Sea Prayer

Book, 2018

Premise - A forty-eight page, illustrated short story, of a boy and his father embarking on the treacherous journey across international waters. A look into the mindset of both a child and an adult refugee, Sea Prayer is educating those of all ages what refugees are sacrificing and what has already been sacrificed. All author proceeds are donated to the UN Refugee Agency and the Khaled Hosseini Foundation to fund refugee aid projects.

Review - When I heard that Khaled Hosseini had written something new, I completely flipped out. I have read all three of his novels, just recently finishing And The Mountains Echoed (review on that coming next!). I truly believe him to be one of the greatest writers alive today. You can imagine my disappointment when I realized that Sea Prayer was not a novel, not even truly a short story, but more like a short poem or letter. Most of the pages are occupied by the large illustrations, with maybe 15 words or so per page. I wasn't sure if I should write a review, considering I haven't in the past for other short stories or films. But, it's Khaled Hosseini, and I love him so I have to give credit where credit is due.

The best thing about this book is how quickly it is able to get across what resonates with me most in Middle Eastern literature. I love reading Khaled Hosseini's work because he is able to highlight the juxtaposition, usually from one generation to the next, of two opposing lifestyles - one of peace and simplicity, and another of war and violence. It's the same reason I like Marjane Satrapi, who vocalizes this in the context of Iran. Khaled Hosseini, of course, always focuses on Afghanistan in his novels, though I don't believe he specified a country in this book. It might be implied through the characters' names or other details, but I do not have the familiarity to recognize this.

I was able to sift through it at the bookstore in one go, and it still was able to effectively communicate this exact lesson - that for people my age or younger, it is natural to think the Middle East has been at war for eternity. In reality, these wars have escalated due to political regimes and takeovers that happened during the lifetime of the generation before us. This is important to recognize because it lessens the racist and apathetic attribution of barbarism to these people's plights. It's easier to showcase this stark juxtaposition in his novels, which span decades of time, from pre-Taliban to post-Taliban. To do it this succinctly was admirable. Of course, I would have preferred a novel. Give me more. (73/100)

Quote - "You are precious cargo, Marwan, the most precious there ever was. I pray the sea knows this."

If you liked this book, I recommend The Kite Runner!

Written by Khaled Hosseini
Illustrated by Dan Williams
Published by Riverhead Books