A review by cynthiareads
The Last Summer of Reason by Tahar Djaout

reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Prose is a little to poetic for my taste, but the story is worth reading.  It follows a bookseller during the Civil War in Algeria in the 1990s.  Explores themes of religious fundamentalism and the importance of books and independent thought. Eerie to learn that the author was assassinated during the same civial war.  "They understand the danger in words, all the words they cannot manage to domesticate and anesthetize.  For words, put end to end, bring doubt and change."