El siglo de las langostas

by Malika Mokeddem

Book by Malika Mokeddem

Genres: Africa, Algeria, Fiction, Novels, France

280 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Malika Mokeddem spent her childhood in a ksar, a traditional village. She now lives in Montpellier, France, where she divides her time between practicing medicine and writing.
Her works (published in French, and also available translated into English) include The Forbidden Woman and Of Dreams and Assassins.

Reviews

[Gerti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ein Buch, für das man sich Zeit nehmen muss. Malika Mokeddem schildert in bunten Farben aber auch in harter Klarheit das Leben in der Wüste Algeriens, die voller Kargheit aber auch von unbeschreiblicher Schönheit ist. Mahmoud, ein Dichter, der schon früh die Mutter, den Vater vor der Geburt verloren hat, lebt mit seiner Frau und seinen beiden Kindern einsam am Rande der Wüste. Sie sind Nomaden. Durch den gewaltsamen Tod seiner Frau und des Säuglings, verliert Yasemine, die alles mit ansehn musste, die Sprache. Mahmoud lehrt sie schreiben und lesen, damit sie sich verständigen können und sie vor dem Schicksal der in Clans gefangenen Nomadenfrauen zu behüten.

Es hat gedauert bis ich mich eingelesen habe aber die Erzählweise und das Schicksal der beiden haben mich mitgerissen in einen Erzählfluss der gewaltig ist wie die Wadis nach dem Regen.

[Nan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is amazing! I recommend it a lot. It’s the story of a man of the desert who looks for her lost daughter in Africa, against heat, thieves, a burning sun, sand storms and fierce locusts that destroy it all

[Czarny Pies · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dans "Le Siècle des sauterelles" Malika Mokeddem décrit l'Algérie du milieu du vingtième siècle comme un enfer surtout pour les femmes. Mokeddem nous offre aussi une réflexion intéressante sur l'écrivaine suisse Isabelle Eberhardt morte en 1904 dans la région où les événements du roman se déroulent. Il y a des bons moments mais dans l'ensemble, "Le Siècle des sauterelle" est pénible à lire. Mokeddem a quand même un point de vue pertinente. J'ai l'intention de lire tôt ou tard un autre de ses romans qui j'espère me plaira davantage.

[Grada (BoekenTrol) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautifully written book. Sentences that take you along on the journey of a father and his daughter, living like nomads in the desert. People they meet, hardship and luck they encounter, a book of great sadness that still has room for a bit of hope.

[Julián Rivera · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful beautiful beautiful. Sad, but beautiful.

[Aziza · Rating 3 out of 5]

If there is such a thing as “baroque” language, the Tuareg author living in France writes in it. Not unlike Fatima Mernissi, I am in awe of Mokeddem as a person, who grew up in a family of illiterate nomads in the desert of southern of Algeria to become first a medical doctor (mostly helping Magrebi immigrants till death threats forced her to close her clinic) and then a full-time writer. Although Mokeddem also informs her Western audience about her heritage and has a hidden feminist agenda, Century of Locusts satisfies as a true novel a bit more than Dreams of Trespass. With its (to most American readers) oddly archaic style and open ending, this is not an “easy” book.

The locusts of the title with their horrible propensity to multiply after devouring everything in their path are not only symbolic of the French colonialists, but also of the destructive, evil nature of human beings in general. Semi-nomadic poet, Mahmoud, the main character is scared of this inner darkness, whose personification, El-Majnoun, whispers dark, destructive desires in his ear. This madman of Middle Eastern legends is both feared for his capacity of violence and admired for his daring and passion. El-Majnoun sets fire to the estate formerly owned by Mahmoud’s family but taken over by French settlers, claiming he was only carrying out Mahmoud's intentions. The novel starts with another even more heinous crime; the brutal murder of Mahmoud's wife, Nejma, which sets in motion the main action in the novel -Mahmoud’s wandering the desert in search of his wife’s killer. More interesting than this, however, is the subplot about Mahmoud’s daughter, Yasmine, who stops talking after witnessing her mother’s murder. The novel ends with what I consider Mokkedem’s alter-ego, Yasmine recovering her voice and becoming a story-teller, who roams the desert and its oasis villages as a living testimony to her heritage. The author’s suggestive language undulates like desert dunes and swirls like the Sirocco, leaving the reader slightly bewildered, yet fascinated by the landscape of the human heart.

[Gijs Grob · Rating 2 out of 5]

In uiterst barokke taal geschreven roman over de nomade Mahnoud en zijn dochter Yasmine. De roman begint ijzersterk met een harde, wrede scene, maar gaat dan op gekunstelde wijze verder als een ontwikkelingsroman met vleugjes documentaire. Na enkele ijzersterke sprookjesachtige magische passages over de originele figuur El-Majnoun verzandt de roman: verhaallijnen worden geïntroduceerd maar niet afgemaakt, een grote finale blijft uit en de roman eindigt met een zwaar teleurstellend open einde. Door de zwakke verhaalstructuur en de vaak gezwollen, pretentieuze schrijfstijl valt de roman uiteindelijk behoorlijk tegen, ondanks de exotische setting.