Earth and Ashes
  • Published: 1 December 2003
  • ISBN: 9780099442127
  • Imprint: Vintage
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 64
  • RRP: $14.99
Categories:

Earth and Ashes

Formats & editions
EBook
31 Oct 2011
Paperback
1 Dec 2003
Buy from…
Amazon Booktopia Dymocks QBD Readings Your Bookstore Abbeys Boomerang Find local retailers Find local retailers Collins Fishpond Gleebooks Harry Hartog Kinokuniya Robinsons The Nile Mighty Ape

'It has the feel of a book of great antiquity and authority; you could more readily level the Afghan mountains than damage the dreaming culture that Earth and Ashes both embodies and silently trusts' The Times

Earth and Ashes is a story of such spareness and power it leaves the reader reeling. Set during the Russian occupation of Afghanistan, it is a fable about war, family, home and tradition. An old man and his grandson sit in a deserted landscape of dusty roads and looming mountains. What are they waiting for? As we watch them we learn their story...

Atiq Rahimi has managed to condense centuries of Afghan history into his short tale of three very different generations. At the same time, he has created a story that is universal in its power.
  • Published: 1 December 2003
  • ISBN: 9780099442127
  • Imprint: Vintage
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 64
  • RRP: $14.99
Categories:

About the author

Atiq Rahimi

Born in Afghanistan in 1962, Atiq Rahimi fled to France in 1984. There he has made a name as a writer, film and documentary maker of exceptional note. The film of his first novel, Earth and Ashes, was in the Official Selection at Cannes, 2004. Since 2001, he has returned to Afghanistan many times to set up a Writers' House in Kabul and offer support and training to young writers and film-makers. His novel The Patience Stone won the Prix Goncourt, France's most prestigious literary prize. He lives in Paris.

Also by Atiq Rahimi

A Curse on Dostoevsky
The Patience Stone
A Thousand Rooms of Dream and Fear
See all

Praise for Earth and Ashes

A hallucinatory, tragic cry of despair

Le Monde

With this novel Rahimi picks up a shard of broken glass and sees the whole truth of his devastated country

Der Spiegel

Terribly poignant

Times Literary Supplement

Novel, short story, fable? - it doesn't matter. This short book has a sadness that breaks your heart and a visual beauty shot through with the horror of war. Every word, every tear, every gesture is significant

Nouvel Observateur

Dense, provocative and, most of all revelatory

Claire Allfree, Metro
penguin pop image
penguin pop image