The Silence of the Choir :by Goncourt Prize winning author
The Silence of the Choir :by Goncourt Prize winning author
paperback | English
Published:
26 September, 2024
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Description
Seventy-two men arrive in the Sicilian countryside. They are “immigrants”, “refugees” or “migrants”. But in Altino, they are called the ragazzi, the ‘guys’ that the Santa Marta Association have taken responsibility for. And their presence changes the course of life in this small Sicilian town.
While they await their fate, the ragazzi encounter all kinds of people: a strange vicar who rewrites their pasts, a woman committed to offering them asylum, a man determined to refuse it, an older ragazzo who has become an interpreter, and a reclusive poet who no longer writes.
Each character, wherever they may come from, is forced to reflect on what it means to meet people they know nothing about. As each brings a different view, a cacophony of discordant voices resonates to the end, when the final one reduces the choir to silence.
More Details
| Type | Book |
|---|---|
| ISBN13 | 9781787705067 |
| ISBN10 | 1787705064 |
| Number Of Pages | 368 |
| Item Weight | 1000 g |
| Publisher / Reseller | Europa Editions (UK) Ltd |
| Format | paperback |
Media Reviews
“Captivating.... Pushing at the boundaries of the novel form, The Silence of the Choir switches between fictionalised memoir, script, reportage and conventional prose. It explores the best and worst of humanity, while reflecting the heart-wrenching turmoil of those who seek asylum.” * The New Statesman *
“Sarr's masterly novel serves as a powerful call for compassion.” * The Observer *
“As the characters push forward with their asylum claims, the timely tale unspools with multiple voices and a touch of magical realism.” * The Economist *
“Sarr points honestly and often brilliantly to the divisions between us and the world’s ragazzi, and in that empty space he offers a dozen different ways of seeing not only the other side, but ourselves as well.” * The New York Times *
“A raucously polyphonic novel.” * The New Yorker *
“The stories of each character will mesmerize you as you learn about their desires, their loves, and even their hatred. The language will stop you in your tracks. It’s not a book to be missed.” * Book Riot *
“Nothing short of masterful.” * Under the Radar *
“A deeply empathetic picture of immigration in Europe and what happens when two cultures involuntarily collide.” * Euronews *
“The most promising Senegalese writer of his generation.” * Le Monde *
GoodReads Reviews
Author's Bio
Mohamed Mbougar Sarr was born in Senegal in 1990. Brotherhood (Terre ceinte), received the Ahmadou Kourouma literary prize as well as the Grand Prix du Roman Métis. His second novel, Silence du choeur, was awarded the Prix Litterature-Monde 2018. An extract from his third novel, De purs hommes, was published in Granta Magazine in 2019. In 2021, he won the Prix Goncourt for The Most Secret Memory of Men, becoming the first author from sub-Saharan Africa to win the award and one of the youngest at only thirty-one years old. He currently lives in Paris. Alison Anderson’s translations for Europa Editions include novels by Sélim Nassib, Amélie Nothomb, and Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt. She is the translator of The Elegance of the Hedgehog (Europa, 2008) and The Life of the Elves (Europa, 2016) by Muriel Barbery.