At Night All Blood Is Black
David Diop’s novel, translated by Anna Moschovakis, is narrated by Alfa Ndiaye, a Senegalese tirailleur fighting for France in the trenches of the First World War. After his closest friend dies badly in no man’s land, Alfa begins nightly raids that make his own side afraid of him. Written in French, though its narrator says he cannot speak it. Winner of the International Booker Prize.
Recommended by 1 Person
Alice Winn
So the book is written in French, but the protagonist talks about how he can’t speak French. There’s an interesting passage where he talks about how translation is just a series of small lies that tell a big truth. So there’s a really weird, complex thing going on there with language, and that the translation of this French language book won the International Booker—it’s just all very meta.
Interview · April 2023
As an Amazon Associate, bookstoread.org earns from qualifying purchases. Links to Amazon on this page may earn us a commission at no extra cost to you. Spotted an error on this page? Tell us and we will fix it.