The Terminal Man

by Sir, Alfred Mehran, Andrew Donkin, Mehran Karimi Nasseri

The Terminal Man is the extraordinary story of Mehran Karimi Nasseria, better known as 'Sir Alfred' of Charles de Gaulle Airport. Sir Alfred has spent the last 15 years living and sleeping inside the airport's Terminal One building, trapped in international no-man's land without the proper documentation needed to move on. Sir Alfred was born in Iran in 1945. When he was twenty his father died and he received an even greater shock when the woman he regarded as his mother told him he wasn't her son, but the result of a union between his father and a British nurse. A deal was agreed for Sir Alfred to disappear overseas to England and his family would pay for his studies. After a year at university, his family broke all contact and he returned to Iran where he was imprisoned for his political activism, was arrested and tortured. He was then expelled from Iran with a passport valid for just one year - so he was now a stateless person. He was mugged on his way to Charles de Gaulle airport in 1988 and lost all his documents. He boarded a plane to London but without the appropriate documentation was sent straight back to Paris. On trying to leave the airport he was arrested and sentenced as an illegal immigrant, and served six months in jail. Upon his release, he returned to Charles de Gaulle and was refused permission to enter any other country. Fearing arrest if he left the terminal building but unable to board a flight, he was trapped there for years. He sleeps on a red bench borrowed from an old bar, surrounded by piles of newspapers and magazines stored in cargo boxes and his extensive diary. As Sir Alfred remained trapped between countries his fame began to spread. There have been numerous press and magazines articles around the globe; he receives hundreds of letters from well-wishers as well as his visits and has also featured in three documentary feature films about his plight as the world's only celebrity homeless person. Political refugee, prisoner, exile, rebel, gentleman, citizen of the world, media magnet and, most of all, delayed passenger, The Terminal Man tells Sir Alfred's incredible and unique life story in his own words.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Memoir, Autobiography, Travel, Media Tie In

254 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Sir, Alfred Mehran, born Mehran Karimi Nasseria (مهران کریمی ناصری), is a refugee who lived for eighteen years in the Charles de Gaulle Airport awaiting citizenship papers.

He adopted the name "Sir, Alfred Mehran", both the title and its misplaced comma, from a mistake in a letter from British immigration.

Reviews

[Vincent T. Ciaramella · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know why but I really, really, really liked this book. In a way I wonder how much he really wants to leave or if his excuses were just a way to maintain his residence in the airport. Maybe he is scared to leave. Maybe his is just comfortable in this life and this is what he wants. Only he knows that answer. If he's happy then so be it. De Gaulle is nice airport.

[Andy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I quite liked The Terminal and was always curious about the man it was supposedly inspired by so when this turned up in the bargain book pile I picked it up.

Co-written by Sir Alfred Mehran himself it's an interesting though somewhat sparse document of his side of the story as to why he lived in Charles de Gaulle airport for 16 years.

Yes the bureaucratic idiocy that kept him there is mind boggling but he comes across as a rather dislikeable character himself. Despite many people offering to help (and indeed going to great lengths to actually do so) he seems to throw it back in their faces. You would think that in writing your own side of the story you would try and present yourself as likeable but he comes across as obstinate and unhelpful, withholding vital information, lying, changing the story and being fairly ungrateful. He makes some really bizarre decisions at times (particularly the one that led to him 'misplacing' his documents in the first place) and his refusal to accept his heritage as Iranian does seem odd when legally and by definition he is. When you combine it with his hoarding and odd behaviour you start to wonder about his general mental state.

A few years back I was stuck in the transit lounge of Delhi airport without appropriate paperwork allowing me into either India or through departures. Bureaucracy took hold and the uncertainty of being pushed pillar to post and being assured that someone was sorting it out left me frenetic and very stressed and pretty damn angry. That was only for slightly over 24 hours so I can't imagine what 16 years was like.

In terms of the book, the writing style is simple and swift to read though I found the repetitive use of certain phrases and indeed whole paragraphs to be annoying. It killed a brief amount of time with little thought. A more objective view would perhaps be interesting.

[Daria Mulske · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rarely does a book make me feel like I need to set it down and simply scream. This book, however, did just that. The writing style is bizarre, with repeated phrases and paragraphs inserted in random places. The story is infuriating. Yes, it highlights the ridiculousness of governmental bureaucracy, but the manner in which “Alfred” is unwilling to help himself, and not accept certain help from others, is maddening! I was anticipating that “Alfred” would be a sympathetic character, but I actually found him to be quite difficult to like; he’s pig-headed, stubborn, and makes some of the most asinine decisions, all the while presenting himself as a victim. I can’t decide if he’s truly mad, attention-seeking, or just ambivalent.

[Tony Cohen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Let me sum up my feelings about the man in the terminal. For all your general douchiness, you can just rot for all I care. Since you wrote this, probably not the emotion you were going for. It takes a combination of nasty bureaucracy, rank stupidity, pig-headedness and indifference of others to get stuck in a terminal for that long...well played your dick majesty...well played

[AL · Rating 1 out of 5]

NEGATIVE 1000000000000 stars for this crap.

What an infuriating (bleeping) story. This is one case in which the movie is way better than the book, as the movie is only loosely based on this garbage of a story and actually makes the character likeable. The real Alfred, or whatever his real name is, is detestable and illustrates everything that is wrong with Europe's crappy immigration policy.

Here come the spoilers: HE IS NOT A REFUGEE!!! He says his life was threatened in Iran although he's not Iranian. Ok, fine, WTF is he then? He is British. Oh? His mother was British so he wants to go to the UK to find her. Ok, I sympathize, except he isn't allowed into the UK, so ends up in Belgium, where is GIVEN bloody refugee status (which comes with free cash, housing etc. of course) but guess what, he doesn't want that. Oh, no, he keeps using the taxpayers' money that's simply handed to him to try to get into the UK over and over and (bleeping) over again, without success.

He ends up at CDG and a lawyer wastes (bleeping) tons of time to get him his refugee papers again, coz oh yeah, the idiot threw his out because he didn't want to live in Belgium. The lawyer moves bureaucratic mountains across countries for this ungrateful moron and guess what, in the end he doesn't want to sign his papers because they state he's from Iran and he keeps saying he's not from Iran so he can't sign it. Dude. DUDE.

The man's probably mentally ill but there are thousands of mentally ill homeless people across Europe whom no lawyer or government will even look at, but oh, slap a "refugee" label on anyone with a tan and suddenly there's a steady heavy flow of cash and political will. Give me a bleeping break.

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

it was OK, it was an easy read, nothing too exciting. you could probably find out more about his story on the internet than by reading this

[Babak Fakhamzadeh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sir Alfred Mehran, who's real name is Mehran Karimi Nasseri, is the man on who the Spielberg movie 'The Terminal' is loosely based. At the time of writing, in 2004, Mehran had been living at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris for 16 years. Mehran, born in 1945, is Iranian.
The book has a very strong Kafkaesque feel to it, but, seemingly, the ghost writer, Andrew Donkin, has tried a bit too hard. Nevertheless, the underlying story of bureaucratic hell is interesting, not in the last part because Mehran wants to keep on playing by the rules where other refugees would have accepted the (government-induced) rule bending to move their cases along and obtain the required (refugee) status.

So, Mehran's status is, to a certain point, self inflicted. Already in 1981 he was awarded refugee status by the Belgian branch of the UNHCR. After losing his papers, he's been wandering ever since, being imprisoned in France a few times for not being able to present his documents, any documents, and eventually ending up at Charles de Gaulle.

In 1999, French and Belgian governments helped Mehran to acquire his papers and the correct (refugee) status. That's where things went a bit weird. Mehran found out, when he was 25, shortly after his father died, that his mother was not his mother and was politely told by his family to leave the country, never to come back, in exchange for his 'family' paying a three year university course in London.
After two years, no more money coming in, Mehran went back to Iran, only to be imprisoned and tortured by Savak. It was after that, that he went back to Europe and, in the end, ended up in Paris.
His mother, he was told, was actually a British nurse. So he's hoping to go to the UK. His papers, with his 'old' name and nationality stated as being Iranian he feels no longer apply to him.

At the end of the book, the picture that remains of Mehran is unclear. Is he crazy? Obsessed? To pity? Or something else? I don't know. And although I can't say "I don't care", the whole story is too strange for this, I'm only left wondering what will happen next. But, with the clarification of his status in 1999, Mehran seemingly has only turned into a gimmick.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating! I learnt so much about Iranian culture.

[Ghizlane Eddiba · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book is disappointing! the story is unbelievable, the way it was written is below the expectations! since we are rating a book and not the story itself, I will give it 1 star as a respect for the years he spent at the airport !

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Profoundly engrossing, captivating, entertaining, and disturbing... What an incredibly complex situation. I can't even begin to imagine what life would be lime forever waiting... It was bad enough stuck in Atlanta airport when the power was out -- and that was less than 24 hours!!

[iansomething · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting story however the read was as dull as a week in his 16 year airport stopover. Super repetitive however I feel that’s probably for a reason. Iran references were interesting but I didn’t like the flow and style of the writing. Was relieved when I finished it.

[Simon Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Movie is much better for a change

[Ramy ElHakim · Rating 5 out of 5]

now i know everything about Sir Alfred!
Great book, Great story!

[Zu🎀 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting to say the least. It was fascinating to read and a truly shocking case of bureaucracy in full swing. I did feel for the man, I can’t even begin to imagine what it would be like. The book was also fast paced and a breeze to get through.
However after wondering what happened to him next I did a bit of digging on google and turns out he stayed there until 2006 until he was taken ill to hospital but then at some point returned to Charles de Gaulle where he passed away in November 2022.
My first reaction is what the fuck, why wouldn’t you take the first shot at freedom after waiting for it for so long, I really started thinking omg what is wrong with you, it’s like you like being stuck there? But actually on more reflection I realised you really do have to question his mental state after all of this. Maybe it’s a case of him actually becoming lost emotionally, maybe he kept using the tiniest of reasons to not leave because he got comfortable, it’s what he knew for so long.
I can only begin to imagine what being isolated in one building for years on end with no real contact with society does to a person. I can’t imagine it was going to be an overnight solution when Alfred hasn’t had friends or family, a job or any sense of self for over 18 years. So actually those feelings of being mad at him have slowly passed into feeling sorry for him. All in all, an incredibly sad story of a man who spent atleast 18 years at the airport, if not up to 34 years!! On and off.
I may not fully understand Alfred’s motivations for his choices in the end but definitely a book that provokes you to think.

[EMC · Rating 4 out of 5]

A heartbreaking, illuminating and humbling read. Alfred’s own words about his life captured me for their frankness. His loss of familial relations was hard to read and his confusion over events and timings also made it hard to know what was real and what was not. It was so interesting to read letters from people who wrote to him and his feelings surrounding their perception of his life. Border control is truly evil and the way it completely isolated him meant that in the end, despite all his lawyer did for him, it seemed he was happier with his life at Charles De Gaulle. After reading, I read that he’d died there, which was horrible to hear. However, it seemed he was the most at peace there in a world that no longer made sense to him. Reading his story is really important, despite it not making the most sense throughout - as his story has been distorted by the likes of Spielberg and various media.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read about the man who inspired the Tom Hanks movie. Written by himself, it beggars belief as to how this situation could actually continue for so long. You will appreciate this book if you take it for the content rather than the writing.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

No doubt an interesting story with many different facets. I particularly enjoy not only the story line in a book but the pleasure of the authors' writing skill. This was difficult reading no doubt mainly due to the language difficulties. Regrettably I did not finish the book.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

A unique voice, interesting character and story.

[Trevor McGuire · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing story and a peculiar and engaging writing style to boot.

[Andy Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and sad.

[Jayden · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.4/5

[Sarah-Leah Pimentel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found myself getting really irritated with Sir Alfred. He created a lot of his own mess. Having only heard about him, I had thought he was the victim of a beaurocratic mess. But he was unyielding in wanting the impossible

[~:The N:~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Put aside the writing style, this was actually an interesting book about a man who has lived in CDG Airport for the past sixteen years (2004). Am wondering where he is now. And makes me want to watch The Terminal (Tom Hanks) again.

[Michael Mcclelland · Rating 3 out of 5]

An odd, sometimes disturbing and frustrating memoir from a gentleman who spent 18 years in an airport terminal. The story jumps back and forth in time, scenes are repeated with new or differing details (sometimes with the caveat 'This did not happen'), and the text is interspersed with airport annoucements ('Passengers are reminded that...'). This creates a dream-like scape in which what we experience cannot be fully relied upon, and our possible destinations are of endless potential.

By contrast, Alfred Mehran is achingly deliberate; he can recount his actions in the terminal in the minutest detail. We experience his terminal as a jet-lagged passenger searching for our connection; he experiences the terminal with a fastiduous recollection as familiar as if it were a gaol cell.

The cultural cliche of an airport is that it is a place of potential; from it we can fly anywhere in the world. The plain truth however is that travellers arrive at an airport for travel to a particular, pre-determined destination, and that they need only establish their identity to get there. As pieces of "Sir, Alfred Mehran's" story are slowly unveiled and the reader invests themselves in hoping that the bureacratic mess that keeps him in limbo is unravelled, we discover also that his search is not so much for a path to a specific destination, but one to establish an identity.

Clearly damaged mentally, in establishing his identity he is then compelled to maintain it.

[ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this book hoping to get an insight into the life of airports, but it was not what I expected. However, the man's biography and writing style is interesting. Sir Alfred is a minimalist writer. Much of his accounts can seem dry and robotic at first. He is not particularly emotive. His subjective opinions of things never go beyond the terms "nice" or "bad." So it seems at times his "bad coffee" is as just as "bad" as the man who beat him up in the bathroom and did "bad things" to him. He has a stoic and rational attitude to his situation of being permanently in transit. There is a lot of dead pan humor in it which I came to enjoy.

Alfred also is a bit a liar. He has many accounts of his lying to strangers, reportes, film directors it seems just for his own amusement. But the book is structured in a way that you eventually see he as been deceiving the reader. Your sense of his biography changes by the end. If you like suprises...

While his story is sad, I don't think he feels sorry for himself nor does he wait in anxious expectation. He has had moments where he could potentially get out of the airport on certain terms, but refuses. It's almost as if he's holding himself hostage there until the world recognizes him on his terms. I think he is still there in Charles de Gualle. I think it's been 20 years now.

[Shahrun · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story of how a man came to live in the departure terminal of an airport for about 17 years! 'Sir Alfred's' story was the apparent inspiration for the awesome Tom Hanks film the Terminal. What is contained in the pages of this book is shocking, moving, at times quite funny but also a little confused and frustrating! The book is rather repetitive in places and makes 'Sir Alfred' appear an idiot. Was it deliberately trying to make him seem a simpleton, or does he have mental health problems? (Which could hardly be surprising after all he had been through). I found it very shocking that authorities would allow somebody to be in his position for so long, although the book explained this away as 'Sir Alfred's' own eccentricity and apparent determination to sabotage attempts of help. Which brings me back to the possible mental health issues. How and why were no questions raised about it? Poor guy. His previous life is very slowly revealed and goes some way to explaining how a person could end up in his position (he had some really shitty things happen to him). I don't think this book did such an interesting story or the man who it was about (and co-author) justice. I really feel the book could have been written and 'Sir Alfred' represented better. I hope where ever he is, he's being looked after and is happy.

[Jesmin Pomy · Rating 5 out of 5]

"বইয়ের কথা সর্বত্র ছড়িয়ে পড়ুক।"
বইমেলা চলাকালীন সময়ে মানুষ অন্ততঃ বই কিনে নিক। নিজের সংকীর্ণ হৃদয়কে প্রশস্ত করতে বইয়ের চেয়ে মূল্যবান কিছু আছে বলে আমার মনে হয় না।

Abosar Prokashana Sangstha থেকে প্রকাশিত, আশিকুর রহমান খান এর অনূদিত "দ্য টার্মিনাল ম্যান" নামক বইটি প্রুফ-রিড করার সুবাদে আমাকে দুইবার পড়তে হয়েছে, তাও মনোযোগ সহকারে৷ নিজের স্বাভাবিক গতিতে নয়। বইটা পড়ার আগে বইতে উল্লিখিত ব্যক্তি, স্যার আলফ্রেড মেহরানের ব্যাপারে আমি প্রতিবেদন পড়েছিলাম। ওনার জীবনী নিয়ে সিনেমা বানানো হয়েছে এবং বিভিন্ন সময় পত্র-পত্রিকায় ছাপানো হয়েছে বিভিন্ন সংবাদ৷

প্যারিসের চার্লস দ্যা গলে বিমানবন্দরে যাত্রাবিরতিতে নামার সময় ওনার দরকারি কাগজপত্র ছিনতাই হয়ে যায়। ফলে, আইনি জটিলতায় পড়ে টানা উনিশ বছর তিনি বিমানবন্দরের বেঞ্চিতে শুয়ে-বসে দিন কাটিয়েছেন। ওনার জীবনের ঘটনাগুলো পরতে পরতে সাজিয়ে সুন্দর বইটি লিখেছেন অ্যান্ড্রু ডনকিন। আর বইটিকে বাংলা ভাষাভাষীদের কাছে সহজপাঠ্য করতে কাজ করেছেন শ্রদ্ধেয় আশিকুর রহমান খান। এটি ওনার অনূদিত তৃতীয় বই হওয়ার কারণে, অনুবাদের কাজেও এসেছে পরিপক্কতা।

মজার বিষয় হলো বইটি পড়তে গেলে দুঃখ, রহস্য, আফসোসের ধ্বনি পাঠককে জেঁকে বসবে। পাঠক স্তব্ধ হয়ে পড়বেন, নির্বাক হবেন স্যার আলফ্রেড মেহরানের দিনলিপি পড়তে গিয়ে।


বই- দ্য টার্মিনাল ম্যান
লেখক- অ্যান্ড্রু ডনকিন
অনুবাদক- আশিকুর রহমান খান

[Pip Tlaskal]

A very strange book about a man who was stuck in the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris for 16 years. He has his own bench, his regular haunts in the airport, is interviewed as a minor celebrity by journalists passing through and even earns the title 'Sir' as the monarch of his bench fiefdom in the airport. Great concept. Spielberg wanted to film the story and provided enough money for Sir Alfred to keep living in the terminal till now. Is he mad? Where does he come from? Will he ever get out of the airport? It is up to you to find out...

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you want to know about the man the movie was inspired by then you need to read the book. The only similarity between the book and the real story is the fact that a man lives in an airport. This is an easy story to read. I found myself bouncing between compassion and irritation for Alfred. He clearly developed a mental disorder that became more pronounced the longer he stayed in the terminal and ended up staying there out of choice and not circumstance. I did not like the end of this book. It felt very unfinished but then again at the time of writing, it was an unfinished story.

[Karschtl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ich habe natürlich auch den Film mit Tom Hanks gesehen. Dieses Buch ist von der Art ganz anders (nicht witzig geschrieben, keine Liebesgeschichte, keine Buddies aus den Katakomben des Flughafens). Aber dennoch sehr lesenswert und zugleich unvorstellbar, wie man am Flughafen so lange Zeit leben kann.