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Évocation d'un mémorial à Venise
Un après-midi de janvier 2017, un jeune réfugié gambien se jette dans le Grand Canal de Venise et se noie sous les regards et les insultes des passants. Il s’appelait Pateh et avait vingt-deux ans. Hanté par ce drame, un jeune écrivain se lance sur ses traces et tente de reconstruire le fil des événements, de mettre en mots son choc et son indignation. Dans un récit en fragments où s’entremêlent fiction et réalité, le narrateur consulte les sites d’information, cherche des indices dans la presse, dévoile des vérités enfouies dans les pages de l’histoire et de la littérature. Au fil d’une quête riche en surprises et en émotions, d’autres histoires se greffent à la première pour sauver de l’oubli des jeunesses noyées dans le tourbillon de l’actualité. De l’Afrique des racines et des ruptures à la Venise des mythes et des illusions, l’écriture est à la fois poétique et solidaire : elle dénonce la haine de l’autre et esquisse un mémorial littéraire pour la dignité humaine.
- GenresFiction
172 pages, Pocket Book
Published March 7, 2023
4 people are currently reading
49 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 12, 2025
En se jetant dans le Grand Canal de Venise le 22 janvier 2017, Pateh Sabally fait irruption dans un espace qui ne lui était pas destiné. Il brise d’un seul coup cette insouciance qui conforte nos pays, tout en révélant brutalement les conséquences de l’hypocrisie occidentale et la violence de son système administratif.
La vidéo de sa mort n’est que la preuve effroyable d’un manque d’empathie qui condamne des êtres humains sans cesse. Car se questionner sur pourquoi il s’est laissé mourir alors que des bouées de sauvetage lui étaient lancées, sans même penser à sauter pour le sauver, en dit long sur notre perception de ce que les migrants endurent chaque jour.
Ce n’était pas un caprice de sa part, loin de là.
La vidéo de sa mort n’est que la preuve effroyable d’un manque d’empathie qui condamne des êtres humains sans cesse. Car se questionner sur pourquoi il s’est laissé mourir alors que des bouées de sauvetage lui étaient lancées, sans même penser à sauter pour le sauver, en dit long sur notre perception de ce que les migrants endurent chaque jour.
Ce n’était pas un caprice de sa part, loin de là.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
On the 22nd January 2017 a Gambian refugee called Patel Sabally threw himself off the Scalzi Bridge in Venice. The onlookers just yelled insults and no one helped him.
The narrator, a Parisian, decides to trace Pateh’s journey from the Gambian village of Dembanding, the boat he went on, his stop at Milan then his life in Venice. Not only does author Khalid Lyamlahy give us a history of Venice and Gambia but in the grand tradition of writers such as Luis Sagasti and Benjamin Labatut, goes beyond history and links Venice’s past with people such as Hemingway and Lord Byron.
The end result is that Europe can be pretty unforgiving when it comes to outsiders, especially migrants (Pateh was a legal one). One part that struck me in the novel are the comments made by people when Pateh’s drowning was announced online - truly we can be heartless when behind a keyboard,
Venice Requiem is a book that quietly shocks the reader. Its deceptively readable tone, much like Venice itself, gives way to the dirty history of this city. I can safely say that this is a book that will change the the reader. HIGHLY recommended.
Many thanks to HopeRoad for providing a copy of Venice Requiem
The narrator, a Parisian, decides to trace Pateh’s journey from the Gambian village of Dembanding, the boat he went on, his stop at Milan then his life in Venice. Not only does author Khalid Lyamlahy give us a history of Venice and Gambia but in the grand tradition of writers such as Luis Sagasti and Benjamin Labatut, goes beyond history and links Venice’s past with people such as Hemingway and Lord Byron.
The end result is that Europe can be pretty unforgiving when it comes to outsiders, especially migrants (Pateh was a legal one). One part that struck me in the novel are the comments made by people when Pateh’s drowning was announced online - truly we can be heartless when behind a keyboard,
Venice Requiem is a book that quietly shocks the reader. Its deceptively readable tone, much like Venice itself, gives way to the dirty history of this city. I can safely say that this is a book that will change the the reader. HIGHLY recommended.
Many thanks to HopeRoad for providing a copy of Venice Requiem
January 3, 2026
Traducere din limba franceză și note de Alexandra Ionel [proud sister]
Editura Casa Cărții de Știință, Cluj-Napoca, 2025
“De fiecare dată când încerc să fac ordine printre notițe, îmi sare în ochi un lucru evident: s-ar părea că nu există nicio formă de scriitură care să-ți poată prelua drama. Nici ficțiunea, nici povestirea. Nici confesiunea imaginară, nici biografia poetică sau romanțată. Acest memorial este asemeni lagunei, fâșii de uscat împresurate de apă și nesiguranță. Un vârtej de praf, o puzderie de fisuri, țăndări pe care nimic nu e în stare să le strângă laolaltă, poate doar gustul stăruitor al înfrângerii.” (p. 162)
Editura Casa Cărții de Știință, Cluj-Napoca, 2025
“De fiecare dată când încerc să fac ordine printre notițe, îmi sare în ochi un lucru evident: s-ar părea că nu există nicio formă de scriitură care să-ți poată prelua drama. Nici ficțiunea, nici povestirea. Nici confesiunea imaginară, nici biografia poetică sau romanțată. Acest memorial este asemeni lagunei, fâșii de uscat împresurate de apă și nesiguranță. Un vârtej de praf, o puzderie de fisuri, țăndări pe care nimic nu e în stare să le strângă laolaltă, poate doar gustul stăruitor al înfrângerii.” (p. 162)
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
4.5⭐️
Review of advance copy received from Author
This book is published next week, February 5.
It is based on a true story of an African migrant who died in a canal in Venice, originally written in French. Very moving and thought provoking.
It is based on a true story of an African migrant who died in a canal in Venice, originally written in French. Very moving and thought provoking.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews