The Tale of a Wall: Reflections on the Meaning of Hope and Freedom

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A poet serving a life sentence weaves together autobiography and modern history to convey the emotional realities of prison and the struggle of the Palestinian people. The Tale of a Wall is a history book, an autobiography, a documentary, a love story, and a cry for justice written in flowing prose and modern poetry. It is written in two parts- the first is a rapid documentation of the early life of the author's father, "cleansed" from his village and settled in what has become the Aida refugee camp, where he ultimately established a large family. The second part documents how, upon becoming a teenager in the time of the First Intifada, the author was captured, tortured, and forced to confess, after which he was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. In his voyage through the many prisons of the occupation, he developed an existential strategy of resistance, establishing a center of gravity to be attracted to and converse with at the end of each day- the "Wall," the prison wall. Through these philosophical dialogues he documents the political events that led to the fracturing of Palestinian society and its resistance, and the depressing effect of that on the incarcerated. Composed in a style that evokes the existential angst of Sartre combined with the poetry of Mahmoud Darwish, The Tale of a Wall brings this powerful Palestinian voice to English readers for the first time.

Reviews

Nasser Abu Srour doesnt allow his long incarceration in an Israeliprison to break his spirt. He turns the wall of his cell that is intended to confine him into his path to freedom, and in the process, out of the darkness of his cell produces a luminous memoir. Raja Shehadeh, author of We Could Have Been Friends, My Father and I: A Palestinian Memoir

A unique, lyrical exploration of what his inhumane connement has taught him about resistance, love, lies, forgiveness, and the complicated struggle for liberation of his fractured, occupied land. Rather than allow the many walls surrounding him from childhood to break him down, he has turned them into darkly luminous companions on a journey into the heart of cruelty and redemption. Ariel Dorfman, author of The Suicide Museum

An extraordinary memoir. Abu Srour is not just a witness of his personal life but a witness to one of the major tragedies of our times. Amara Lakhous, author of Clash of Civilizations Over an Elevator in Piazza Vittorio

In contemplating the meaning of freedom, and the prison walls enclosing him, Nasser Abu Srour has produced a richly emotional and affecting memoir. His poetic prose, lyrically translated by Luke Leafgren, ranges far beyond physical confines to evoke steadfastness and universal human dignity, through the intellectual curiosity of a writer born into a family on the margins, living in a marginal place filled with marginal people. Its resonance, and Abu Srours vision, are far from marginal. Matthew Teller, author of Nine Quarters of Jerusalem

Author Bio

Nasser Abu Srour was arrested in 1993, accused of killing an Israeli intelligence officer, and sentenced to life in prison. While in prison Abu Srour obtained a bachelor's and master's degree in political science from Al-Quds University. The Tale of a Wall is his first book to appear in English. Luke Leafgren is an Assistant Dean of Harvard College. He has translated seven novels from Arabic, including Muhsin Al-Ramli's The President's Gardens, for which he received the 2018 Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation.