The Hungarian
Rouchdi Redouane
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Against the turmoil of the Second World War, the fates of two men from different backgrounds collide: Gino Matyoush, a piano player from a town in the Hungarian countryside, and Masoud, a ney (flute) player from a small town in Algeria, fleeing from forced conscription by the colonial powers. The two men find themselves caught up in a meaningless war fought on a distant soil, in northern France. During the gruelling and humiliating journey to France, Matyoush loses his fingers and Masoud his desire to live. In Paris, capital of war and madness, in the darkness of a dungeon far from the eyes of the Gestapo, they meet Yahya the Jew, and another story begins. The destinies of the three men intertwine in a complex tale threaded through with the joys of music and the terrors of war.
Publisher
Dar al-Adab
Nomination
2022 Longlist