Synopses & Reviews
The Last Friend, the new novel from internationally acclaimed author Tahar Ben Jelloun, winner of the 2004 International Dublin/IMPAC award, is a
Rashamon-like tale of friendship and betrayal set in twentieth century Tangier. Written in Ben Jelloun's inimitable and powerfully direct style, the novel explores the twists and turns of an intense thirty-year friendship between two young men struggling to find their identities and sexual fulfillment in Morocco in the late 1950s, a complex and contradictory society both modern and archaic.
From their carefree university days through their brutal imprisonment and ultimate release, the two rely on each other for physical and psychological survival, forging bonds not easily broken. Each narrator tells his version of the story, painting a vivid portrait of life lived within and in opposition to the moral strictures of North Africa.
Set against a backdrop of repression and disillusionment, The Last Friend is a tale of loss of innocence and a nation's coming of age.
Review
"In making that relationship humdrum, passionless and lacking in substance, the author has produced a work that may be likened to a long, disappointed sigh. A gentle, intelligent exercise in nihilism: Life, Jelloun seems to say with a pained smile, is hardly worth discussing." Kirkus Reviews
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"Ben Jelloun's spellbinding fourth novel..." Booklist
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"This novel...is sterling in both language and presentation....Ben Jelloun's laserlike focus on the male relationship as it survives teen heartaches, prison, jealous wives and physical separation is a compelling story with universal appeal." Seattle Times
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"This is a sexy, racy novel....With this sour, sweet tale of two men looking at each other across this divide, Tahar Ben Jelloun shows how what tumbles into the breach is sometimes our closest friendships." San Francisco Chronicle
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"What Ben Jelloun does brilliantly is write with a kind of refreshing candor that demystifies the Arab world." Paris Voice
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"Perfectly captures and explains the human condition." Le Nouvel Observateur
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"A seductive, lyrical novel exploring the seeming betrayal of a lifelong friendship." French Book News
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"A profound and moving novel." Le Monde
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"Male friendship in the Maghreb, with its 'platonic' kisses and hand-holding, is seen in the West as an exotic near-homosexuality. Ben Jelloun shows that these happy, innocent images conceal a dangerous underside that can swallow men and their families whole." LA Weekly (read the entire LA Weekly review)
About the Author
Winner of the 2004 Impac Prize, the 1994 Prix Maghreb, and the 1987 Prix Goncourt, Moroccan-born Tahar Ben Jelloun emigrated to France in 1961. A novelist, essayist, critic, and poet, he is a regular contributor to Le Monde, La Repubblica, El País, and Panorama. His novels include the Prix Goncourtwinning The Sacred Night, Corruption, and This Blinding Absence of Light (Impac Prize, 2004). He lives in Paris, France.