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Barzakh
While studying the land of Barzakh in the Sahara, members of the Institute for the Archeology of Human Thought unearth the bones of Gara, a young man, whose Myelin will unravel the secrets of his ancient consciousness. A foreigner in his own land, Gara, in search of a better humanity, has traveled through three eras, from the 11th-century deserts of Mauritania to the dystopic future, inadvertently sowing the seeds of his own destruction. An innovative masterpiece that symphonizes mysticism, religion, and Mauritanian culture into a dystopian reflection on the human condition, this unique blend of science fiction and philosophy will interest those looking for new voices and perspectives in science fiction.
190 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 10, 2024
Read Around the World: Mauritania
What a strange book.
At some points this was just brilliant and I was thoroughly sucked into the story and the life of the narrator, and then the tone would shift and it would become borderline tedious to read [and then I would go several days without reading it]. It made for a long reading time.
Did I like it? Yeeeessss? I didn't hate it and the parts I liked, I REALLY liked. The MC is an interesting character who time travels to three time frames to see if he can find decency in the world he is living in and each time he is desperately disappointed [as the world gets worse with each time jump]. It was definitely a commentary on the way the world seems headed today and seeing that portrayed was both interesting and disheartening. This is NOT a happy book by any stretch of the imagination and I was left feeling unsettled and depressed, but I think that is the point. It makes you think and reevaluate.
Even with the parts that were tedious for me, I am glad I read it. I had never heard of the author [or where he was from - I am learning so much more about the world now in doing Read Around the World, and I am grateful for the lessons I am learning] and I consider it a privilege to have read his book.
Thank you to NetGalley, Moussa Ould Ebnou, Marybeth Timmermann - Translator, and Iskanchi Press for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
What a strange book.
At some points this was just brilliant and I was thoroughly sucked into the story and the life of the narrator, and then the tone would shift and it would become borderline tedious to read [and then I would go several days without reading it]. It made for a long reading time.
Did I like it? Yeeeessss? I didn't hate it and the parts I liked, I REALLY liked. The MC is an interesting character who time travels to three time frames to see if he can find decency in the world he is living in and each time he is desperately disappointed [as the world gets worse with each time jump]. It was definitely a commentary on the way the world seems headed today and seeing that portrayed was both interesting and disheartening. This is NOT a happy book by any stretch of the imagination and I was left feeling unsettled and depressed, but I think that is the point. It makes you think and reevaluate.
Even with the parts that were tedious for me, I am glad I read it. I had never heard of the author [or where he was from - I am learning so much more about the world now in doing Read Around the World, and I am grateful for the lessons I am learning] and I consider it a privilege to have read his book.
Thank you to NetGalley, Moussa Ould Ebnou, Marybeth Timmermann - Translator, and Iskanchi Press for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
October 18, 2022
I would call this more of a speculative novel than science fiction although it contains time travel. A man lives and travels to three different time periods going forward in time. Ebnou writes beautiful descriptions of the desert where much of the action takes place. At the same time, it is a bit depressing.
I'm glad I read it for it gave me exposure to an African writer that I had not heard of before (not that I know that many). It is always good to hear new voices and new stories.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest opinion.
I'm glad I read it for it gave me exposure to an African writer that I had not heard of before (not that I know that many). It is always good to hear new voices and new stories.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest opinion.
August 1, 2022
Hmm the way this book was written reminded me very much of how albert Camus wrote, the kind of melody of the narrative, I think this book will be way better in audiobook because of that, people expecting a very sci-fi book may be a bit disappointed, because our main character is a time traveller without memories, at the same time, he has those memories, yeah you’ll need to try this out.
The story is told in 3 parts, when our time traveller lived in his own time, he got mixed up with a slaves revolt and decided to listen to some advice and run into the hills to be alone, then a “jinx” (I use this word that is not at all talked in the book because in muslin legends a jinx is kind of a dark spirit that makes people do things that they otherwise wouldn't do) make him an offer to make him travel to the future, but the catch is that he will be able to travel twice in the future, can never travel back, but in the last time he will die there, he could also decided to stop in his first stop and just have a natural death there (grow old and die), to travel in time, he will need to go where there is no one around and give up of living with other people, and our time traveller just goes to the end of the road… I wont enter in details, but this book is more of the kind of speculative fiction than scifi, is not bad, but you’ll need to enjoy a kind of poetic narrative just like Albert Camus used to write.
Thank you NetGalley for the free ARC and this is my honest opinion.
The story is told in 3 parts, when our time traveller lived in his own time, he got mixed up with a slaves revolt and decided to listen to some advice and run into the hills to be alone, then a “jinx” (I use this word that is not at all talked in the book because in muslin legends a jinx is kind of a dark spirit that makes people do things that they otherwise wouldn't do) make him an offer to make him travel to the future, but the catch is that he will be able to travel twice in the future, can never travel back, but in the last time he will die there, he could also decided to stop in his first stop and just have a natural death there (grow old and die), to travel in time, he will need to go where there is no one around and give up of living with other people, and our time traveller just goes to the end of the road… I wont enter in details, but this book is more of the kind of speculative fiction than scifi, is not bad, but you’ll need to enjoy a kind of poetic narrative just like Albert Camus used to write.
Thank you NetGalley for the free ARC and this is my honest opinion.
June 28, 2025
Country: Mauritania
December 14, 2023
Mauritanian novelist Moussa Ould Ebnou’s Barzakh: The Land In-between takes the reader on an epic journey through space and time. In an unknown distant future, researchers from the Archaeological Institute of Human Thought manage to extract memory transcripts from an ancient skeleton buried at the top of Ghallawiya mountain. Starting in an eleventh-century desert village and ending in the fictive Republic of Barzakh of the 2050s, these memories tell the story of Gara, a young man abducted into slavery by travelling salt merchants, and his struggle to escape what he more and more perceives to be the inherent evils of humanity.
With Gara’s death being established first thing, the entire novel is basically a flashback — or rather, a series of flashbacks that takes us through three distinct time periods separated by repeating near-death experiences of the narrator. Taking its name from a Muslim concept denoting a place between life and death at which souls gather before going on to the afterlife, Barzakh is very much a book in-between: set in a geography comprised of both real and (semi-)mythic places, and incorporating elements from Mauritanian history and Islamic tradition alike, the story jumps between science fiction, historical fiction, and dystopian narrative, thereby reflecting the narrator’s increasing inability to know his own mind.
That Gara is not the most reliable of narrators becomes clear pretty soon: for all his introspection and pondering on humanity’s corrupted nature, there are some remarkable blind spots in his perception. While he personally resents his own enslavement, the idea that slavery as an institution may be wrong only arises when it is suggested by others; the stoning of a young bride in one of the villages the caravan stops at is merely background noise; and at no point does it occur to Gara to ask whether the cruelty with which the caravan men treat their animals might also be morally questionable. On the other hand, sequences such as Gara’s surprisingly detailed imagining of what the caravan leader is thinking about when he starts lagging behind at some point (i.e., the many creative ways he could take revenge on his wife, whom he suspects of being unfaithful to him) alert us to the fact that this is a book in which reading between the lines is as important as what is actually being said.
Throughout the novel, it is intriguing what is left out and what is described in detail. When, after a long and arduous journey, Gara’s caravan reaches the city of Ghana, which he says had ‘always fascinated’ him, his stay there is quickly skipped over with little more information than that they ‘stayed [there] for three weeks’. In contrast, the novel abounds in detailed descriptions of the desert landscapes the protagonist passes through, some of which are almost achingly beautiful. This is a landscape ‘carved… by the light and wind’, in which people measure the time by the length of shadows, and shadows themselves almost behave like people, stretching out ‘lazily’, ‘caressing’ the sand. Destinations, it turns out, are not where the story is at; rather, this is a book that is all about the journey.
Torn between his loathing of his fellow people and a deep longing for a more meaningful connection both with them and with the unconscious parts of himself that remain hidden from him, Gara is, however, ultimately unable to enjoy the ride. Seemingly unclear himself whether what he is seeking is solitude or a better humanity, he keeps circling back on himself, watching his former potential futures turn to myths of the past, encountering people and places that, though separated by centuries, remain strangely reminiscent of one another.
Though acutely aware of my own shortcomings as a reader in this case (I had never read any African science fiction before, and my ignorance of Islamic tradition is pretty comprehensive), I found Barzakh to be an enjoyable read. This was not least due to the originality and beauty of the descriptive passages (masterfully rendered into English by translator Marybeth Timmermann). Admittedly, though, they tend to be rather lengthy, so if fast-paced and action-packed is what you like, Barzakh may not be the book for you. To all those who do have the patience, I would recommend to dive in and expect the unexpected.
This review first appeared in Shoreline of Infinity 34. I am grateful to the publisher for a free review copy.
With Gara’s death being established first thing, the entire novel is basically a flashback — or rather, a series of flashbacks that takes us through three distinct time periods separated by repeating near-death experiences of the narrator. Taking its name from a Muslim concept denoting a place between life and death at which souls gather before going on to the afterlife, Barzakh is very much a book in-between: set in a geography comprised of both real and (semi-)mythic places, and incorporating elements from Mauritanian history and Islamic tradition alike, the story jumps between science fiction, historical fiction, and dystopian narrative, thereby reflecting the narrator’s increasing inability to know his own mind.
That Gara is not the most reliable of narrators becomes clear pretty soon: for all his introspection and pondering on humanity’s corrupted nature, there are some remarkable blind spots in his perception. While he personally resents his own enslavement, the idea that slavery as an institution may be wrong only arises when it is suggested by others; the stoning of a young bride in one of the villages the caravan stops at is merely background noise; and at no point does it occur to Gara to ask whether the cruelty with which the caravan men treat their animals might also be morally questionable. On the other hand, sequences such as Gara’s surprisingly detailed imagining of what the caravan leader is thinking about when he starts lagging behind at some point (i.e., the many creative ways he could take revenge on his wife, whom he suspects of being unfaithful to him) alert us to the fact that this is a book in which reading between the lines is as important as what is actually being said.
Throughout the novel, it is intriguing what is left out and what is described in detail. When, after a long and arduous journey, Gara’s caravan reaches the city of Ghana, which he says had ‘always fascinated’ him, his stay there is quickly skipped over with little more information than that they ‘stayed [there] for three weeks’. In contrast, the novel abounds in detailed descriptions of the desert landscapes the protagonist passes through, some of which are almost achingly beautiful. This is a landscape ‘carved… by the light and wind’, in which people measure the time by the length of shadows, and shadows themselves almost behave like people, stretching out ‘lazily’, ‘caressing’ the sand. Destinations, it turns out, are not where the story is at; rather, this is a book that is all about the journey.
Torn between his loathing of his fellow people and a deep longing for a more meaningful connection both with them and with the unconscious parts of himself that remain hidden from him, Gara is, however, ultimately unable to enjoy the ride. Seemingly unclear himself whether what he is seeking is solitude or a better humanity, he keeps circling back on himself, watching his former potential futures turn to myths of the past, encountering people and places that, though separated by centuries, remain strangely reminiscent of one another.
Though acutely aware of my own shortcomings as a reader in this case (I had never read any African science fiction before, and my ignorance of Islamic tradition is pretty comprehensive), I found Barzakh to be an enjoyable read. This was not least due to the originality and beauty of the descriptive passages (masterfully rendered into English by translator Marybeth Timmermann). Admittedly, though, they tend to be rather lengthy, so if fast-paced and action-packed is what you like, Barzakh may not be the book for you. To all those who do have the patience, I would recommend to dive in and expect the unexpected.
This review first appeared in Shoreline of Infinity 34. I am grateful to the publisher for a free review copy.
November 16, 2016
Quote:
The Mauritanian novelist Moussa Ould Ebnou is among the most innovative writers in African literature today, as well as among the most neglected by critics. He is the author of two novels in double version, French and Arabic. The first is L'amour impossible (1990)/Al Hub al Mustahil (1999) and the second Barzakh (1993)/Madinat al Riyah (1996), in which he weaves masterfully together science fiction and mysticism, history and myth, truth and fiction, philosophy and literature.
Nasrin Qadar
I can't read Arabic, but I can read French and this one is worth reading.
The Mauritanian novelist Moussa Ould Ebnou is among the most innovative writers in African literature today, as well as among the most neglected by critics. He is the author of two novels in double version, French and Arabic. The first is L'amour impossible (1990)/Al Hub al Mustahil (1999) and the second Barzakh (1993)/Madinat al Riyah (1996), in which he weaves masterfully together science fiction and mysticism, history and myth, truth and fiction, philosophy and literature.
Nasrin Qadar
I can't read Arabic, but I can read French and this one is worth reading.
May 5, 2024
En filosofisk, spekulativ, dystopisk science fiction-roman fra Mauretanien om en tidsrejsende i Sahara. Det lød så tilpas mærkeligt, at det lige kunne være noget for mig.
Moussa Ould Ebnous “Barzakh” er vitterligt også mærkelig. Desværre mere mærkelig end egentlig god. Og i sidste ende derfor alligevel ikke rigtig noget for mig. Jeg ved faktisk ikke helt, hvilken slags læser, jeg kan anbefale den til. Men den er virkelig mærkelig.
Læs hele min anmeldelse på K’s bognoter: https://bognoter.dk/2024/05/05/moussa...
Moussa Ould Ebnous “Barzakh” er vitterligt også mærkelig. Desværre mere mærkelig end egentlig god. Og i sidste ende derfor alligevel ikke rigtig noget for mig. Jeg ved faktisk ikke helt, hvilken slags læser, jeg kan anbefale den til. Men den er virkelig mærkelig.
Læs hele min anmeldelse på K’s bognoter: https://bognoter.dk/2024/05/05/moussa...
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews