"Everything I Don't Remember", A Novel By Jonas Hassen Khemiri
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I give this **** just from reading the below, and I haven't even read the book yet!
Bibliophile
One of Sweden’s most celebrated young writers and activists spins an exhilarating, innovative, and gripping murder mystery reminiscent of the hit podcast Serial.
A young man named Samuel dies in a horrible car crash. Was it an accident or was it suicide? To answer that question, an unnamed writer with an agenda of his own sets out to map Samuel’s last day alive. Through conversations with friends, relatives, and neighbors, a portrait of Samuel emerges: the loving grandchild, the reluctant bureaucrat, the loyal friend, the contrived poseur. The young man who did everything for his girlfriend Laide and shared everything with his best friend Vandad. Until he lost touch with them both.
By piecing together an exhilarating narrative puzzle, we follow Samuel from the first day he encounters the towering Vandad to when they become roommates. We meet Panther, Samuel’s self-involved childhood friend whose move to Berlin indirectly cues the beginning of Samuel’s search for the meaning of love—which in turn leads Samuel to Laide. Soon, Samuel’s relationship with Laide leads to a chasm in his friendship with Vandad, and it isn’t long before the lines between loyalty and betrayal, protection, and peril get blurred irrevocably.
Everything I Don’t Remember is a gripping tale about love and memory. But it is also a story about a writer who, by filling out the contours of Samuel’s story, is actually trying to grasp a truth about himself. In the end, what remains of all our fleeting memories? And what is hidden behind everything we don’t remember?
Told with Khemiri’s characteristic stylistic ingenuity, this is an emotional roller coaster ride of a book that challenges us to see ourselves and our relationships to the closest people in our lives in new and sometimes shocking ways.
Quotes & Awards
“This is a wonderful and mysterious book…Every sentence trembles with Khemiri’s electrifying prose.”
Herman Koch, New York Times bestselling author
“In this non-putdownable puzzle of a story, Khemiri manages to both thrill and break your heart.”
Gary Shteyngart, New York Times bestselling author
“Compelling…In this painful novel about youthful optimism gone hopelessly wrong, Khemiri dramatizes such immigration-related issues as failures in elder care, unemployment and dead-end jobs, drug abuse, and racial prejudice.”
Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Khemiri’s stylistic approach is sure to keep readers…enthralled every step of the way.”
BookPage
“In Stockholm, a young man’s death forces his friends to consider their culpability…The characters, once we discern who’s talking, are deftly drawn. Their voices, resonating with internal conflict and arch humor, are ably rendered in Willson-Broyles’ translation.”
Kirkus Reviews
“This subtle and deeply rewarding audiobook poses a devilish problem for the narrator. You probably have to see the text on the page to realize how beautifully narrator Jack Hawkins serves the author’s intentions…Khemiri’s story is told by shifting voices with very different levels of reliability, culpability, and understanding, and there is nothing on the page to tell you who is speaking. Hawkins must distinguish the characters’ voices just enough that you can learn to recognize them but not before the reader of the print version would. It’s a brilliant construction, original and moving, and a challenging, riveting listen.”
Bibliophile
One of Sweden’s most celebrated young writers and activists spins an exhilarating, innovative, and gripping murder mystery reminiscent of the hit podcast Serial.
A young man named Samuel dies in a horrible car crash. Was it an accident or was it suicide? To answer that question, an unnamed writer with an agenda of his own sets out to map Samuel’s last day alive. Through conversations with friends, relatives, and neighbors, a portrait of Samuel emerges: the loving grandchild, the reluctant bureaucrat, the loyal friend, the contrived poseur. The young man who did everything for his girlfriend Laide and shared everything with his best friend Vandad. Until he lost touch with them both.
By piecing together an exhilarating narrative puzzle, we follow Samuel from the first day he encounters the towering Vandad to when they become roommates. We meet Panther, Samuel’s self-involved childhood friend whose move to Berlin indirectly cues the beginning of Samuel’s search for the meaning of love—which in turn leads Samuel to Laide. Soon, Samuel’s relationship with Laide leads to a chasm in his friendship with Vandad, and it isn’t long before the lines between loyalty and betrayal, protection, and peril get blurred irrevocably.
Everything I Don’t Remember is a gripping tale about love and memory. But it is also a story about a writer who, by filling out the contours of Samuel’s story, is actually trying to grasp a truth about himself. In the end, what remains of all our fleeting memories? And what is hidden behind everything we don’t remember?
Told with Khemiri’s characteristic stylistic ingenuity, this is an emotional roller coaster ride of a book that challenges us to see ourselves and our relationships to the closest people in our lives in new and sometimes shocking ways.
Quotes & Awards
“This is a wonderful and mysterious book…Every sentence trembles with Khemiri’s electrifying prose.”
Herman Koch, New York Times bestselling author
“In this non-putdownable puzzle of a story, Khemiri manages to both thrill and break your heart.”
Gary Shteyngart, New York Times bestselling author
“Compelling…In this painful novel about youthful optimism gone hopelessly wrong, Khemiri dramatizes such immigration-related issues as failures in elder care, unemployment and dead-end jobs, drug abuse, and racial prejudice.”
Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Khemiri’s stylistic approach is sure to keep readers…enthralled every step of the way.”
BookPage
“In Stockholm, a young man’s death forces his friends to consider their culpability…The characters, once we discern who’s talking, are deftly drawn. Their voices, resonating with internal conflict and arch humor, are ably rendered in Willson-Broyles’ translation.”
Kirkus Reviews
“This subtle and deeply rewarding audiobook poses a devilish problem for the narrator. You probably have to see the text on the page to realize how beautifully narrator Jack Hawkins serves the author’s intentions…Khemiri’s story is told by shifting voices with very different levels of reliability, culpability, and understanding, and there is nothing on the page to tell you who is speaking. Hawkins must distinguish the characters’ voices just enough that you can learn to recognize them but not before the reader of the print version would. It’s a brilliant construction, original and moving, and a challenging, riveting listen.”
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