Smrt je dřina – Chalífa Chálid (2021)

Death is Hard Work is the latest novel by Khaled Khalifa, the greatest Syrian chronicler of the ongoing civil war. The book tells the story of three ordinary people who must deal with terrifying situations, their only defense being their determination. Abdallatif peacefully dies in a hospital in Damascus. His youngest son Bulbul promises to fulfill his last wish and bury him in their native village in the north of the country. Although Abdallatif was not exactly a perfect father and Bulbul does not have the warmest relationship with his siblings, he convinces his older brother Husayn and sister Fatima to accompany him – and their father's body – on the journey to al-Anabiyeh. After all, they will be there from Damascus in two hours. There is just one catch: Their country is torn apart by war. The landscape of their childhood has turned into a labyrinth full of warring armed groups that follow no rules and kill on sight. What initially seemed like a harmless promise quickly transforms into an epic, life-threatening task. Syria is no longer a place for heroes, and the decisions the family will have to make on a journey filled with checkpoints, endless stops, interrogations, arrests, and exploding bombs will have far-reaching consequences for everyone. – Published with the support of...