Books by Kateb Yacine
“Nedjma is an allegory of Algeria. It was also the name of his cousin, whom he was deeply in love with. In Arabic, Nedjma means star. She was already married, so it was a complicated, unfulfilled love story…Kateb Yacine is not necessarily about the meaning as much as it’s about the feeling…Sometimes we don’t remember the exact fact. What we remember is the feeling, the sensation. It’s a trigger for an emotion, and that’s the most important takeaway one can have with a good book. And I think Kateb Yacine is one of those authors.” Read more...
Xavier Le Clerc, Novelist
Interviews where books by Kateb Yacine were recommended
The best books on Algeria, recommended by Xavier Le Clerc
In his book, A Man With No Title, Xavier Le Clerc tells the story of his father, who was born in extreme poverty in the mountains of Algeria and emigrated to France to give his children a better life. Here he recommends books by some of Algeria’s greatest writers—and explains how they shed light on his father’s life and Algeria’s experience of French colonialism.
