Το Βιβλίο της Εξαφάνισης
Ibtisam Azem, 2018
A young Palestinian in Tel Aviv keeps his grandmother's Jaffa stories while the city around him empties; a quiet novel about who a city remembers. The novel moves at a quiet, reflective pace, carrying family memory and grief through a voice that stays tender even when the city turns strange.
Feels like tenderness, grief and wonder. About memory, family and home.
Who it’s for
You may like it if you enjoy novels built from family stories, remembered streets and the slow work of grief. The Greek text uses polytonic accents and some older phrasing, so passages can ask for a slower read.
Why read it
It offers a close look at how a city and a family hold what is missing, and why ordinary memories matter when public life empties out.
A page from the book
The questions we never got to ask outlive the person we meant them for.
Μιὰ μέρα τὴ ρώτησα ἂν τὸ μαργαριταρένιο περιδέραιο ἦταν δῶρο τοῦ παπποῦ μου, καὶ τότε ἐκείνη γέλασε παράξενα ἀλλὰ δὲν ἀπάντησε. Κι ὅταν τὴ ρώτησα πότε ἀκριβῶς ἔσπασε τὸ περιδέραιο, καὶ πάλι δὲν πῆρα ἀπάντηση, παρὰ μόνο μοῦ εἶπε μουρμουρίζοντας: «Τόσοι ἄνθρωποι ἔϕυγαν ἀπ ᾽τὴ ζωή, ἀγαπούλα μου, χῶρες καταστράϕηκαν κι ἐσὺ μὲ ρωτᾶς γιὰ τὰ μαργαριτάρια; ᾽αλλὰ ϕτάνει γιὰ ἀπόψε, μὲ κούρασαν αὐτὲς οἱ ἐρωτήσεις». Μακάρι νὰ συνέχιζα νὰ τὴ ρωτῶ. Μακάρι νὰ τὴν εἶχα ρωτήσει περισσότερα γιὰ τὴ ζωή της. Ibtisam Azem.Ibtisam Azem is a Palestinian writer and journalist from Jaffa who edits the Arabic-language magazine Al-Shabaka. The novel appeared in English as The Book of Disappearance. Italian: «Ibtisam Azem è una scrittrice e giornalista palestinese originaria di Giaffa, curatrice della rivista in lingua araba Al-Shabaka. Il romanzo è uscito in inglese col titolo The Book of Disappearance.»
Books that feel like this
Where to get it
Some of these links earn us a small commission, at no cost to you. It keeps BookFeed free.
Questions readers ask
- Is Το Βιβλίο της Εξαφάνισης for me?
- You may like it if you enjoy novels built from family stories, remembered streets and the slow work of grief. The Greek text uses polytonic accents and some older phrasing, so passages can ask for a slower read.
- What is Το Βιβλίο της Εξαφάνισης like?
- The novel moves at a quiet, reflective pace, carrying family memory and grief through a voice that stays tender even when the city turns strange. Feels like tenderness, grief and wonder. About memory, family and home.
- What should I read after Το Βιβλίο της Εξαφάνισης?
- If you liked Το Βιβλίο της Εξαφάνισης, try The God of Small Things (Arundhati Roy), The Names (Florence Knapp) and The Joy Luck Club (Amy Tan).
A taste of the feed
What a house becomes when no one has been living in it.
“It was raining when Rahel came back to Ayemenem. Slanting silver ropes slammed into loose earth, plowing it up like gunfire. The old house on the hill wore its steep, gabled roof pulled over its ears like a low hat. The walls, streaked with moss, had grown soft, and bulged a little with dampness that seeped up from the ground. The wild, overgrown garden was full of the whisper and scurry of small lives. In the undergrowth a rat snake rubbed itself against a glistening stone. Hopeful yellow bullfrogs cruised the scummy pond for mates. A drenched mongoose flashed across the leaf strewn driveway.
The God of Small Things · Arundhati Roy
What parents quietly pack away, and never mention afterward.
She suspects that, to be a good parent, she must pack away the mothering part of herself into a box and gently close the lid on it. She had not realised this is what would be required of her, had not seen it coming. And yet she will do so willingly. Would you lay down your life for your child? the world silently asks. Yes, she’s done this. But she hadn’t known there would be a second reckoning, where this would eventually mean laying down the arms of motherhood: caution, foreseeing, checking, reminding, nurturing, openly caring.
The Names · Florence Knapp
A place at the table, handed down whether or not you asked.
My father has asked me to be the fourth corner at the Joy Luck Club.
The Joy Luck Club · Amy Tan
Read pages from books like this, one at a time
Keep reading in the feed