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Rue Du Retour
Abdellatif Laabi spent eight years in a Moroccan prison for "crimes of opinion". This poetic and lyrical memoir is a record of the comradeship he found there, but also much more. It is the writer's contemplation on solitude itself as well as his rediscovery of passion on his unexpected return to family and friends.
Rue du Retour is about a poet's return -- to home and family, to himself, and to the eternal values of love and hope.
These human values are at the core of his moving and poignant story -- the testimony of a remarkable man of conscience speaking to "those who can still hear the cry of man".
From Publishers Weekly:
Moroccan human rights activist, poet and novelist Laabi makes a stunning English-language debut with this account of his unexpected release from prison (following an international campaign mounted by Amnesty International and the French branch of PEN etc.) from prison after serving eight-and-a-half of a 10-year sentence for "crimes of opinion." A mosaic of memoirs, letters and stories relates his journey back to freedom. His most powerful passages are missives to his wife, Jocelyne, whom he calls here Awdah, Arabic for "return," and whose felt presence succors him throughout his incarceration. Perhaps to universalize his own experience, or to claim solidarity with political prisoners everywhere, Laabi describes his ordeal and recovery in the second person: "You will have to learn to walk again. One step, then another, always forward, in a straight line. It will no longer be that round, that circling around. . . ." Prison only reinforces his belief in the political merit of writing, his "tragic privilege": "And you are called to tell and to keep on telling. . . . Like Scheherazade, 'Write or be killed.' "
Rue du Retour is about a poet's return -- to home and family, to himself, and to the eternal values of love and hope.
These human values are at the core of his moving and poignant story -- the testimony of a remarkable man of conscience speaking to "those who can still hear the cry of man".
From Publishers Weekly:
Moroccan human rights activist, poet and novelist Laabi makes a stunning English-language debut with this account of his unexpected release from prison (following an international campaign mounted by Amnesty International and the French branch of PEN etc.) from prison after serving eight-and-a-half of a 10-year sentence for "crimes of opinion." A mosaic of memoirs, letters and stories relates his journey back to freedom. His most powerful passages are missives to his wife, Jocelyne, whom he calls here Awdah, Arabic for "return," and whose felt presence succors him throughout his incarceration. Perhaps to universalize his own experience, or to claim solidarity with political prisoners everywhere, Laabi describes his ordeal and recovery in the second person: "You will have to learn to walk again. One step, then another, always forward, in a straight line. It will no longer be that round, that circling around. . . ." Prison only reinforces his belief in the political merit of writing, his "tragic privilege": "And you are called to tell and to keep on telling. . . . Like Scheherazade, 'Write or be killed.' "
- GenresBiography
180 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 1989
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About the author
Abdellatif Laâbi
115 books60 followersArabic: عبد اللطيف اللعبي
Abdellatif Laâbi is a Moroccan poet, born in 1942 in Fes, Morocco.
Laâbi, then teaching French, founded with other poets the artistic journal Souffles, an important literary review in 1966. It was considered as a meeting point of some poets who felt the emergency of a poetic stand and revival, but which, very quickly, crystallized all Moroccan creative energies: painters, film-makers, men of theatre, researchers and thinkers. It was banned in 1972, but throughout its short life, it opened up to cultures from other countries of the Maghreb and those of the Third World.
Abdellatif Laâbi was imprisoned, tortured and sentenced to ten years in prison for "crimes of opinion" (for his political beliefs and his writings) and served a sentence from 1972-1980. He was, in 1985, forced into exile in France.[2]
Abdellatif Laâbi is a Moroccan poet, born in 1942 in Fes, Morocco.
Laâbi, then teaching French, founded with other poets the artistic journal Souffles, an important literary review in 1966. It was considered as a meeting point of some poets who felt the emergency of a poetic stand and revival, but which, very quickly, crystallized all Moroccan creative energies: painters, film-makers, men of theatre, researchers and thinkers. It was banned in 1972, but throughout its short life, it opened up to cultures from other countries of the Maghreb and those of the Third World.
Abdellatif Laâbi was imprisoned, tortured and sentenced to ten years in prison for "crimes of opinion" (for his political beliefs and his writings) and served a sentence from 1972-1980. He was, in 1985, forced into exile in France.[2]
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 11, 2015
As Laâbi is mostly a poet, it is not surprising that I found parts of his writing style poetic. Not only does he touch on his imprisonment & torture for "crimes of opinion" (in Morocco), he also identifies worldwide with other political prisoners -- past, present, & future. Much of the book centers on the sensations of readjusting to the outside world after being released. A strong & touching book.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews