At Night All Blood Is Black!
By David Diop, Translated ( from French) By Anna Moschovakis, Pushkin Press, Pgs 145
The winner of the 2021International Booker Prize, this novella is not for the faint hearted! But, it’s an important or rather essential read, according to me. I am also rather glad that the book garnered the International Booker Prize which gives it visibility and a wider reach.
In short, the novella is set in the backdrop of Word War 1 and it’s an account of a young Senegalese soldier’s descent into madness as he is witness to his friend’s terrible death and the collateral horrors of war. Disturbing in many parts because of the violence and brutality depicted, nonetheless the story’s intrinsic power and strong message overcomes the savagery.
The French government, during the WW1, had drafted nearly 200,000 soldiers from its then/erstwhile colonies, including Senegal. Most of these young men were forced to join and fight a war which was not theirs. Scores either perished or were maimed both physically and mentally. David Diop has written about one such young soldier, Alfa Ndyaye, barely 20 years old, who is a rifleman in the French army, working under the command of a Captain Armand. The de-humanization of these soldiers and the use of them merely as killing machines, stripping them of any dignity and morality, is heartrending… “ The captain told them that the enemy was afraid of savage Negroes, cannibals, Zulus and they laughed….The captain has told them they are great warriors, so they love to get themselves killed while singing, so their madness becomes a competition…Temporary madness in war, is bravery’s sister’’.
Alfa’s best friend, ‘more and than brother’-Mademba Diop- is fatally injured and begs him to put him out of his misery. But, Alfa is unable to do it and his disemboweled friend dies writhing in agony. Unable to withstand the horror and his own guilt/cowardice, Alfa then, in revenge and atonement, goes on a spree of killing the enemies ( blue eyed Germans) mutilating their bodies and carrying an arm back as a trophy. Initially egged on and feted by his comrades, slowly his madness and enjoyment of his gruesome ritual starts to terrify the same soldiers who believe that he is a soul eater. Removed from frontline duty, he is sent for medical treatment and severely delusional he mistakes a young nurse’s attention that leads to a horrifying end. All through the narrative, despite the macabre butchery and bone chilling depravity, one feels a deep ache, sadness and pity for Alfa. The language in which he speaks ( the master stroke of Diop who tends to retain the ethos of the simple tribal dialect Wolof and brilliantly translated by Anna Moschovakis) is chillingly reminiscent of the ravaging effects of colonization on native identities.
The insanity of war and old African myths lending a greater primordial horror to it makes this a compelling read… in as much as that we question ourselves about the necessity or worth of all these wars the world fought, keeps fighting and perhaps will continue to do so.
The translation is of a high caliber and Anna Moschovakis is an award winning US poet/author/translator with a Masters in comparative literature.
A remarkable book and I will rate it at 5 *s.
Book review by:SunheriSufi
