Wolf Dreams [Paperback]

Yasmina Khadra (Author), Linda Black (Translator)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Nafa Walid is a handsome aspiring actor in 1990s Algiers when he stumbles on a position as a driver for the Rajas, a wealthy and influential family. Instead of providing the springboard for his career he'd hoped for, however, the job serves as a brutal encounter with economic disparity and the amoral, inhumane world of his employers. When the demands of the work push him too far, he returns home, disillusioned. Frustrated with poverty and the inequalities of the Algerian social order, Nafa sees the mosque as his ticket to dignity and a better life, including marriage. Yet his plans go awry again, as Nafa is hurtled into Islamism, the revolutionary Islamic Salvation Front and a nihilistic desire for destruction. Khadra (In the Name of God), a.k.a. Mohammed Moulessehoul, a former Algerian army officer living in exile in France, charts with stark, unsparing prose the conditions of civil war-torn Algeria, and offers a profound glimpse into lives subsumed by violent, unquestioning faith.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"A writer who can understand man whereever he is..." -- NEW YORK TIMES

"The book that best describes how an Islamic Fundamentalist is formed." -- New York Times

"Yasmina Khadra is one of the rare writers capable of giving a meaning to the violence in Algeria today." -- NEWSWEEK

Product Details

• Paperback: 260 pages
• Publisher: Toby Press (August 15, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592641865
• ISBN-13: 978-1592641864
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #121,834 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing, April 6, 2004

By 

Mansizedtarget.com (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wolf Dreams (Hardcover)

I really enjoyed this book. It followed the path of Jihadi from disaffected youth to unstoppable monster. It showed how vague idealism and vanity can create a perfect storm from which otherwise normal and ambitious young men are transformed into vicious monsters that will kill women and children. I thought the complexity of this book extended further than expected, including portrayals of strong (but amoral) women as well as redeeming grace and nobility from otherwise corrupt aristocrats. The author is often ambivalent about the competing sects in Algerian society, even though it is plain that he does not withhold moral judgment from the terrorist/protagonist. I think that the issue of our times is Islamic terorrism and Yasmina Khadra gets inside of the terrorist mind and the social-psychology of the Casbah in a way that is neither overly didactic, nor morally obtuse. I think this book exceeds "In the Name of God" both as a narrative and for showing how Islamists are a form of revolutionary at war with existing society, in spite of their pretensions of conserving Islam in pure form.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wolf Dreams Review, March 17, 2005

By 

Mark Tyree "Mark" (Cookeville, TN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wolf Dreams (Hardcover)

The book is written by Mohammed Moulessehoul under a female pen name, Yasmina Khadra. He did this to avoid persecution, being an officer in the Algerian Army. He eventually revealed his true identity, years later while in exile in France.

The story follows Nafa Walid, a man who hopes to become an actor in the movie industry, but he begins to gradually loses control of his destiny and becomes drawn into the Algerian Islamic Fundamentalist movement. "Wolf Dreams" shows how dissatisfaction and disillusionment in a corrupt nation can give rise to fundamentalism, and how the chaos of civil war can transform a normal, middle-class young man into an indoctrinated assassin; a man who inflicts pain and terror on others without qualms, and accepts the idea of his own death with the devotion of a true-believing fanatic.

It is definitely worth the time to read; it's gritty and pulls no punches, showing the corruption of the country's aristocracy, but at the same time, it doesn't glorify Islamic fundamentalism. It shows that fighting monsters has a nasty habit of turning people into monsters themselves.

I give it four stars for the reasons mentioned above. It may not be for everyone, but it is an eye-openner to what leads people down the path to terrorism and murder.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely Well Done, October 6, 2004

By 

Richard R. Carlton (Ada, MI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wolf Dreams (Hardcover)

Khandra's books are simple with multiple levels of perception. More importantly, they are masterfully wordsmithed (the over-used term is well earned in this case). These are the kind of books that haunt you for years as they become part of your psyche.....and you see parallels to the writing all around you.......the writing truly provides you with a new perception of your own life.

Here are all the books to date, with a bit of info on each:

Swallows of Kabul (2004)
A bit hit in France, this story of 2 couples and their attempts to cope with the rule of the Taliban is mesmerizing.

Wolf Dreams (2003) 3rd of an Algerian trilogy
A story of a Moslem Jihadi, from sweet boy to fanatic fundamentalist has been recommended for insight into the driving force of suicidist youngsters.

Morituri (2003) 2nd of an Algerian trilogy
An Algerian kidnaping story that provides a compelling look at the definition of crime in a permanently impoverished society.

In The Name Of God (2000) 1st of an Algerian trilogy
A look at the phenomena of Moslem fundamentalism in Algeria, this book has strong parallels to Camu's "The Plague." In some ways it is a more modern variation on a theme of Camu's work.