Mahir Guven

Older Brother is the poignant story of a Franco-Syrian family whose father and two sons try to integrate themselves into a society that doesn't offer them many opportunities. The father, an atheist communist who moved from Syria to France for his studies and stayed for love, has worked for decades driving a taxi to support his family. The eldest son is a driver for an app-based car service, which comically puts him at odds with his father, whose very livelihood is threatened by this new generation of disruptors. The younger son, shy and serious, works as a nurse in a French hospital. Jaded by the regular rejections he encounters in French society, he decides to join a Muslim humanitarian organization to help wounded civilians in the war in Syria. But when he stops sending news home, the silence begins to eat away at his father and brother who wonder what his real motivations were. When younger brother returns home, he has changed. Guven alternates between an ironic take on contemporary society and the gravity of terrorist threats. He explores with equal poignancy the lives of "Uberized" workers and actors in the global jihad.

Older Brother

Irmão Mais Velho

Prix Goncourt Winner: A “superb” novel of a Syrian immigrant in France and his two sons (The New York Times Book Review). Older Brother is the poignant story of a Franco-Syrian family whose father and two sons try to integrate themselves into a society that doesn’t offer them many opportunities. The father, an atheist communist who moved from Syria to France for his studies and stayed for love, has worked for decades driving a taxi to support his family. The eldest son is a driver for an app-based car service, which comically puts him at odds with his father, whose very livelihood is threatened by this new generation of disruptors. The younger son, shy and serious, works as a nurse in a French hospital. Jaded by the regular rejections he encounters in French society, he decides to join a Muslim humanitarian organization to help wounded civilians in the war in Syria. But when he stops sending news home, the silence begins to eat away at his father and brother, who wonder what his real motivations were. And when the younger brother returns home, he has changed . . . “A masterpiece of a first novel.” ?The Guardian “A striking debut that reveals the breadth of emotional disconnection that prejudice can stoke within a family.” ?Kirkus Reviews

Un premier roman plein de verve sur une famille de la région parisienne, confrontée au départ en Syrie d'un de ses membres devenu djihadiste Goncourt du premier roman 2018 Prix Première 2018 Prix Régine Deforges du premier roman 2018 Grand frère est chauffeur de VTC. Enfermé onze heures par jour dans sa " carlingue ", branché en permanence sur la radio, il rumine sur sa vie et le monde qui s'offre à lui de l'autre côté du pare-brise. Petit frère est parti par idéalisme en Syrie depuis de nombreux mois. Engagé comme infirmier par une organisation humanitaire musulmane, il ne donne plus aucune nouvelle. Ce silence ronge son père et son frère, suspendus à la question restée sans réponse : pourquoi est-il parti ? Un soir, l'interphone sonne. Petit frère est de retour. Dans ce premier roman incisif, Mahir Guven alterne un humour imagé et une gravité qu'impose la question du terrorisme. Il explore un monde de travailleurs uberisés, de chauffeurs écrasés de solitude, luttant pour survivre, mais décrit aussi l'univers de ceux qui sont partis faire le djihad en Syrie : l'embrigadement, les combats, leur retour impossible en France... Émerge ainsi l'histoire poignante d'une famille franco-syrienne, dont le père et les deux fils tentent de s'insérer dans une société qui ne leur offre pas beaucoup de chances. " La vie ? J'ai appris à la tutoyer en m'approchant de la mort. Je flirte avec l'une, en pensant à l'autre. Tout le temps, depuis que l'autre chien, mon sang, ma chair, mon frère, est parti loin, là-bas, sur la terre des fous et des cinglés. Là où pour une cigarette grillée, on te sabre la tête. En Terre sainte. Dans le monde des gens normaux, on dit " en Syrie ', avec une voix étouffée et le regard grave, comme si on parlait de l'enfer. Le départ du petit frère, ça a démoli le daron. "

Grand frère

‘Broer’ van Mahir Guven, bekroond met de Prix Goncourt du Premier Roman 2018, is een vlijmscherpe roman over de multiculturele maatschappij die niet iedereen dezelfde kansen biedt. Broer is Uber-taxichauffeur in Parijs. Hij maakt dagen van elf uur, waarin hij niets anders te doen heeft dan malen over zijn leven en de wereld om hem heen. Zijn broertje is enkele maanden eerder als verpleger voor een islamitische organisatie naar Syrië vertrokken, uit idealisme. Sindsdien is er niets meer van hem vernomen. De radiostilte maakt zijn vader en hem nerveus en de vraag blijft knagen: waarom is hij vertrokken? Op een avond gaat de telefoon. Broertje komt naar huis. Mahir Guven wisselt in ‘Broer’ diepgang af met bijtende humor. Hij toont een ge-Uberiseerde wereld, met chauffeurs die kampen met verstikkende eenzaamheid. Tegelijkertijd schrijft hij over degenen die als jihadist vertrokken zijn naar Syrië: over de rekrutering, de gevechten, de angst voor terrorisme en de onmogelijke terugkeer naar huis. Mahir Guven (1986) is van Turks-Koerdische komaf en werd in Nantes als stateloze vluchteling geboren. Hij groeide afwisselend in de stad en het platteland op en werkt in de regio Parijs.

Broer

Vincitore del Premio Goncourt per il Primo Romanzo nel 2017. Fratello grande è un autista Uber. Chiuso undici ore al giorno nella sua auto con la radio sempre accesa, rimugina sulla vita e sul mondo che gli passa davanti o dentro il taxi. Fratello piccolo, l’idealista della famiglia, è partito da mesi per la Siria come infermiere con un’organizzazione umanitaria musulmana e non ha dato più notizie. Un silenzio che logora il fratello e il padre in attesa di una risposta alla domanda: perché è andato? Una sera suona il citofono. Fratello piccolo è tornato... In questo continuo perdersi e cercarsi dei due fratelli, in una famiglia con le radici strappate, in un mondo dove ogni giorno il giusto e lo sbagliato si rovesciano, sta la forza sorprendente di questo romanzo di avventure e di idee. «Con un linguaggio parlato molto efficace, Guven passa dall’affresco sociale al noir su uno sfondo di jihad. Sorprendente, illuminante, ma anche buffo». Le Nouvel Obs «Una lingua che travolge, un romanzo incisivo, divertente, ragionato e pieno d’immaginazione». Le Point «Uno stile esplosivo». Le Figaro Littéraire «Sono tornato a casa sconvolto, assalito da uno tsunami di ricordi, sommerso dalle mie angosce, la camicia fradicia di sudore. Sono riemerso una mezz’ora dopo. Quello alla stazione dei pullman era proprio mio fratello, non sono matto. L’ultima foto che ho di lui risale a quando sono tornato dall’esercito. L’ho guardata e riguardata tutta la notte, e in diverse condizioni mentali, strafatto di erba, poi invece lucido, e la conclusione, senza alcun dubbio, era che non avevo sognato. Dov’era? Che cosa voleva? Perché non aveva chiamato? Un pezzo di merda. Un bastardo. E lo è sempre stato. Veniva lui e solo lui, prima di chiunque altro, prima della famiglia, del padre, della vecchia, di me. Il signor infermiere. Il signor volontario islamista. Salvare il mondo, come no. Solo per tirarsela. Per fare il capetto. E dare lezioni di morale a tutti».

Mahir Guven

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