In the Sea there are Crocodiles
Fabio Geda, Howard Curtis (trs.)
In the Sea there are Crocodiles
One night before putting him to bed, Enaiatollah’s mother tells him three things: don’t use drugs, don’t use weapons, don’t steal. The next day he wakes up to find she isn’t there. They have fled their village in Ghazni to seek safety outside Afghanistan but his mother has decided to return home to her younger children. Ten-year-old Enaiatollah is left alone in Pakistan to fend for himself. In a book based on a true story, Italian novelist Fabio Geda describes Enaiatollah’s remarkable five-year journey from Afghanistan to Italy where he finally managed to claim political asylum.
4.1 out of 5 based on 4 reviews
|
Omniscore:
|
| Classification |
Fiction |
| Genre |
General Fiction, Children's & Teenage |
| Format |
Hardcover |
| Pages |
224 |
| RRP |
£10.99 |
| Date of Publication |
July 2011 |
| ISBN |
978-1846554766 |
| Publisher |
Harvill Secker |
| |
One night before putting him to bed, Enaiatollah’s mother tells him three things: don’t use drugs, don’t use weapons, don’t steal. The next day he wakes up to find she isn’t there. They have fled their village in Ghazni to seek safety outside Afghanistan but his mother has decided to return home to her younger children. Ten-year-old Enaiatollah is left alone in Pakistan to fend for himself. In a book based on a true story, Italian novelist Fabio Geda describes Enaiatollah’s remarkable five-year journey from Afghanistan to Italy where he finally managed to claim political asylum.
Reviews
The Independent
Leyla Sanai
"It's sobering and heart-lifting to see the stoical determination and achievement of someone who makes our world look like paradise. This little gem, beautifully and unobtrusively translated, will raise tears of sorrow and of joy."
15/07/2011
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The Times
Catherine Nixey
"[A] adult-teen crossover novel, written by Geda, that tells Enaiatollah’s “biography” in the form of fiction. Ordinarily, the prospect of crossover books is enough to cause stirrings of anxiety in the boldest of readers, this being the sort of genre that threatens to offer universal truths or (worse) heart-warming tales. If anything, this book is more chilling than heart-warming. "
23/07/2011
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The Guardian
Diane Samuels
"If Fabio Geda's first-person rendition of Enaiatollah Akbadi's story were entirely fictional, it would more than stand up as a page-turner that makes you care about its hero from the outset and willingly accompany him on his often perilous journey from Afghanistan to Italy. That it is based on reality makes it more than just a compelling adventure story. For here is a frank, revealing and clear-eyed testament of the experiences faced by a young asylum-seeker in the contemporary world."
26/08/2011
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The Financial Times
Adrian Turpin
"... so it goes on, almost unimaginable horrors related with a lack of sentiment and bombast that makes their description all the more remarkable."
29/07/2011
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