An Unfinished Business, By Boualem Sansal

Reviewed,Boyd Tonkin
Thursday 20 January 2011 20:00 EST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Boualem Sansal's eye-opening novel runs headlong into one of the Arab's world's deepest taboos: denial of or excuses for the Holocaust, and their persistence today.

Two Algerian-born brothers from the tough Paris banlieue, Rachel and Malrich, have a German father and a cloudy family past. A village massacre in Algeria launches Rachel on a frantic quest to find the truth, recorded in his diary; calmer Malrich charts his brother's travels across Europe and their tragic outcome.

Urgent, rough-hewn, sometimes more passionate than artful, the novel (translated with street-smart swagger by Frank Wynne) outlines the resemblance between old Nazi and new Islamist hatred – "kif-kif, same old same old" - with admirable vigour and courage.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in