Do you remember the Arab killed by Meursault in The Stranger? Do you know his name? Do you know what happened to his body? No! Nobody knew until Kamel Daoud reimagined that character, his life and fate. The Meursault Investigation is a narrative told by Harun, who is the brother of Musa – the Arab who was killed in the Camus's epic philosophical novel of the absurd. The philosophical absurdity has been passed down to Harun as well, who is very much like Meursault. Harun is telling the story of his brother, his mother and himself to an unnamed investigator in a bar in Oran, Algeria, where they meet every evening
My brother was the one who got shot, not him! It was Musa, not
Meursault, see? There’s something I find stunning, and it’s that nobody — not
even after Independence — nobody at all ever tried to find out what the
victim’s name was, or where he lived, or what family he came from, or whether
he had children. Nobody. Everyone was knocked out by the perfect prose, by
language capable of giving air facets like diamonds, and everyone declared
their empathy with the murderer’s solitude and offered him their most learned
condolences. Who knows Musa’s name today?
Harun is dissatisfied the way his brother was killed and not even given a name. While the whole world read the book and took empathy for the killer Meursault, all but the Musa's family bore the tragedy of the death. A story of disintegrated family in the backdrop of Algerian colonial history of death and hate, The Meursault's Investigation is a rare story just like it's rare that the victims are able to write for themselves in most cases. A novel no less than a mirror for the Camus's novel, but the turbidity inside will reel you in. At times it becomes a great tragedy while at others it turns into a great horror born out of death, ignorance and traces of love.
With beliefs held by Harun and
his personality, it is easy for the readers of Camus to understand the
conflict, doubts and controversial remarks he makes in his story. It is what it
is!
The oil fumes nauseated me, but I loved the virile, almost comforting
roar of the engine, like a kind of father that was snatching us, my mother and
me, out of an immense labyrinth made up of buildings, downtrodden people,
shantytowns, dirty urchins, aggressive cops, and beaches fatal to Arabs. For
the two of us, the city would always be the scene of the crime, or the place
where something pure and ancient was lost. Yes, Algiers, in my memory, is a
dirty, corrupt creature, a dark, treacherous man-stealer.
In the Camus's novel the mother
is dead even before the novel starts, however in Daoud's novel, he has created
a psychological drama keeping the mother alive who cannot forget Musa and their
lives are forever doomed with it – a tragedy; a haunted life. Harun and his
mother share a secret, that to some extent reduce the burden of Musa's death,
revenge and the agony of memory. However, at the same time, nothing settles the
inner world of Harun which is like a storm in a sea.
This novel hit the silent water
with a stone and created ripples. It broke a silence of an era. However, this
is not an anti-Camus or anti-The Stranger novel. The Meursault's investigation
is a perfect literary experiment, which has fully utilized the scope and mood
of the Camus's famous novel. Everything is justified. You cannot dismiss the
ideas, even if you don't believe in them. A troubled childhood of Harun after
the death of his brother and his slow transformation into the likes of
Meursault fully carries the philosophical realm of Camus's novel. The drama
Daoud creates between Harun and his mother will leave you struck forever. I
think, the relation is one of the greatest thrillers that can be generated from
a tragedy.
You’re here because you think, as I once thought, that you can find
Musa or his body, identify the place where the murder was committed, and
trumpet your discovery to the whole world. I understand you. You want to find a
corpse, and I’m trying to get rid of one.
If you recall the last sentence
of The Stranger "To feel it so like myself, indeed, so brotherly, made me
realize that I'd been happy, and that I was happy still. For all to be
accomplished, for me to feel less lonely, all that remained to hope was that on
the day of my execution there should be a huge crowd of spectators and that
they should greet me with howls of execration.", the final chapters of the
Daoud's novel have such a force (enough to spark controversy) much in the same
way Camus comes to that last line which justifies it all.
The last day of a man’s life doesn’t exist. Outside of storybooks,
there’s no hope, nothing but soap bubbles bursting. That’s the best proof of
our absurd existence, my dear friend: Nobody’s granted a final day, just an
accidental interruption in his life.
The novel is a labyrinth of dilemmas,
absurdities and personal crisis. Camus started it and Daoud finished it. You'll
think of The Stranger in a different way after reading this book.
Original Text: French
Translator: John Cullen
Publisher: One World Publications https://oneworld-publications.com/subject-fiction/translated-fiction/
No comments:
Post a Comment