In the Sea There are Crocodiles: Based on the True Story of Enaiatollah Akbari [Deckle Edge] [Hardcover]

Fabio Geda (Author)

Book Description

Release date: August 9, 2011

When ten-year-old Enaiatollah Akbari’s small village in Afghanistan falls prey to Taliban rule in early 2000, his mother shepherds the boy across the border into Pakistan but has to leave him there all alone to fend for himself. Thus begins Enaiat’s remarkable and often punish­ing five-year ordeal, which takes him through Iran, Turkey, and Greece before he seeks political asylum in Italy at the age of fifteen.

Along the way, Enaiat endures the crippling physical and emotional agony of dangerous border crossings, trekking across bitterly cold mountain pathways for days on end or being stuffed into the false bottom of a truck. But not every­one is as resourceful, resilient, or lucky as Enaiat, and there are many heart-wrenching casualties along the way.

Based on Enaiat’s close collaboration with Italian novelist Fabio Geda and expertly rendered in English by an award- winning translator, this novel reconstructs the young boy’s memories, perfectly preserving the childlike perspective and rhythms of an intimate oral history.
 
Told with humor and humanity, In the Sea There Are Crocodiles brilliantly captures Enaiat’s moving and engaging voice and lends urgency to an epic story of hope and survival.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Inspiring"
--O Magazine

" This gripping, strangely sweet tale....captures the young man’s open-hearted tone just right.....Reading of Akbari’s efforts to find a better life — alone and at an age when children in our country can’t even drive yet — will leave you shaken, but his resilient joy leavens the story even when he’s toiling for 90 hours a week at dangerous work in a locked warehouse, crossing the snow-covered mountains from Iran to Turkey on foot, or hiding in the false bottom of a truck “like grains of rice squeezed in someone’s hand.” The lovely rapport between Akbari and Geda comes across now and then when the journalist interrupts to prod him for more detail, gently reminding him just how extraordinary his experience is."
--The Washington Post    

"Reminds us that Afghanistan’s current woes did not begin with the American invasion of 2001....And so it goes on, almost unimaginable horrors related with a lack of sentiment and bombast....[a] remarkable story"--
The Financial Times

"Geda does a wonderful job of creating a voice for Enaiatollah that matures subtly, becoming sharper with every mishap but never losing the ability to make the best of a situation....for all the hardship, In The Sea is full of wit and the book is really about determination...moving"
--The Guardian

"An intriguing story.....[and] understated sense of humor, even when he recalls horrible scenes....quite dramatic"
--Boston Globe


"In Geda's hands Enaiatollah's story is a riveting and fast read, one that dips into emotional and physical violence but surfaces in a splash of redemption and humanity and hope. Adult readers will be gripped by the tale, as will young adult readers."
--Denver Post

"Remarkable....exquisitely rendered and completely free from pride or self-pity. This book will break your heart at the same time that it is lifting your spirit and opening your understanding to a very different kind of life in our very same world."
--Daily Herald

"More than stand up as a page-turner that makes you care about its hero from the outset and willingly accompany him on his often perilous journey from Afghanistan to Italy. That it is based on reality makes it more than just a compelling adventure story. For here is a frank, revealing and clear-eyed testament of the experiences faced by a young asylum-seeker in the contemporary world.....Salutary and humane, In the Sea There Are Crocodiles, as its international bestseller status indicates, deserves to be read widely by young and older readers alike."
--The Guardian

"As the reader, you have to wonder what you were doing circa 2005, while Enaiat was traversing the mountains of Turkey. Geda's frank, unembellished prose captures the voice of a brave boy who never loses hope - and who is lucky to be alive to tell his story."
--The National

"Fabio Geda has done a fine job bringing Enaiat alive without resorting to novelists' tricks.....Fast read. It presents a contemporary look at a world that Americans have become increasingly a part of and from the point of view of persons who usually have no voice. That world is presented so convincingly"
--The Washington Independent

"Chilling....beautiful....heart-warming"
--The Times UK

"‘Geda’s voice combines the plucky survivor’s determination of his charge with moments of pathos – soaked poignancy and others of joyful laughter...It’s sobering and heart lifting to see the stoical determination and achievement of someone who makes our world look like paradise. This little gem, beautifully and unobtrusively translated, will raise tears of sorrow and joy."
--The Independent

"Beautifully told....will inform and inspire"
--The Guardian

"A small book wiht a big story to tell....compelling narrative that maintains the youthful voice of this remarkable boy.....undeniably eye-opening....What makes In the Sea There Are Crocodiles so persuasive is the boy's voice, beautifully captured by Geda."
--Book Page

"A compelling and intimate story....truly incredible....Fabio Geda retells Enaiatollah's story with warmth and compassion, interacting with him in a gentle and intimate manner which brings depth to the story. Although written as a fictional piece the story is recreated from Enaiatollah's memory.  With its simplistic style, the reader is drawn into the world of the child: his thought processes and his perceptions. The story spans five years, Enaiatollah is only fifteen when he arrives in Italy and realizes that this is the place he wants to call home."
--Read Plus 


"A remarkable, heart-warming story of courage and endurance in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles... truly inspirational"
--The Irish Examiner

The core of the story is Enaiat's indomitable will to succeed....revealing....hair-raising....unforgettable....In the Sea There Are Crocodiles is an eye-opening account of human endurance, of overcoming the most difficult obstacles—all for freedom and a better life."
--The Counter Punch

"[A]n authentic, open and marvelous voice of youthful exuberance."
--Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"Lyric...the book reads like a conversation...both affecting and unaffected, powerfully delivers one child's story of survival while bringing us close to the horrors....Another Kite Runner? It's certainly a lovely read."
--Library Journal

"[T]here's no shortage of heart-breaking trials to be faced....Enaiat's daring adventure is ideally suited for young adults, but older readers will find in it a deeper layer of investigation of the humanity of strangers and the power of family. If Enaiat's memory eventually seems muddled and fragmented, so that the book must be called fiction, the truth of his experience remains."
--Booklist

"Fabio, the writer to whome he [Enaiatollah Akbari] tells his narrative, has a poetic turn of phrase, but lets events speak for themselves. The result is a moving and eye-opening chronicle of hardships no child should have to endure, mitigated by intermittent kindnesses."
--The Sunday Times (UK)

"The prose is straightforward, engaging, and at times almost conversational. Teens will marvel at Akbari’s courage and resilience"--School Library Journal

"Every so often a book comes along that is an absolute gift to the world. This is one such book."
 –Laura Fitzgerald, author of Dreaming in English and Veil of Roses

 "The personal stories of refugees and their life-or-death battles are usually lost in between the lines of news reports. In direct and undecorated prose, Fabio Geda beautifully delivers the human experience of Enaiatollah, a ten-year-old Afghani boy, whose will for survival is more than remarkable. In the Sea there Are Crocodiles will make you laugh and cry, and it will also make you a better person. Everyone should read this book."
--Marina Nemat, winner of the inaugural Human Dignity Award and author of Prisoner of Tehran

About the Author

FABIO GEDA is an Italian novelist who writes for several Italian magazines and newspapers. This is his first book to be translated into English. Howard Curtis is a London-based translator of Italian and French texts, for which he has won numerous awards.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday; First English Edition edition (August 9, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385534736
• ISBN-13: 978-0385534734
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.9 x 7.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #547,715 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars An overly detached account of a displaced boy's journey to Italy August 11, 2011

By TChris TOP 50 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover

In the Sea There Are Crocodiles is a fictionalized account of Enaiatollah Akbari's journey from Afghanistan to Italy, as he related it to Fabio Geda. Akbari left Afghanistan when he was ten years old, shortly after his mother disappeared. After spending time in Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, and Greece -- sometimes working, sometimes sleeping in parks, sometimes paying traffickers to help him move on -- Akbari ended up in Italy at the age of fifteen. He told his story to Geda when he was twenty-one (ages are approximate since Akbari isn't sure of his birth date) and encouraged Geda to write this book so that readers would better understand people like Akbari.

Akbari's story lacks the intensity and urgency that is a common feature of the best accounts of displaced persons fleeing oppressive regimes. Akbari had a difficult childhood, but his travels and struggles do not seem nearly as vexing as those of many other refugees. Even a month long walk from Iran to Turkey does not seem as arduous in the telling as it must have been. The narrative voice is surprisingly detached from the hardships it relates; it didn't make me feel the pain and deprivation that Akbari undoubtedly endured.

On a few occasions, Geda pauses to insert his own voice into the narrative, as if he were providing the reader with excerpts from a transcript of his interview with Akbari. Geda says things like "I'm interested in everything [you say], Enaiatollah" and "We'll say [this thing you think is important] loud and clear, Enaiat." These interruptions seem designed to portray Geda as an admirable biographer. A couple of the digressions were all about Geda; they did nothing to advance the story. The book would have been better without Geda's intrusions.

Too often, Akbari comes across as insensitive to the people who helped him. Akbari more than once tells us that his story is important -- and I have no doubt that it is -- but he makes it sound as if he doesn't regard anyone else's story as important. He expressly states that he doesn't want to tell Geda about his mother or friends or village because "they aren't important." At another point he refuses to talk about a woman who gave him food, clothing, and a bus ticket, because "She could have been anybody. ... Anybody could have behaved like that." Actually no -- most people wouldn't behave like that, which is exactly why she (not just her behavior toward Akbari) is important. According to Akbari, "It's what happens to you that changes your life, not where or who with." Many people changed Akbari's life by making his journey much easier than it could have been, and it struck me that he might have bothered himself to learn their names. Granting that Akbari is still young, it seems clear that he still has a lot to learn about life, and that realization diminished my belief that he is capable of telling an insightful story.

If Geda's goal was to tell Akbari's tale in Akbari's voice, I suppose I can't fault his unremarkable prose. Not every displaced person speaks poetically. Still, in a book that is packaged as a novel rather than a memoir, I expect stronger writing. Whether the voice is Geda's or Akbar's, it is surprisingly lifeless. Nothing about the unremarkable writing style encourages me to recommend the book.

Having said all that, there are things I like about this book, although I'm not sure they are the things Akbari intended his readers to take from it. I was impressed by all the people who helped Akbari along the way -- people willing to assist a boy from a foreign land who was a complete stranger to them. I also agree with Akbari that it's important for the world to understand what life is like for displaced persons. For those reasons, I would give the book 3 1/2 stars, but I can't say I liked it well enough to give it 4.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Quick-moving, powerful tale of a young boy's long journey to safety; universal in appeal May 29, 2011

By A. Reid VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Albeit brief, this is a powerful and moving story told in a charmingly unusual style; it feels fresh and immediate, as though the reader were sitting beside the real Enaiatollah Akbari and author Fabio Geda and listening to them talk. The first person narrative is primarily presented as Akbari's memories of events, with occasional digressions and small bits of conversation with Geda. It gives real insight into the perseverence and strength of a young man faced with an unthinkable challenge: abandoned for his own protection without warning or tools to survive in a foreign land where he does not speak the language.

The book is a brisk 211 pages and wastes little time with extraneous detail. At several points, the narrator (the subject?) refuses to elaborate on incidents, insisting that it isn't the description of setting and character that matters, but what happened. I have to say that - for this story at least - I am convinced. His refusal to ground some of the people who helped and hurt him along his journey give the story almost an allegorical feel; as he says, it could have been anyone. They becomes archetypes.

The story of Akbari's survival is quite moving. He was obviously a clever and determined young man caught in a situation that many would not have survived. You can't help but care about him and root for him along the way. Too, as such things go, the story is infectious. I sometimes judge the value of a book in its "read aloudability", whether you are compelled to share bits and pieces with family, with colleagues. I mut have read a good quarter of this aloud to my husband (sometimes fighting tears)...and he listened with equal intensity. Really. It's good.

I don't necessarily see this as engineered for a young adult market, although certainly adolescents should be interested in the story. It transcends age. (This should be good for any readers perhaps 6th grade on; the book describes violence and tragedy, but not luridly, and although Akbari must occasionally do questionable things to survive, it is at heart a moral tale.) I've read quite a bit of survivor narrative, and this fits comfortably within that niche. The story does have a childlike directness (in keeping with the age of Akbari), but it also offers glimmers of wisdom and insight. It's not by a long shot black as Night (nor, really, as deep), but it nevertheless displays the darkness in which many people must struggle to survive...and the indomitable human will that lets them do it.

German newspaper 'Die Welt' (of course I had to google Akbari after reading about him) in "Zwei Welten in meinem Herzen" compares the book (in my poor translation) to The Catcher in the Rye "but out of the house of Islam" or The Divine Comedy "with children's eyes". They tell me that the book has already been translated into Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese, Romanian, French, Greek, Hungarian and German. They tell me it is "authentic, non-fiction, deep and incredibly rich." I have to agree. (And I'm grateful to Howard Curtis for bringing it to us in English.)

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Recounting of Survival July 8, 2011

By K. L. Cotugno VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

This is an amazing account of one young Afghani's life, a life in which childhood is eliminated well before its time. During the Taliban terror, Enaiatollah Akberi's mother removes him to Pakistan for his own safety, abruptly leaving him there so as to return to her village and her two other children. She knew her 10 year old son well enough to know that despite his youth, he would be able to survive. As with Dave Eggars' treatment of the life of Valentin Achak Deng in What is the What, Febio Geda writes in fiction, even though the facts of Enaiat's life presented here are as close to reality as he can remember. Geda also peppers the narrative with injections of conversations between the two of them giving the memoir an even deeper poignancy.

This is a decpetively slim volume, but there isn't a superfluous word and even though there is much hardship endured in this journey, Enaiat never wavers or breaks any of his mother's three cardinal rules (with one exception, necessary for survival). Neither does he indulge in self pity. How he manages to make the journey from Pakistan to Italy, the people he meets along the way who show kindness, the resolution of what he makes of himself when he arrives in Turin -- all this makes for a story as remarkable as the young man who lived it.