Novel
Le Jeune Homme de sable
Not translated into English
Williams Sassine · 1979
Synopsis
In a land of sand ruled by a tyrant, the Guide, a famine ravages the population, and the novel blames it on the incompetence of those in power more than on nature. Oumarou, son of Abdou, a deputy of the ruling bourgeoisie, discovers disturbing resemblances between his father and the Guide. Attached to old Bandia, he breaks the bonds that keep each person in his place and sides with the oppressed, in a world where nightmare and reality merge.
Context
Published by Présence africaine in 1979, the novel is its author's third, written while he was living far from Guinea. Hervé Tchumkam reads in it an indictment of the twenty-six years of dictatorship, in which the Guide is nicknamed the desert lion, and a revolt that works through transgression. Gérard Clavreuil notes that Sassine places his hope in an unpredictable youth, like the sandstorms that build here today and there tomorrow, and that only madness sometimes allows pure souls to get through the nightmare.
Who it is for
For readers interested in African novels of dictatorship, written from exile in a nightmarish tone.
Prizes and reception
The Store norske leksikon regards it as its author's best-known book, and it is counted among the best African novels of the century.
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