The German Mujahid - by Boualem Sansal (Paperback)

About the Book

Based on a true story and inspired by the work of Primo Levi, "The German Mujahid" is a heartfelt reflection on guilt and the harsh imperatives of history.

Book Synopsis

"The German Mujahid mesmerizes from the very first sentence and commands you not to evade or recoil." Words Without Borders

Inspired by the work of Primo Levi, The German Mujahid tells the story of the Schiller brothers, Rachel and Malrich, born in Algeria to a German father and an Algerian mother, and raised by an elderly uncle in one of the toughest ghettos in France. Rachel is a model immigrant-hard-working, upstanding, law-abiding-while Malrich is drifting, becoming increasingly alienated and angry. When Islamic fundamentalists in Algeria murder their parents, the lives of both brothers are transformed, both by the deaths of their parents and by the shocking truth that emerges afterwards. Rachel, the model son, buckles under the weight of the family revelations. Malrich, the outcast, will have to face the awful truth alone.

Based on a true story and the first Arab novel to confront the Holocaust, The German Mujahid is a groundbreaking novel and a heartfelt reflection on the harsh imperatives of history by one of Algeria's leading contemporary writers.

"Thought-provoking on many levels, perhaps the ultimate moral to this tale is the timeless one of how the sins of the father can affect the next generation." The Austin Chronicle

"A marvelous, devilishly well-constructed novel." L'Express (France)

Review Quotes

Praise for The German Mujahid

"The German Mujahid, winner of the RTL-Lire Prize for fiction, is a marvelous, devilishly well-constructed novel."
--L'Express (France)

"With extraordinary eloquence, Sansal condemns both the [Algerian] military and the Islamic fundamentalists; he decries that Algeria crippled by trafficking, religion, bureaucracy, the culture of illegality, of coups, and of clans, career apologists, the glorification of tyrants, the love of flashy materialism, and the passion for rants."
--Lire (France)

"The German Mujahid deals with the fine line between the destructive power wielded by islamic fundamentalism today and the power of another movement that left an indelible mark on history: Nazism."
--Haaretz (Israel)

Praise for The German Mujahid
"The German Mujahid, winner of the RTL-Lire Prize for fiction, is a marvelous, devilishly well-constructed novel."
--L'Express (France)
"With extraordinary eloquence, Sansal condemns both the [Algerian] military and the Islamic fundamentalists; he decries that Algeria crippled by trafficking, religion, bureaucracy, the culture of illegality, of coups, and of clans, career apologists, the glorification of tyrants, the love of flashy materialism, and the passion for rants."
--Lire (France)
"The German Mujahid deals with the fine line between the destructive power wielded by islamic fundamentalism today and the power of another movement that left an indelible mark on history: Nazism."
--Haaretz (Israel)

"The German Mujahid, winner of the RTL-Lire Prize for fiction, is a marvelous, devilishly well- constructed novel . . . Terror, doubt, revolt, guilt, and despair-an entire range of sentiments is admirably depicted in this book."-"L'Express"(France)

"With extraordinary eloquence, Sansal condemns both the [Algerian] military and Islamic fundamentalists; he decries that Algeria crippled by trafficking, religion, bureaucracy, the culture of illegality, of coups, and of clans, career apologists, the glorification of tyrants, the love of flashy materialism, and the passion for rants."- "Lire" (France)

"The German Mujahid deals with the fine line between the destructive power wielded by Islamic fundamentalism today and the power of another movement that left an indelible mark on history: Nazism."-"Haaretz" (Israel)

About the Author

Boualem Sansal was born in 1949 in Algeria. Since the publication of his debut novel, Le serment des barbares, which was awarded the Best First Novel Prize in France in 1999, he has been widely considered one of his country's most important contemporary authors. He lives with his wife and two daughters in Algiers.