what separates Horses of God from the other cultural products—e.g., film, literature, art, and so on—on fundamentalism and terror is that despite Binebine’s emphasis on Yachine’s individuality, his inner subjectivity is rarely stressed. True, we get his young infatuations, his disappointments, his bitter childhood feuds with slum friends, his dreams for something larger, but in some ways Yachine reads like a stock character. This kind of narrative distancing can be dangerous in a novel that makes use of the first-person narrative style: it often causes readers not to feel sympathy for the narrator. But I think that is just Binebine’s point: one already feels an affinity for Yachine, so need there be sympathy as well? Isn’t it enough to feel an affinity as we can all relate to feelings of isolation, alienation, disappointment, hardship, and struggle in our formative years? Aren’t these enough to make us realize that, in reality, we’re not all that dissimilar from Yachine or his other friends who choose the path toward violence, self-annihilation, and death feeling there is no other alternative? If faced with similar circumstances and living in the same, claustrophobic world of Sidi Moumen—which Binebine, also a painter, fleshes out in such telling narrative strokes here—would we have turned out differently, or would we, too, be wanting to confess, dissuade, and ask for pardon from the beyond?

Coupled with the lack of subjectivity is a marked shift in focus: whereas the other texts and films I mentioned above center almost wholly on individuals who either have or do not have back stories—one can, of course, always imagine what places a would-be terrorist into such a position as the female jihadist in Day Night Day Night—Horses of God instead causes the reader to see the slum of Sidi Moumen as a crucible for these kinds of violent acts. Even classic literature on terrorism—e.g., Conrad’s Secret Agent or James’s Princess Casmassima—touches lightly on environment and external factors, but only insofar as these relate to the individuals’ adoption of terrorist activities and belief systems. Instead, what Binebine is doing here, and what is Horses of God’s great novelistic and also humanitarian message, is that we are all shaped by the environments in which we are raised. Yachine’s socioeconomic life filled with a potent combination of abjection, boredom, malaise, and a youthful camaraderie rooted almost wholly in violent outcomes—e.g., rape, murder—does not make him a terrorist. Rather, these are all factors in the trajectory of a life’s pathway.

Yachine is both us and yet not us: in Binebine’s skilled hands, and in prose that is haunting, nonjudgmental, and compassionate, Yachine’s story is a warning, a wake-up call for society—for if we do not address the underlying socioeconomic issues that ravage the lives of Yachine and his friends, then that is but one of many issues to which we are turning a blind eye when it comes to fundamentalism and terrorism. These are not things that are external to us: they are inside of us all, as all of the titles mentioned above also emphasize in their own ways; but it is only in recognizing this sameness (along with culpability), and beginning to change the world in which we live collectively—without dichotomizing, without ostracizing, without othering—that we can begin to address the complex network of factors that culminate in such individual and psychical violence on a global battlefield on which we all stand.

[Maria Bikaki · Rating 4 out of 5]

«Αναρωτήθηκα μήπως είχε ήδη ενεργοποιήσει τη συσκευή που έζωνε το στήθος μου και είχα βρεθεί στον Παράδεισο. Κοιτούσα μέσα από τα τζαμένια ανοίγματα που έβλεπαν στον κήπο. Παρθένες γυμνόστηθες, με το σέξ τους καλυμμένο από ένα κομμάτι ύφασμα μεγάλο σαν αμπελόφυλλο, λιάζοντας πάνω σε αστεία κρεβάτια κάτω από πολύχρωμες ομπρέλες, άλλοι κολυμπούσαν σε μια επιφάνεια γαλάζιου διάφανου νερού, νόμιζες πως είχε χυθεί ο ουρανός μέσα τους. Η γυάλινη πόρτα στριφογύριζε σαν τα περιστρεφόμενα αλογάκια στις παιδικές χαρές. Και ξαφνικά το φως…»

Σκληρό και συνάμα εξαιρετικό. Διαβάζεται σ’ ένα κάθισμα. Αφηγητής ο νεκρός πια Γιασίν που αφηγείται τη ζωή του και προσπαθεί μέσα από το λόγο του να μιλήσει για το μέγεθος της τρομοκρατίας του ισλάμ. Ζωές αθώες μου μετατράπηκαν σε βομβιστές. Βουτιά στο θάνατο, ιστορίες στρατολόγησης, φανατισμός, μια επίγεια κόλαση όπου για να βρεις το φως πρέπει να «μαρτυρήσεις» κατά τις επιταγές του Κορανίου .

[Sotiris Karaiskos · Rating 5 out of 5]

On May 16, 2003, in Casablanca, in Morocco, a series of suicide bombings left behind 33 dead people along with the 12 terrorists. The suicide bombers had one thing in common: they came from a region of the city that was dominated by unemployment, poverty and, in general, by lack of any prospect for the future. Was this the cause of the terrorist attacks?

The author explores this relationshipby creating a fictional version of the life of some of these men and their course until the brainwashing they received led them to this bloody attack. At the beginning, the protagonists of the story are children who grow up in conditions of absolute poverty in a violent environment that religion is not the first priority, in the face of the difficulties of survival. They share their time between trying to help their families financially, in competition with other children in the region and their great passion for football. In the beginning, they are in agreement with this way of life and with the future that it reserves, but as they grow up, the greater is their need to escape from all this and to look for something bigger. At this stage they are discovered by a fanatical Islamist who tries to convert them with religious preaching and propaganda, offering them work and generally showing them a different path that ultimately leads to paradise through the supposed will of God. Unfortunately, in the end he succeeds in his purpose.

So, for the writer, the relationship is immediate, many young people who are stuck in shabby neighborhoods, where nothing is beautiful and the future seems bleak, accumulate anger and hatred for the society they live in, adopting a nihilistic mentality. Then comes someone and proposes them a version of Islam that can accommodate these emotions they feel, having the financial capacity to support them and their families, and thus end up in the hands of Islamic terrorism. The writer, however, does not stay just there and continues to wonder why these people choose death instead of life. Life has its difficulties, but in the end it's good and needs just a few simple things like family relationships, friendships, two beautiful eyes to reveal its beauty. So why in the end is death more attractive?

A book that puts the reader in thought about one of the biggest wounds of humanity in recent decades, reveals its social causes, warning that if the same situation continues, with governments in most countries with Muslim majority failing to raise living standards, this phenomenon will continue. I believe, however, that in the end the author leaves an optimistic message, showing us that the beauty of life can finally overcome ugliness and death. You see, despite the cruelty of the situations it describes, it is a very beautiful written book and that is what in the end won my appreciation. That's why I have to tell you to look for it.

Στις 16 Μαΐου του 2003, στην Καζαμπλάνκα, στο Μαρόκο, μία σειρά από βομβιστικές επιθέσεις αυτοκτονίας άφησαν πίσω τους 33 νεκρούς πολίτες μαζί με τους 12 τρομοκράτες. Οι βομβιστές αυτοκτονίας είχαν ένα κοινό: προέρχονταν από μία περιοχή της πόλης που κυριαρχούνταν από την ανεργία, την φτώχεια και γενικότερα από τη έλλειψη οποιασδήποτε προοπτικής για το μέλλον. Ήταν, άραγε, αυτή η αιτία των τρομοκρατικών επιθέσεων;

Ο συγγραφέας εξερευνά αυτή τη σχέση, δημιουργώντας μία φανταστική εκδοχή της ζωής κάποιων από αυτούς τους ανθρώπους και της πορείας τους μέχρι τη στιγμή που η πλύση εγκεφάλου που δέχτηκαν τους οδήγησε σε αυτή την αιματηρή επίθεση. Στο ξεκίνημα οι πρωταγωνιστές της ιστορίας είναι παιδιά που μεγαλώνουν μέσα σε συνθήκες απόλυτης φτώχειας σε ένα βίαιο περιβάλλον που η θρησκεία δεν είναι η πρώτη προτεραιότητα, μπροστά στις δυσκολίες της επιβίωσης. Μοιράζουν τον χρόνο τους ανάμεσα στην προσπάθεια να βοηθήσουν οικονομικά τις οικογένειές τους, στον ανταγωνισμό με τα άλλα παιδιά της περιοχής και στο μεγάλο τους πάθος που είναι το ποδόσφαιρο. Στην αρχή είναι συμβιβασμένοι με αυτόν τον τρόπο ζωής και με το μέλλον που τους επιφυλάσσει, όσο, όμως, μεγαλώνουν, τόσο περισσότερο μεγαλώνει η ανάγκη τους να ξεφύγουν από όλα αυτά και να αναζητήσουν κάτι μεγαλύτερο. Σε αυτή τη φάση τους βρίσκει ένας φανατικός ισλαμιστής που προσπαθεί να τους προσηλυτίσει με το θρησκευτικό κήρυγμα και την προπαγάνδα, προσφέροντας τους εργασία και γενικότερα δείχνοντας τους έναν διαφορετικό δρόμο που οδηγεί τελικά στον παράδεισο μέσα από το υποτιθέμενο θέλημά του Θεού. Δυστυχώς στο τέλος πετυχαίνει το σκοπό του.

Οπότε για τον συγγραφέα η σχέση είναι άμεση, πολλοί νέοι άνθρωποι που στριμώχνονται σε άθλιες γειτονιές, όπου δεν υπάρχει τίποτα όμορφο και το μέλλον φαίνεται ζοφερό, συσσωρεύουν οργή και μίσος για την κοινωνία στην οποία ζουν, υιοθετώντας μία μηδενιστική νοοτροπία. Τότε έρχεται κάποιος και τους προτείνει μία εκδοχή του Ισλάμ που μπορεί να στεγάσει αυτά τα συναισθήματα που νιώθουν, έχοντας την οικονομική δυνατότητα να στηρίξει αυτούς και τις οικογένειές τους, και έτσι καταλήγουν στα χέρια της ισλαμικής τρομοκρατίας. Ο συγγραφέας, όμως, δεν μένει εκεί και συνεχίζει να αναρωτιέται γιατί αυτοί οι άνθρωποι επιλέγουν το θάνατο από τη ζωή. Η ζωή έχει τις δυσκολίες της αλλά στο τέλος είναι ωραία και αρκούν μερικά απλά πράγματα όπως οι οικογενειακές σχέσεις, οι φιλίες, δύο όμορφα μάτια για να μας φανερώσει την ομορφιά της. Οπότε γιατί στο τέλος ο θάνατος είναι πιο ελκυστικός;

Ένα βιβλίο που βάζει τον αναγνώστη σε σκέψεις για μία από τις μεγαλύτερες πληγές της ανθρωπότητας τις τελευταίες δεκαετίες, φανερώνει τις κοινωνικές της αιτίες, προειδοποιώντας ότι αν συνεχιστεί η ίδια κατάσταση, με τις κυβερνήσεις στις περισσότερες χώρες με μουσουλμανική πλειοψηφία να αποτυγχάνουν να ανεβάσουν το βιοτικό επίπεδο, αυτό το φαινόμενο θα συνεχίζεται. Πιστεύω, όμως, ότι στο τέλος ο συγγραφέας αφήνει ένα αισιόδοξο μήνυμα, δείχνοντάς μας πως η ομορφιά της ζωής μπορεί στο τέλος να νικήσει την ασχήμια και το θάνατο. Βλέπετε, παρά τη σκληρότητα των καταστάσεων που περιγράφει, πρόκειται για ένα πολύ όμορφα γραμμένο βιβλίο και αυτό είναι που στο τέλος κέρδισε την εκτίμηση μου. Για αυτό αυτό που έχω να σας πω είναι να το αναζητήσετε.

[Vicky Ziliaskopoulou · Rating 5 out of 5]

Πολύ σύντομο αλλά συναρπαστικό μυθιστόρημα, διαφέρει από την πλειονότητα λόγο της ποιότητάς του. Είναι από τα λίγα βιβλία που δεν διάβασα το οπισθόφυλλο, βασίστηκα στις κριτικές και τις απόψεις αναγνωστών, έτυχε και να το βρω μπροστά μου οπότε απλά το πήρα χωρίς να το πολυσκεφτώ. Τελικά ήταν μια πάρα πολύ καλή κίνηση, είναι από τα βιβλία που δεν νομίζω ότι θα ξεχάσω, από αυτά που έχουν κάτι να σου πουν και δεν είναι απλά γεμισμένες σελίδες.

https://kiallovivlio.blogspot.com/

https://thematofylakes.gr/

[Vasileios Diakovasilis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Αν και έχω διαβάσει κι άλλο μυθιστόρημα, όπου τίθεται το ερώτημα: Τι κάνει κάποιον νέον άνθρωπο να αφιερωθεί στην ισλαμική τζιχάντ αυτό διαφέρει διότι αφενός ο συγγραφέας του είναι Άραβας και αφετέρου μιλά για νέους Άραβες από κάποια απόμερη φτωχογειτονιά της Καζαμπλάνκα. Όχι δηλαδή μεγαλωμένους μέσα στον Δυτικό Πολιτισμό. Κι αυτό σίγουρα έχει το ενδιαφέρον του.
Ο συγγραφέας χρησιμοποιεί ένα λογοτεχνικό εύρημα σε όλη την ανάπτυξη της ιστορίας του. Ο Γιασίν ο οποίος αφηγείται την ιστορία, το κάνει νεκρός πια, υπηρετώντας τη Τζιχάντ. Όχι δεν προδίδω κάτι από την πλοκή, αυτά είναι στοιχεία τα οποία πολύ νωρίς τα καταλαβαίνουμε μέσα στο βιβλίο.
Είναι μια παρέα νέων παιδιών, που στον ελεύθερο χρόνο τους συναντιούνται στην αλάνα της γειτονιάς τους, για να παίξουν ποδόσφαιρο. Ο Γιασίντ με τον αδελφό του τον Χαμίντ, με την πολυαγαπημένη της μάνα και τον πατέρας τους παρόν - απών, ο Ναμπίλ, ο γιος της πόρνης, ο Φαούντ ο γιός του Μουεζίνη, ο Αλί, ο γιος του καρβουνιάρη, ο Χαλίλ ο γιος του αμαξά. Όλοι τους τα βγάζουν πέρα δύσκολα, δουλεύουν από παιδιά στις πιο εξευτελιστικές δουλειές, δέχονται βία από κάθε πλευρά, (πολύ έντονη αυτή που ασκείται από την οικογένεια). Δεν παύουν όμως να κάνουν όνειρα και να προσπαθούν να φτιάξουν τη ζωή τους αν και ξέρουν ότι αυτό έχει ένα όριο.
Όλα αυτά τελειώνουν τη στιγμή, που ένας ένας τους προσδένεται στο άρμα του θρησκευτικού καθοδηγητή, Αμπούρ Ζουμπέιρ. Από φτωχοδιάβολοι που αγωνίζονται για την καθημερινότητα, σιγά σιγά μεταμορφώνονται σε μελετηρούς και ήρεμους πιστούς και στη συνέχεια σε φανατικούς πολεμιστές του Αλλάχ, που δεν έχουν κανέναν ενδοιασμό να θυσιάσουν τη ζωή τους, για μια πολύ καλύτερη, αυτή που τους υπόσχεται το Κοράνι.
Κι εδώ μπαίνουν τα βασικά ερωτήματα (τα οποία τα απαντά κάθε ένας μόνος του):
1. Υπάρχει πραγματικά αποδεκτή δικαιολογία για κάποιον που ενεργεί ως τρομοκράτης, σκοτώνοντας ανυποψίαστους ανθρώπους;
2. Πόσο αποδεκτή είναι η άποψη, ότι κάθε τρομοκρατική ενέργεια είναι απολύτως καταδικαστέα;
Και τέλος μας υπενθυμίζει μια πραγματικότητα, ότι υπάρχει μια φονταμελιστική ομάδα ισλαμιστών, που έχουν ασπαστεί τη Τζιχάντ εναντίον κάθε απίστου, ομάδα που αυξομειώνεται στον χρόνο, υπαρκτή όμως, την οποία η Δύση θα πρέπει πάντα να λαμβάνει υπόψη της, στις όποιες αναζητήσεις της (πολιτικές, οικονομικές κλπ) στον ισλαμικό κόσμο.
Ένα μυθιστόρημα, το οποίο σίγουρα προβληματίζει, μας απογοητεύει ή θεωρεί φυσική την εξέλιξη των πρωταγωνιστών του, ίσως και εξοργίζει αλλά δεν παύει να παρουσιάζει μια αλήθεια, την οποία συνήθως παραβλέπουμε.

[Julia León · Rating 5 out of 5]

“No entendía por qué estaba yo tan tranquilo, casi sereno. Desde la nube en que me hallaba, aquello me parecía algo así como un juego; el de la vida y la muerte trenzadas sin sospecharlo. Pero en Sidi Moumen la pelona formaba parte de la vida cotidiana. No asustaba tanto. La gente llegaba, se iba, vivía o moría sin que en la ecuación de nuestra miseria cambiase nada. Las familias contaban con tantos miembros que la pérdida de uno o dos no era una catástrofe. Así eran las cosas. Llorábamos a nuestros difuntos, claro, los enterrábamos con gritos y lamentos, pero la sarta de vivos daba tanto que hacer que tardábamos bastante poco en olvidarlos. Sin embargo, ahí seguía la muerte, omnipresente. La habíamos adoptado. Vivía en nosotros y nosotros vivíamos en ella”

Basado en el atentado terrorista del 2003 en Casablanca. En el libro se habla de la otra parte y logra en partes que se empatice con los perpetradores, en mi caso sentí rabia con la forma en la que se aprovechan de la ignorancia y de las ganas de dejar atrás. Es crudo y doloroso en algunas partes.

Se narran hechos fuertes de una forma que se sienta que se presencian esos hechos lo cual hizo que me enganchara con la lectura.

[TheAuntie · Rating 5 out of 5]

τα 5 αστέρια στα 5 είναι λίγα για αυτό το βιβλίο, εγώ θα έβαζα 9/5 εννέα στα πέντε αστέρια.!! θα μου μείνει μέσα για πολύ αυτό το βιβλίο!
θα δω και την ταινία Horses of God που έκαναν, αλλά ξέρω ήδη ότι δεν θα μου αρέσει, όχι όσο το βιβλίο, αδύνατον να μπορέσουν οι εικόνες να μου μεταδώσουν όλα τα συναισθήματα που μου προκάλεσαν τα (ποιητικά) λόγια του Binebine.
πρέπει να βρω και την γνήσια έκδοση στα γαλλικά και να το ξαναδιαβάσω. just for the pleasure, γιατί η μετάφραση της 'Ελγκας Καββαδία ήταν άψογη!

τέλειο βιβλία, τέλεια ανάγνωση!

[Katy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a clever fictional presentation of the 2003 terrorist attacking in Casablanca, Morocco.
While I was certainly familiar with the basics of the event, I was neither familiar with life in the nearby slums or shantytown nor of course the stories of these young would-be terrorists.

This author brought all of that to life in this novel. The narrator is a “ghost”, one of the young terrorists explaining life in the ghetto prior to and leading up to the attack. The business at the dump, the importance of soccer, the boys constantly fighting, shoplifting, doing odd jobs, developing bad habits like hashish and sniffing glue, the raping and pillaging, so much abuse of many varieties, and yet they are still adolescents or barely young adults, struggling to survive, experiencing young love, and dreaming of life independent of the family home.

But once they fall into the wrong crowd all hope of a better life and paradise are shattered leading only to death. As a ghost the narrator is unable to warn others or speak of the afterlife as it really exists yet he wants to find a way to let his loved ones know that committing to the same cause creating martyrdom will lead only to certain death… and nothing more.

Growing from adolescents to young adults these four childhood friends, including two brothers, cross paths with a charming and persuasive recruiter from the terrorist underworld.

He offers them a life outside of the slums, promising work and the independence of young adults. But with it they must learn the religious teachings and partake in daily prayers.

The story is well written and describes how these young men accept their roles early on in exchange for the promise of eternal life in paradise. Even though they are not entirely convinced of the payoff they feel obliged to continue in their descent into the underworld which would lead them to certain death.

The narrator ghost reflects on his life, what he will miss and what he won’t miss, using this to rationalize his actions, convincing himself to continue with his mission. He shares the same rationalization of his friends and brother. Yet they all feel they have no choice. And they seem to realize that the only thing that will really change by their actions is their certain deaths and the deaths those who are unfortunate enough to be within their path. They know it will change life forever for those left behind.

The author creates much emotion and heartbreak as you get to know and like these young men, realizing they are not long for this world.

The outcome is known from the outset and perhaps so is process of recruiting impoverished young men. Yet by lending a voice and a story to the young terrorists, the reader gets an entirely new perspective.

The character development is certainly interesting for a short novel. The plot is simple and remains steady from the outset. The real story is what goes on in the mind of the narrator during this short period in his even shorter life.

Well worth reading. A clever presentation of fiction imitating reality.

[Marcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best books I have read. I am in awe of the translator. I can't believe that it could be any better in French. There is a movie which I missed. In a way, I am glad that I read the book first, but I do want to see the film by Moroccan director, Nabil Ayouch. It is a fictional story based on the May 16th Casablanca bombings. The young suicide bombers grow up inthe slum, Sidi Moumen. It can be read on a number of different levels...a poignant coming of age tale with a tragic ending, a political indictment of greed and callous indifference or how to create a suicide bomber.

[Eirini Zazani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Πολύ καλογραμμένο και μελαγχολικά τρυφερό παρόλο που πραγματεύεται το δύσκολο θέμα βομβιστών τρομοκρατών και πώς γίνεται η πλύση εγκεφάλου σε παιδιά που ζουν άθλιες συνθήκες ζωής. Σε πολλά σημεία σε ταράζει, σε προβληματίζει, σε ταρακουνάει... και πολλά ακόμη "σε". Παρά, όμως, το δύσκολο θέμα του, αφήνει μια αισιόδοξη νότα για την αξία και την ομορφιά της ζωής. Το συνιστώ ανεπιφύλακτα.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/greek/news/03051...

[Calzean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Horses of God is narrated by a ghost. It traces his life in the slums of Casablanca, his friends and their turn to Islam and ultimately to being suicide bombers. The story is important in trying to make sense out of why young men are willing to don an explosive vest and go amongst others to kill for the sake of a religion. I just felt the reasoning for this group of friends to take the decisions they did remained untold. Maybe because it was just too short of a novel. Or maybe the author wanted the question of why to remain unanswered.

[Ioannis Korovesis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Η εξαθλίωση των παραγκουπόλεων του Μαρόκου, ο καθημερινός αγώνας για επιβίωση και ο μηχανισμός εκπαίδευσης τζιχαντιστών μέσα από την εκμετάλλευση της ανάγκης των κατοίκων του για αξιοπρέπεια. Όλα αυτά, μέσα από την ιστορία μιας χούφτας χαμινιών της συνοικίας Σίντι Μουμέν στην Καζαμπλάνκα, τα γέλια τους, το θάνατο που παραμονεύει σε κάθε γωνιά της συνοικίας, τις ομοφυλοφιλικές ερωτοπραξίες τους -ή μήπως ερώτές τους-, τις φιλίες και τους τσακωμούς τους, τα μπαλαδορίστικα λακτίσματά τους.

Ο Μαχί Μπινεμπίν γράφει για τη διεκδίκηση ευκαιριών μέσα από το θάνατο, δημιουργώντας ένα αληθοφανέστατο και συγκλονιστικό μυθιστόρημα.

[Joanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book that is short enough to read in one sitting, but so emotionally charged that I couldn't do that. Just a few pages at a time for me.

On May 16, 2003, 14 Islamist suicide bombers descended on Casablanca. Mahi Binebine fictionalized this tragic event and tells a story using one voice, the voice of a 16 year old who was one of the suicide bombers. Yachine tells his story from the grave, as he is waiting for the angels to take him to paradise.

Yachine show us his life in the slums of Sidi Moumen and he tells of the events that led up to him walking away from his life, in hopes of finding something better on the other side.

As I said, an emotional read that probably is not for everyone. I read another of Moumen's books Welcome to Paradise . He is an author who knows his subject matter and brings his characters so close to your heart, but beware gentle readers, your heart will be broken.

[Maria Altiki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Πως ένα φτωχό παιδί που μένει σε ένα σκουπιδότοπο μετατρέπεται σε τζιχανιστή.
Εξαιρετική γραφή που εξιστορεί μια συγκλονιστική ιστορία, σκληρή και τραγική αλλά τόσο θλιβερά αληθινή.

[عبدالله اليعقوبي · Rating 3 out of 5]

الكتاب يقدم حكاية أربعة شباب مراهقين .. ترعرعوا وسط حي سيدي مومن الصفيحي بالدار البيضاء..عاشوا وسط دوامة الفقر و الجهل ... لم يجدوا من منقذ لهم من الغرق سوى الترفيه بلعب كرة القدم أو تتبع حكايات الخيانة و الجنس وسط حيهم... ليس هناك من شيء يتعلقون به و لا من وازع يردهم عن الخط�� ... الواحد منهم مستعد لأن يقتل الآخر من أجل أبسط التفاهات في نظرنا و أولى الأولويات في نظرهم ...
العقل حين يراكم الجهل الفكري و الروح حين تنتفخ بالفقر العاطفي ركنان يسهلان من إمكانية السقوط الحر للفرد في شبكات المنظمات الإرهابية و المخالفة للفطرة بدعواها إلى القتل العشوائي... الشاب الذي يعيش وسط هذه الظروف لابد له من حضن دافئ و عقل مستنير لينقذه من الاستسلام بسهولة لفكرة أن التحول إلى قنبلة موقوتة و الانتحار هو السبيل الوحيد للنجاة من الحي الصفيحي بكل قساوته و ظلامه.
---
و انتهت الرواية بالنهاية المعروفة مسبقا ... أعيب على الكاتب أنه ما اجتهد و ما بحث قبل كتابة روايته .. المعلومات التي حكاها عن من فجروا أنفسهم و أوضاعهم الاجتماعية و الانسانية كلها أمور معروفة بالضرورة لكل من يقرأ عن هؤلاء الشباب سنا و الأطفال وعيا .. الأحداث كانت متسارعة و الشباب الثلاث جرفتهم النهاية دون أي مقاومة تذكر! ... على أي هي ليست رواية لتحليل الظاهرة عن قرب بقدر ما أنها موجهة لفيلم سينمائي.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

In an affecting picture of political powerlessness and cyclical violence, Binebine dramatizes the 2003 Casablanca suicide bombings through the perspective of one of the young terrorists. Boys scavenge and play football at the dump in the derelict area of Sidi Moumen, “where all downward slides converge.” They dub their football team ‘The Stars of Sidi Moumen’ (the novel’s original – and more evocative – French-language title), which calls up the image of Fate controlling their lives. The author reveals on page 3 that the narrator, Yachine, is dead at the age of 18; as one of the suicide bombers, he is now “reduced to an entity that...I’ll call consciousness.” This ghostly figure recalls his childhood as one of 11 brothers, and enumerates the events that led to their radicalization.

(Full review in Winter 2014 issue of Wasafiri literary magazine.)

[Bilan M. Atayaah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! Just wow. What a great little book, never have I finished anything so quickly, completely shirking all my responsibilities and studies! The visuals are heady, I'm simultaneously in love and repulsed by these boys. I'll try to review tomorrow.

[Saturn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tuttavia la morte restava lì, onnipresente. L'avevamo adottata. Ci abitava e noi l'abitavamo. Erompeva dai nostri occhi rossi e dai nostri pugni chiusi per delle brevi sortite. Passeggiava vestita di bianco sulle rovine della nostra città e tornava a rannicchiarsi tra di noi. Eravamo la casa dove riposava e noi trovavamo pace appoggiandoci a lei. La morte era nostra alleata. Ci serviva e noi la servivamo. Le prestavamo il nostro odio, le nostre vendette e i nostri coltelli. Lei li utilizzava al meglio e poi ce li restituiva per reclamarli ancora. Ancora e ancora.

Questo libro marocchino apre uno squarcio sulla miseria che vive accanto alla ricchezza. È ambientato alla periferia di Casablanca, il centro economico del paese, attorno a cui sorgono numerose baraccopoli. A Sidi Mounem le vite prolificano tra rifiuti, povertà, violenza e sfruttamento. La morte è fra i primi ricordi dell'infanzia ed è il suo spettro ad accompagnare la vita dei ragazzini che si formano in questo ambiente privo di speranza. "Non ci sono solo momenti tristi a Sidi Moumen", ciò che manca però è una prospettiva reale di vita alternativa alla miseria, alla bruttura, alla violenza in cui i protagonisti sono immersi e che contagia e inquina tutto e tutti - come una peste dilagante. Mahi Binebine apre la mente a interrogativi fortissimi a tutti noi che viviamo trincerati dietro i muri del nostro benessere (che a prescindere dai livelli individuali è sempre molto di più di quello a cui i personaggi del libro possono aspirare). Noi che abbiamo così, giustamente, paura della violenza a cui forse potremmo venire esposti un giorno dovremmo forse chiederci dove nasce, cosa la origina, e andare a spezzare alla fonte questa cancrena. Questo libro ci regala la prospettiva di chi, anche se solo adolescente, vede nella morte una consolazione alla vita, anziché il contrario e cioè come dovrebbe essere. È in questa ottica che ci si aggrappa a qualunque cosa possa dare un senso all'esistenza, a un rifugio qualunque esso sia; ed è qui che la morte ci rende suoi strumenti e sue vittime allo stesso tempo.

È un libro che Mahi Binebine ha scritto per capire meglio la realtà del suo Marocco e che consiglio a chi vuole capire meglio il nostro tempo e le origini di quei focolai di violenza che ci coinvolgono tutti.

[Mery J Haddad · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Horses of God, Binebine bases his narrative on the Casablanca terrorist attack of 2003 committed by a number of young men from the village of Sidi Moumen. Interestingly, Binebine does not blame these young men for committing such a terrible act of violence, but he rather accuses the socioeconomic conditions that has made them an easy prey for the religious mafia that takes advantage of their status quo. To Binebine, the real monster is not these young men, but the civil society that is responsible for maintaining these children's status quo, the society that does not move a finger to fix this problem. Hence, Horses of God is a warning against the socioeconomic situation of this marginalised young people that can lead to awful outcomes if this phenomena is not resolved.

The terrible life conditions of these boys makes them the perfect prey for the radicals who manipulates people by their empty promisses of being rewarded in the afterlife. Yachine and his friends, being a subject to poverty, ignorance, and violence, are easily convinced to embark on this journey as the following passage implies : ‘‘No, you cannot defeat a man who wants to die. And I wanted to, fervently. Nabil, Blackie, Khalil, Fuad, and Hamid wanted to die too. Living in Sidi Moumen, surrounded by corpses, the groveling, and the lame, the truth was we were almost dead already. So really, what did it matter, a little more or less ?’’ (p.141)
What is interesting about this narrative is that Binebine emphasises on the importance of education in saving the lives of these boys. Throughout the narrative, the reader is informed that all of these boys either dropped out of school or are completely illiterate, with the exception of Fuad, who attends school due to the efforts of his grandmother. Surprinsingly, in the day of the attack, Fouad did not show up, implying that education can have a great impact in detouring young boys such as The Stars of Sidi Moumen from submitting themselves to the Islamist’s influence.
The story begins with Yachine’s childhood in Sidi Moumen, playing football with his friends, who call themselves The Stars of Sidi Moumen, and ends by informing the reader that he constantly visits the place and that nothing had changed, instead the situation is getting worse: “I often go there at night to watch the shifting shadows take possession of the place, as the last lights go out. Then I weep, in my own way, waiting for daybreak. The slum hasn’t changed. It’s grown even bigger, and the shacks that were once separate now form a city. A vast city of the living dead. I wait and I cry, watching the wheel that keeps on turning.” and he ends his narrative by stating that he ‘’can see some scrawny kids running after a flat ball, without a care in the world: the new Stars of Sidi Moumen” suggesting that if nobody does anything to improve the lives of these children, they will end up like himself and his friends, a victim of the Islamic fundamentalism.
In order to understand the reasons these boys were pushed to commit such an act, Binebine traces the background of four boys, who ended up blowing off themselves in the Casablanca terrorist attack. Interestingly, the story is narrated from a dead martyr's point of view, namely Yachine, who looks back at his childhood and the circumstan ces that has resulted in his death. As the narrative progresses, Yachine’s voice is more mature and almost weary from the world— something that makes this read as much more than the thoughts of a sixteen-year-old boy.

Yachine’s tone makes the reader sympathise with him; his tone conveys a sense of regret, not the regret of escaping his degraded life conditions, but rather the regret of committing this act of terror, as it is manifested in this passage : ‘‘From the depth of my solitude, when memories of my ruin assail and torment me, when the weight of my faults becomes to heavy to bear and my mind is already old and tired (..) I go off wandering in the sky of my childhood.’’ (p.161)
In order to convey to the reader that he has indeed repented, he need a thorough confession in which he faces this mistake. Hence, as Yachine traces his life story in Sidi Moumen, the realisation that he has hurt innocent people only exacerbate his sense of guilt, so by the end of the story, he reaches that stage of repentance. By the end of the story, he realizes that he has been lost, and he has caused pain all around him “It was tough, very tough, hearing the children’s laughter, seeing their hands and their eyes and their guardian angels dangling from the thread I held. I was like a puppeteer. I had their destinies at my fingertips. Yes, it was a butchery, it was hell. It was the end of the world.” (p.158) His sense of repentance grows even more as the story progresses; for example, a few moments before he commits the attack, he notices children playing at the hotel and he has second thoughts : ‘‘I was wrestling with Satan, who, by some diabolical trick, had turned the blond kids playing near the suitcases into the Palestinian boy who’d died in his father’s arms. I muttered a sura under my breath, then louder, but the kids were still Palestinian.’’ (p.157) His inner struggle is manifested in his hesitation, as he is approaching death, he questions whether it is the right thing to do ; nevertheless, the influence of the Abu Zubeir’s brainwashing turns out to be stronger than his own will. He simply knew that ‘‘ there was no way back. It was too late to abandon the ship’’ (p.142)
While writing Horses of God, Binebine visited Sidi Moumen and encountered many young
people who inhabit this uninhabitable place. As a result, Binebine felt the necessity to protect these children from the danger of becoming future radicals. His sense of empathy for these children grew even stronger when he has returned to Sidi Moumen in order to shoot the film adaptation with Nabil Avouch, consequently, he created cultural centres that encourage young people to love music, art, and cinema as a way to alienate young people from the impact of terorism. To conclude, Binebine’s Horses of God is a cry for help wherein he problematizes the situation of the poor marginalized slums and its detrimental effects on its inhabitants as his way draw people’s attention to the gravity of the situation.

[Lilirose · Rating 3 out of 5]

Accostandomi a questo romanzo ero un po' intimorita, dato che il terrorismo islamico non è un argomento facile da trattare: si rischia di scrivere l'ennesimo libro-denuncia o di cadere nella facile retorica. Per fortuna invece l'approccio dell'autore è originalissimo e privo di qualunque considerazione morale. Sceglie la strada coraggiosa di far raccontare la vicenda ad un morto, uno dei giovanissimi kamikaze: così facendo ci offre un coinvolgimento maggiore, ma allo stesso tempo crea un'atmosfera rarefatta ed onirica che addolcisce i toni e permette al lettore di prendere le distanze; e ce n' è davvero bisogno, altrimenti si verrebbe sopraffatti dalla montagna di disperazione che sovrasta la vita dei protagonisti. Questi ragazzi sono talmente imbevuti di miseria da non essere neppure in grado di sognare, non conoscono altro che violenza e morte; e allora non sorprende che proprio nella morte, loro compagna quotidiana, vedano l'unica speranza di riscatto; non soprende che si facciano plagiare dagli unici adulti in grado di offrirgli uno scopo e un qualcosa a cui appartenere. Nessuna giustificazione, solo tanta tanta pena.
Lo stile è semplice e diretto ma molto delicato, anche nelle scene più brutali c'è sempre qualche accento più soave.
Uno di quei libri probabilmente non rileggerò mai, ma che ha lasciato comunque il segno.

[Rallu S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Τρομακτικά δυνατό και σκληρό! Διαμαντάκι!!!

[Carlota Garcia Villa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cuenta la historia de unos niños que viven en un barrio marginal de Marruecos, y como su vida, sin esperanza ni futuro, les lleva a dejarse convencer para cometer un atentado terrorista en Casablanca. Muestra una cara mas humana del terrorismo y lo que hay detrás de la radicalización. Es un libro triste, pero muy bonito.

[Valerie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dans ce roman, Mahi Binebine tente de réimaginer ce qui aurait pu amener 14 jeunes hommes de la cité de Sidi Moumen à commettre l'attentat suicide de Casablanca en 2003. C'est un roman osé dans la mesure où il peint un portrait de jeunes adolescents un peu paumé mais a priori assez sympathiques. Il dépeint des vies vécu sur fil de rasoir et pointe la pauvreté, l’inégalité sociale, et la violence de la vie des cités comme facteur principal de leur radicalisation. Le point fort du roman est l’écriture de Binebine, entrainante et poétique à la fois, et la structuration du roman en forme de vignette – on ne suit pas vraiment une trame narrative mais on a plutôt l’impression de regarder des photos instantanées de différents moments de la vie des terroristes. Par contre, je trouve que le roman est un peu léger en terme de réflexion sur le processus de radicalisation ou de portrait psychologique d’individus qui comment des attentats suicides. En tout, c’était un beau roman mais je reste quand même un peu sur ma faim.

[Mackenzie Richardson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Horse's of God is a book like no other. The book starts off introducing four teens who later become suicide bombers.One of the teenages is narating the story and using what he remembers to inform the reader of what it was like growing up in poverity. The narator continues on going through, in great detail of these men and there childhood memories and friends. He informs you about the trail's and confict's these boys go through so you have a complete understanding of what was going through thier heads. By the end of the story you are sitting there in amazment by the emotions and terror of how the boys felt, and why they became killers.

There were some parts of the book I didn't care for. But there were other parts I got really into. The book overall was decent. I would say out of five stars, I would give it a 3.5. The book had a lot of emotional aspects to why the boys felt the way they did. This might be okay for some people, but just wasn't interesting to me. I thought this book would be a little more anjoyable, sadly it wasn't. You have to follow along and really understand the material or you will get lost. I had to go back a couple of times to make sure I understood it. I would recommend this book to those who find interest in either this type of book or enjoy a good sobb story. Other than that I would stay stick with something else.

[Bárbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Por encima del 4.

[Lina Marín · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me encantó su narrativa, disfruté mucho la historia y siento que aunque fue adaptada al cine, es una novela que definitivamente atrapa.

[Filipa Ribeiro Ferreira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nunca tinha ouvido falar deste livro mas devia ser obrigatório. Das lixeiras para os braços de uma organização terrorista, é uma viagem mais curta do que parece.