A review by serendipitysbooks
Passage of Tears by Abdourahman A. Waberi

challenging dark relaxing medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

 Passage of Tears first appears to be a sort of spy novel/political thriller with strong epistolary elements. Yet as you read further it becomes clear that the novel is less action packed and more an unravelling of the struggles faced by Djibouti and its people, the cost of colonialism and globalisation, the lure of fundamentalism. There are two main narrative threads. The first of these is from Djibril’s perspective. He’s a young Djibouti man now living in Canada who has returned to his homeland to prepare a report for a shady sounding American economic intelligence organisation. His sections include plenty of details about the current social and economic situation in the country, as well as personal thoughts and memories - of his grandfather’s wisdom, his estrangement from his twin brother, a close friendship. Alternating with this are sections written from a prison cell. These are rife with Islamic fundamentalism and show the writer knows Djibril’s every move. Interwoven with this are excerpts from the life and works of Walter Benjamin, a German Jewish philosopher which the prisoner begins engaging with. I knew little about Benjamin and I suspect I lost a little as a result.

For me this book was both thought provoking and challenging, offering some interesting insights into this small nation with the strategically important location. 
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