# Book review: "The Swallows of Kabul"



## bossi (2 Nov 2004)

While attending the 25th International Festival of Authors in Toronto, I had the pleasure of actually meeting the author of "The Swallows of Kabul".

Writing under the _nom de plume_ "Yasmina Khadra" in order to avoid military censors while he was still in the army, Algerian-born Mohamed Moulessehoul gives another glimpse into life in Afghanistan under the Taliban.

Combined with a post-Taliban novel such as Asne Seierstad's "The Bookseller of Kabul", it provides depth and background with a view to better understanding some of the attitudes you might encounter when dealing with Afghans today.

At the book-reading we heard the story of the public execution of a woman for prostitution, in which a mullah accuses her of succumbing to lust.  It is so ironic that the crowd who stones her to death succumb, in turn, to "bloodlust".

The tone of this novel is sombre in parts, however it "brings history to life" and affords the reader a better appreciation of the Taliban period and the effect it had on the Afghan people.

As with Seierstad's book, I remember reading book reviews at the time of publishing, unfortunately not in time for my deployment to Kabul.  However, for anybody going to Afghanistan soon, this book is more enjoyable than reading encyclopedia entries ...

Oh - almost forgot - under the heading of "some people are thicker than a bag of hammers", I could only laugh at the book-reading when Mohamed was graciously signing copies of his novel ... but some people where still calling him "Yasmina" (not realising that A:  Yasmina was only his _nom de plume_, and B: Yasmina is a female name ... ).

If anybody else meets Moulessehoul , please say "Salaam Alaikim" from me!


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