Abahn Sabana David

Abahn Sabana David

<div><p>"Duras's language and writing shine like crystals."—<i>The New Yorker</I></P><p>"A spectacular success. . . . Duras is at the height of her powers."—Edmund White</P><p>Available for the first time in English, <i>Abahn Sabana David </I>is a late-career masterpiece from one of France's greatest writers.</p><p>Late one evening, David and Sabana—members of a communist group—arrive at a country house where they meet Abahn, the man they've been sent to guard and eventually kill for his perceived transgressions. A fourth man arrives (also named Abahn), and throughout the night these four characters discuss existential ideas of understanding, capitalism, violence, revolution, and dogs, while a gun lurks in the background the entire time.</p><p>Suspenseful and thought-provoking, Duras's novel calls to mind the plays of Samuel Beckett in the way it explores human existence and suffering in the confusing contemporary world.</p><p><b>Marguerite Duras </B>wrote dozens of plays, film scripts, and novels, including <i>The Ravishing of Lol Stein</I>, <i>The Sea Wall</I>, and <i>Hiroshima, Mon Amour</I>. She's most well-known for <i>The Lover</I>, which received the Goncourt Prize in 1984 and was made into a film in 1992. This is her third book to be published by Open Letter.</p><p><b>Kazim Ali </B>is a poet, essayist, and novelist, and has published a translation of <i>Water's Footfall </I>by Sohrab Sepehri in addition to co-translating Duras's <i>L'Amour</I>. He teaches at Oberlin College and the University of Southern Maine.</div>