Set on the bloody background of the Algerian civil war, 1994 by Algerian author and journalist Adlène Meddi is both a political and crime novel. A group of young boys got together to (literally) fight the extremist ´Brothers´ as part of the clandestine organisation. Able to escape the vigilent eyes of the military intelligence, they are more than adventurous kids looking for an adventure; their splitted identities, dramatically exposed, as the proof of their generational trauma.
The book paints a detailed portrait of the generation coming of age in the mid-1990s and although a subplot follows the clandestine stories and their fight against the system, the descriptive-historically driven part is in my opinion the most successful part of the book. The writing is journalistically right, avoiding additional flourishing and focused on the phenomenon instead.
Indeed, there may be a temptation of the political journalist to rather expose the facts than create suspenseful actions. Nevertheless the book is an important literary testimony told in a literary form. Algerian literature has so much to say both in terms of topics and diversity of authors. It is a richness that deserves much more attention.
Rating: 3 stars
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