Translated from the Dutch by Jonathan Reede
Blog Tour stop for this heartbreaking and inspiring fictional/memoir mixed story
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" Drawing on the author’s own experiences as an asylum seeker in the Netherlands – a darkly funny insight into the mind and soul of a refugee "
Synopsis
‘You have to take care, Mr Karim,’ she said, ‘this is your future.’ With the word ‘this’ she picked up the report from the first hearing. I was amused at the idea that my future would be determined by a few sheets of paper, and not by my health, my happiness or my dreams. Or a never-ending barbeque on the beach, or travelling the world on a legitimate passport.
Amsterdam Airport, 1998. Samir Karim steps off a plane from Vietnam, flushes his fake passport down the toilet, and requests asylum.
Fleeing Iraq to avoid conscription into Saddam Hussein’s army, he has spent seven years anonymously wandering through Asia. Now, safely in the heart of Europe, he is sent to an asylum centre and assigned a bed in a shared dorm—where he will spend the next nine years.
Taking its title from the ‘two blankets, three sheets, a towel, a pillow, and a pillow-case’ that constitute the items Samir is given on his arrival at the Asylum Centre, and are the only things he owns during his nine years there, this book is the story of how Samir navigates his way around the absurdities of Dutch bureaucracy while trying his best to get along with his 500 new housemates.
Told with compassion and a unique sense of humour, this is an inspiring tale of survival, a close-up view of the hidden world of refugees and human smugglers, and a sobering reflection of our times.
My Review
This review was not posted on the intended date due to technical issues on my end, For this I would just like to apologise to the Author, the Publisher and the Tour Organiser and thank them all for their understanding.
Two Blankets, Three Sheets is the amazing and inspiring memoir come fictional tale of the authors experiences in the immigration system.
Heartbreaking, shocking and emotional, yet the author add the perfect mix of humour to his endeavours.
After fleeing the Iraqi regime and travelling through Asia Samir arrives at Amsterdam Airport where after disposing of his documents he requests asylum, he is sent Asylum Centre in the Netherlands, housed with some 500 other people all in the same no-mans land waiting for there day in court.
It is shocking look at the immigration system many stuck like Samir far years with no answers most traumatised from the horrors they have seen fleeing for there lives and now in countries they do not know with family or friends with different languages with no way to communicate.
This is a real story of survival and strength, for which I am in awe at the authors own struggles and his determination to succeed. By using the character of Samir Karim, the author has created an amazing platform to highlight the horrors and struggles faced daily by the thousands stuck in the immigration system.
I hope this book will be used by many working in these areas to highlight to truth of there actions and to remember that each case each number is a human life.
Author Bio
RODAAN AL GALIDI is a poet and writer.
Born in Iraq and trained as a civil engineer, he has lived in the Netherlands since 1998.
As an undocumented asylum seeker he did not have the right to attend language classes, so he taught himself to read and write Dutch.
His novel De autist en de postduif (‘The Autist and the Carrier Pigeon’) won the European Union Prize for Literature in 2011—the same year he failed his Dutch citizenship course.
Two Blankets, Three Sheets, already a bestseller in the Netherlands, is his most successful novel to date.
Jonathan Reeder, a native of New York and longtime resident of Amsterdam, enjoys a dual career as a literary translator and performing musician.
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Thank you to the Publisher and Author for sending me an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this novel and for the opportunity to review these works.
All reviews are my own unbiased opinion.