Bought at Ringerike and Hole Red Cross' 2nd hand market.

"This novel is based upon real events drawn from the testimony of a former inmate of Tazmamart Prison."

"In 1971 disaffected student Salim took part in a failed coup to oust King Hassan II of Morocco. With sixty others he was incarcerated in a secret prison complex in the Moroccan desert; they were to remain therefor nearly twenty years.
In starkly eloquent, beautiful prose, Tahar Ben Jelloun relates the prisoners' experience as they struggle to survive. The son of a witty, feckless courtier who disowns him, Salim tells stories to keep sane - from the suras of his beloved Koran to the plot of A Streetcar Named Desire. Even in the darkest, most terrible conditions, sympathy, insight, the human quest for meaning and understanding never desert Salim. The resulting novel is a wrenching yet exquisite celebration of the human spirit and its determination to survive."

This was an interesting story about survival in a pitch dark dungeon of a prison, with cells so low that the prisoners can't stand up properly! Despite terrible conditions, and bad health, some manages to stay sane during these conditions, while others struggle.

Sending this as a RABCK to book-a-neer.

Released as a part of the T book release challenge and the release books at places matching the letters in Bookcrossing challenge at the Scandinavian forum.

Thank you Cathrine for sending this all the way to the other side of the globe.

Wow! This was an amazing read.

At first I was put off by the author’s writing style - too lyrical and poetic for my taste - but I decided to continue on and see where it goes. When I finished it, I realised then how fitting it was to the story and how it made the prisoner’s survival more powerful than everything that happened to them.

Travelling to its next reader.

Arrived along with a number of travelling companions. Thanks very much for the RABCK book-a-neer; this looks really fascinating.