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Title: |
The Man in Blue Pyjamas |
| Sub-title: |
A Prison Memoir |
Search Result:
| By (author): |
Jalal Barzanji Translated by: Sabah A. Salih |
| ISBN10-13: |
0888645368 : 9780888645364 |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| Size: |
228x152x17mm |
| Pages: |
288 |
| Weight: |
.430 Kg. |
| Published: |
University of Alberta Press - September 2011 |
| List Price: |
21.99 Pounds Sterling |
| Availability: |
In Stock
Qty Available: 2 |
| Subjects: |
Biography: general : Biography: historical, political & military : Civil rights & citizenship : Iraq |
| In his far too lightweight blue pyjamas, Jalal Barzanji was ripped out of his family and shoved into a nightmare underworld of beatings and raw prisons. Three times over the years since then he has had to rebuild his life.. The Man in Blue Pyjamas is a generous creative act, for which I thank him. -John Ralston Saul, President of PEN International From 1986-1989, Jalal Barzanji endured imprisonment and torture in an Iraqi prison because of his literary and journalistic activity. It was not until 1998, when he and his family took refuge in Canada, that he was able to consider speaking out fully on issues of peace, justice, and freedom. Ever an acute observer, Barzanji offers readers detailed portraits of life in the ancient Kurdish city of Hawler; in prison, he grounds readers with his ability to find moments of compassion and humanity amidst the relentless assault of Saddam Hussein's regime. In 2007, Barzanji was appointed as Edmonton's first PEN Canada Writer-in-Exile. This poignant literary memoir is the product of that residency. The Man in Blue Pyjamas is his first work in English. Jalal Barzanji is a highly respected Kurdish poet and journalist. Since 1970 he has published seven books of poetry and numerous critical columns. After his three-year imprisonment by Saddam Hussein's regime in the late 1980s and further political repression into the 1990s, Barzanji and his family fled to Turkey. They remained there for eleven months, eventually immigrating to Canada. |
| Awards / Prizes: |
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Tom Fairley Award for Editorial Excellence - Shortlisted
2012
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Alberta Book Awards - Lois Hole Award for Editorial Excellence
2012
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Alberta Book Awards - Trade Non-Fiction Book Award / Shortlisted
2012
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| Reviews: |
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"Peter Midgley's edit of Jalal Barzanji's The Man in Blue Pajamas has helped create a book that tells an important and accessible story. In his work, Peter considered both the author's and the reader's needs. His consultative approach with the author sought to clarify and elaborate a work complicated by the fragility of memory and translation. The edit resolved complex language issues and delivered compelling detail, aware of the 'challenge not simply to rewrite, but to...allow the author to do the work.' The result is an excellent read, with a glossary and timeline that provide valuable guides and context for readers. “ - Jury comments, Lois Hole Award for Editorial Excellence, WGA June 2012.
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"[Barzanji conjures a] haunting impression of the uncertainties of Kurdish life under Saddam Hussein... The grim account of prison life that follows is replete with novelistic details. There is some inevitable squalor and brutality, but also unexpected humanity. Raconteurs in the overcrowded cells distract others with droll stories... What sets Barzanji's story above mere reportage is his poet's eye for detail. His recollections of childhood in Kurdistan are as absorbing as anything that takes place within the prison... Appropriately, the most memorable image in the whole book is the conversion of the local library into the prison that will eventually house Barzanji." - Brendan de Caires, Freedom to Read Magazine 2012
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"This well-written memoir is put together like a novel, with the events ordered to create a simulacrum of memory as well as to build tension and introduce foreshadowing. Not only do we receive an accurate picture of Jalal Barzanji’s life story but, also, in seeing into the lives of his contemporary Kurds, we understand the force of his epiphany that his own story is necessarily part of a larger narrative." Gillian Harding-Russell, Prairie Fire Review of Books, 12.3
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"Jalal Barzanji, a Kurd from Iraq, endured imprisonment, torture, and exile, in order to share his life experiences through the usage of words. This is not a chronological story from beginning to end, but rather has a storytelling aspect that skips around to different memories that he has about his own life, and from others who have told him their memories and stories." - Angela Green, University Press Books for Public and Secondary School Libraries 2012, Outstanding Title
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"Barzanji’s memoir is a survivor’s story conveyed in direct, laconic, and decisive prose. The prison ordeal he recounts could crush the mightiest of souls. Yet Barzanji forbears bitterness; his world encompasses “peace, love, and beauty.” Amy O'Loughlin, ForeWord Reviews, March 26, 2013
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“The Man in Blue Pyjamas is a noteworthy accomplishment. Barzanji has created a poignant memoir brimming with authenticity and many readers, despite nationality, will find in him a kindred spirit. His openness and compassion make him an endearing figure – a tender man who wants nothing more than to embrace the world and memorialise it with words. His story serves as a chilling reminder of the dangers many writers still face simply by putting pen to paper.” - Logan Mickel, Translational Literature, May 2012
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"Taking us to a place that many refuse to accept exists, Barzanji reveals what it means to be forced to weigh freedom, self-expression and survival against belonging, duty and the law. Seen from the final page, the story in pieces transforms itself into a beautiful and beguiling whole. A humbling read." Ann Morgan, December 2012
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#4 on the "Edmonton Journal" Best Seller list for the week of October 02, 2011.
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#5 on the "Edmonton Journal" Best Seller list for the week ending November 20, 2011.
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"The author was named the City's first PEN Writer-In-Exile when he arrived in Edmonton because his memoir arises above the level of personal history to a saga of Kurdish history under Saddam Hussein's tyranny." Anne Burke, The Prairie Journal
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"When the author became convinced that his family and he had no future in Iraq, he decided to flee to 'freedom', regardless of difficulties involved. He writes vividly about the human smuggling industry in Turkey, Greece, and many other European countries, fed by Afghans, Iraqis, Pakistanis, and many other people from all over the world. His valiant efforts started in 1988 and ended in 1999 when he managed to obtain an immigration visa for Canada through the UN refugee programme.... It is a heart breaking, well-documented and well-written story that compels the reader to continue reading..., turning page after page." Hrayr Berberoglu, Kurdish Globe, June 4, 2012 [Full article at bit.ly/NAJqzz]
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