Publisher’s
write-up:
‘He was the brother of “the Arab” killed by the infamous Meursault, the
antihero of Camus’s classic novel. Seventy years after that event, Harun, who
has lived since childhood in the shadow of his sibling’s memory, refuses to let
him remain anonymous: he gives his brother a story and a name—Musa—and
describes the events that led to Musa’s casual murder on a dazzlingly sunny
beach.
In a bar in Oran, night after night, he ruminates on his solitude, on
his broken heart, on his anger with men desperate for a god, and on his
disarray when faced with a country that has so disappointed him. A stranger
among his own people, he wants to be granted, finally, the right to die.
The Stranger is of course central to Daoud’s story, in which he both
endorses and criticizes one of the most famous novels in the world. A worthy
complement to its great predecessor, The Meursault Investigation is not only a
profound meditation on Arab identity and the disastrous effects of colonialism
in Algeria, but also a stunning work of literature in its own right, told in a
unique and affecting voice.’
Note: This book is originally written in French and I read the French
version. Cliquez ici afin de lire mon avis en français
Albert Camus’ ‘The Stranger’ is a well known novel. The Meursault Investigation is a novel from the
Algerian writer and journalist Kamel Daoud, written as a response to Camus’
novel and starts with the phrase ‘Mother is still alive’, the exact opposite of
‘The Stranger’.
Raymond Meursault, the main character of ‘The Stranger’, killed an ‘Arab’
near Algiers, which was a relatively ‘minor detail’ in that novel and this Arab
never had a name. Even though Meursault was sentenced to death, it was for a
bizarre reason and not for having killed ‘an Arab’. Here, the author has given
the dead man a name – Moussa, and his mother is still alive, and the story is
narrated by his brother Haroun.
The plot explores the impact this incident has had on the family,
especially Haroun where his mother is not ready to accept that her favourite
child is dead, and he tries to cope with this trauma by binge drinking in bars
around Oran.
I found the idea very interesting. I have often read novels that allude
to other famous works but never a case where it is written as a response to an
existing novel and give the other side of the story. There is also the fact
that in our world where the Western culture is dominant, very often, even the
names of the people from other cultures get submerged and I found that it was
very powerful from the author to have given the ‘Arab’ a name. Behind every
person killed by atrocities of a colonial regime, there was a bereaving family
that was profoundly impacted, and the author showed this aspect of the novel
very well. I read a bit of the author’s biography and I understand that he wants
the stories of Africa and its people to be told by Africans and not by others –
which I think is a good initiative.
When I was reading the book, I could find some sympathy for the
character of Haroun, where he was desperate for the validation from the society
at large or his mother and unfortunately, he had neither. However, the change he
adopted in the final third of the novel made me quickly lose that empathy as
well. Moreover, I felt the book was dominated by just one person. While I
understand that he was the narrator, the conversations between him and his mother
could have been more in detail by which I could have understood her as well,
better.
To conclude, I enjoyed this read, it was a book in my shelf for a long
time and I regret that I did not read it much earlier. I award the book a rating
of eight on ten.
Rating – 8/10
Have a nice day,
Andy
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