This Blinding Absence of Light

Ben Jalloun's novel is based on the story of one Aziz Binebine, who was sentenced to a 20-year stretch of time in the hellhole prison of Tazmamart for his role in the 1971 attempted coup of King Hassan II's Moroccan government. The novel is fictional, but the underground prison of Tazmamart and living conditions there (it is now destroyed) are not. The book examines the story of one character, Salim, who like his fellow cadets from the coup attempt, was sent to this horrible place. Their "home" was an underground cell, so small that even something as ordinary as sitting was an impossibility. Cockroaches and scorpions were co-inhabitants, as was the constant darkness. The food kept the prisoners alive, but just barely. Many of the prisoners turned to their faith in Allah and to the Qu'ran to make it through their ordeal, while Salim turned deeply inward, letting go of both memory, because "to remember was to die," and of the physicality of his body.This Blinding Absence of Light is one of those books you must actually experience for yourself -- book reviews and descriptions of it can't really do the story justice. If you have a low tolerance for human despair, or you're in the mood for something happy, forget this one. Difficult to read at many points (and on many levels), this book left me considering the cruelty that can more often than not accompany power. It's also a reminder that in some cases, Hell already exists on earth.

This book, due to it being essentially all in darkness, becomes highly metaphysical at points, discussing ways in which the narrator and other prisoners dealt with the bafflingly horrid conditions they were subject to. Hurts your heart to read in many places, but also a story of the ever-overcoming and -transcending spirit of us humans.Also an eye opener to how prisoners may have been tortured in other parts of the Islamic world, although this certainly has to be one of the worst accounts of any torture, by any people.This novel is as much about the religious aspect of one who has every reason to curse fate yet still pursues his God as his ultimate savior, as well as witnessing the one of the most uncomfortably bent and hideously twisted corners of human history.Prose is fantastic. Short chapters, wide number of topics and occurrences hit on so it moves very fast. 189pg

Must read.

Such a great read, I recommend it to everyone!

I'd recommend this book to anyone. It's an eye-opening and tragic read based upon interviews of people imprisoned in underground prisons in Morocco. Thankful for Amnesty International and everyone else who helped release these prisoners.

You don't know nuthin'! At least you're not rotting away in an dank, absolutely dark underground dungeon for more than a decade, half-starving and going mad, where your only pleasure is to not feel anything in particular, and the occasional bird song that one hears.

hauntingly beautiful

There is a fair amount of suffering in this book. Very emotional and very well written.

A previous reviewer described this book as shocking and she is quite right, it is shocking. She also said she was glad she read it. Again, I totally agree. My review is simply to add a bit more background to that so the potential reader can understand why it is so shocking.The book is basically about the political prisoners from the Moroccan military who took part in the failed coup against the former king. They were incarcerated in a secret prison for over a decade in the desert and endured some of the worst conditions imaginable.The book is written from a first person point of view (And apparently this has caused some controversy due to the prisoner in question apparently accusing Ben Jelloun of plagiarism but thats another matter) The prisoners are in complete darkness in a single cell where they cannot stand up straight, the are pretty much kept there out of sight and out of mind. The book describes what they endured and it truly was awful (I had memories of watching the film Papillon as a kid) One part that really got me was one of the prisoners who kept his bread in a sack hanging in his cell eating a little at a time suddenly turning ill. It was only when the guards shone light in the cell they realised that the bag was full of cockroaches and he hadn't seen them in the dark!Ben Jelloun is an excellent writer, this book is extremely easy to read and I have to say its something I find quite remarkable about the author that you can pretty much read his books almost in one sitting, not because they are short of content or anything but simply because they are well written and well put together.I dont give 5 stars too often but this book deserves it.

A king's word, once uttered have to be carried out. Impossible to believe in this day and age? Read on in that case as these forgotten individuals are buried alive in the middle of the desert for attempting a coup against the King of Morocco, for a period of 18 years. One by one they die as all hope diminishes in their permanently dark cells in which they cannot even stand straight. The protagonist is saved by religion as he finds escape from the constant torture in constant prayer. I think another reason why he survived was that forgave, and refused to hate his enemies. As wallowing in hate can kill.The book is a dark read but has to be experienced as it demonstrates the power of the human spirit to survive against all odds.

This astonishing book stands favourable comparsion with every classic of prison literature you can think of. Transparently written and deeply insightful, the awful conditions of confinement suffered by the Moroccan prisoners chill the blood. The book is translated in such a way that there is no hint that it was not written in English, with not one infelicitous phrase or awkward sentence. Shocking in its simple descriptions of state sadism, the book also describes unemotionally a triumph of the human spirit in the face of unremitting attempts to crush it and replace the minor pleasures of everyday existence available even to ordinary prisoners, -- sunlight, the feeling and sounds of rain, cleanliness and basic cameraderie -- with solitude, insanity and a complete absence of light. This is a book that deserves a much wider readership

Brilliant book. The long ramblings of dialogue can be a bit over dramatic sometimes but the rest of the story compensates for that. You route for the characters, getting quite invested and saddened if one of them doesn’t make it. Overall an enjoyable read.

Beautiful writing that kept me hanging on in there through a sad hurtful punishment of the damned. Makes one think about those incarcerated ...in appalling conditions ..through out the world today..guilty or innocent. ..how cruel is power in the wrong hands. Strong intence book