What in Me is Dark, Illumine

This Blinding Absence of Light

Tahar Ben Jelloun

Penguin Books

Every once in awhile, you come across a book that speaks to you in such an intimate way that it becomes a touchstone for how you live your life. I'm lucky enough to have three -- Le Petit Prince, The Alchemist, and now, This Blinding Absence of Light.

Geographically, the book is set in the Tazmamart prison camp in southeastern Morocco. Though he never fired a gun, the narrator (a lieutentant in the Moroccan army) has been incarcerated for his participation in a failed coup d'etat against King Hassan II. The "prison" is actually a concentration camp and for twenty years, he and the other inmates literally live in the dark -- given only enough bread and water to exist on the edge of death. Individually confined to cells that don't allow them to stand, they only see the light when one of their companions dies and the guards allow them to attend the funeral. Eventually, this "privilege" is also taken away and the men must exist in total physical darkness.

What is so moving about this novel is that collectively and as individuals, the men resist despair. Despite the horrific conditions, they use their faith and their imagination to rise above/beyond their physical selves in an attempt to survive. To be able to transcend the kind of cruelty, pain and suffering that these men endured is a testament to man's infinite capacity for hope. They lived in complete and utter darkness, but some never succumbed -- they never lost sight of the light. Five shining stars out of five.