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|
The
2004 Award
|
|
Earth
and Ashes by
Atiq Rahimi |
Nominated by:
Publisher
of Nominated Edition:
|
| the complete A-Z listing of nominated authors |
|
ABOUT
THE BOOK
|
| Earth
and Ashes, set during the Russian occupation of Afghanistan, is
a fable about war, family, home and tradition. And old man and his grandson
sit in a deserted landscape of dusty roads and looming mountains. What are
they waiting for? As we watch them, we learn their story. In one short day
they have witnessed all the horrors of war: a Russian bomb, a village in
flames, the death of everyone they love. Now the old man must carry the
news to the coal mine where the boy's father works. Yet his arrival there
will spell further tragedy when he is led to believe that his son has betrayed
codes of honour that lie deep in the Afghan soul. Rahimi has managed to condense centuries of Afghan history into this short tale of three very different generations. At the same time, he has created a story that is universal in its power. Bleak though his message is, the extraordinary beauty of his prose and the clarity of his vision offer hope and redemption. |
| ABOUT THE AUTHOR |
| Atiq Rahimi was born in Kabul in 1962. In 1984 he fled Afghanistan for Pakistan and went on to receive political asylum in France, where he studied film at the Sorbonne. He has been working as a documentary maker for many years. This, his first book, received huge acclaim when it was first published in France in 2000. |
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