REVIEW OF THE BOOK L'ATTENTAT BY YASMINA KHADRA!

I bought this book by Algerian author Yasmina Kadhra a month ago while browsing through one of our local bookstores. I had been curious about this gifted author who goes by a feminine pen name since his years in the Algerian army.

So ok had the book and told myself that I would be reading it at some point until one quiet saturday night while watching the two "mean" culture critcis Zemmour and Nholo on "On est pas encore couche" give him mixed reviews.

On that show, each week, a group of celebs face two sarcastic and hard french Simon Cowell to discuss about their curent work. Mr Kadhra conducted himself with old school dignity, laughed of some of their coments and suggested that they read his book once more. That following morning all I wanted to do is smash into the litterary word of Yasmina. The novel I read "L'Attentat" was thought provokating and I didn't put it down until I was done reading it that same day.

It's centered around a young Jewish couple that seems to be living the life, Dr Amine is a Palestinian doctor living in Israel with his beautiful wife Sihem. They've been residing as a happy couple in Israel where they build a new family of friends. On the surface, despite the regular terrorist attacks, Dr Amine was really happy until the day of a an explosion in Tal Aviv which will change his life forever. While trying 2 save the lives of the victims of this unfortunate ordeal, Dr Amine had no idea that his life was about to sink.

He founds out that his sweet and kind wife, Sihem is not only dead during the attack but that she was the author of this horrible crime. Through this book we go through his relentless agonoy hour by hour, minute by minute, the anger, the sadness, the wild bitterness he feels...

He wonders why his beloved wife who seemed to have everything and more would engage in such a senseless killing of innocent victims. All his life, he has tried to focus on his career and distance himself from the Israelo-Palestinian conflict. But with the death of Sihem he has to face his people. He wants to understand what would prod his people to kill others. This book gives us an insight on fanatic people, I finished this book understanding a bit more why some people would be so desperate, so deeply hurt that they woulld want destroy other people lives.

No matter what efforts Dr Amine put forward to focus on his individual life he's forced to go back to his community. He's part of them no matter the level of success he has accomplished. The poor people living in Israel are fighting the way they know how, for them dying is now a mission of honor. Yasmina describes a cousine of Dr Amine who was sweet and entirely devoted to her grandfather until the day the army came and destroyed her family house after a sibbling of hers became a terrorist.She saw this as an injustice and decided to become herself a kamikaze.

Bref I would def' recomand reading this book Yasmina Khadra is a beautiful lyrical writer, the way he describes smells, scenes, emotions is delicious as apple compote.

Here's his website:

http://www.yasmina-khadra.com

You can catch Yasmina and Zemmour in action, HERE

Djaa our brothas from Algeria are truly talented:)

Eyeee Wayeee:)

FASHION & GIRL TALK WITH TWO FABULAFRICANAS,BIGUE SANE & FAYELLE OUANE!

Miss Bigue Sane & Fayelle Ouane in Fatou Niang's Haute Couture

Bigue & Fayelle are both rocking with just the right atitude ,
designs by Astou Sy

Fayelle is of Toukouleur Ancestry

Bigue is of Djolla & Serere ethnicities

Fayelle in pink is from Mali

Bigue hails from lovely Senegal

It was def' a fun time taking pictures around Dakar and getting to know them better

I love Fayelle's eyes, they're so expressive She's wearing Astou Sy Dadies line

I absolutely fell in love with Bigue's complexion She's wearing Fatou Niang's design

We took this picture around the new mosk
called La Mosque de la Divinite,(Corniche Dakar)

Both young ladies are really quiet yet fun

Work it out Fayelle:)

We took this pic around les Mamelles for those of you who know Dakar

Fayelle is wearing Astou Sy Design

Now this was fun ,the guys wanted to be part of the pic
lol

Wouhou that's my boy lol.haha

I thought that Bigue looked lovely in this dress by Fatou Niang

Looking just like a beautiful Toukouleur woman
with the calebasse

Bigue

Soyez serieuse waye..

Balance ee..balance ooo..lol

We are..women

Good Lord Miss Ba..let me go

Sisterhood

Fatou Niang Designs

Girl Talk

Thiepp, White Rice..

Mmm Dakar Nekhna!

Nice..

J'aime

Blanc & Noir

Graceful

Loved catching these candide moments..Fatou Niang design

Le Mil..le mil

Djolla and Serere Pocahontas..elle est belle

Yellow and green are def' Fayelle's colors

J'adore

Ahhhhhhhh!

Atitude..1 of them.2 of them lol

Bigue be serious lol

J'adore...

Bigue in a Fatou Niang , Haute Couture Design

Both outfits are by Astou Sy

Yep..they went there!!

I think this pic reflects their personalities..sweet & coquine

Fierce..work it

Let's share our calebasse

I love this pic of Bigue in Astou Sy's design..pay attention to the vegetation some of these branches have the shape of a snake

Doesn't she remind u of a particular former Broadway /R&B singer..?
Non mais oh..a pirogue..what's next yaye an airplane?
Sweet pause from the way she crossed delicately her legs, to the way she closes her eyes
Now that's fierce..u can see the phare of les Mamelles in the back
Bleu de Fatou Niang et encore more de blue

Dame Nature is gorgeous
Femmes Africaine, different yet similar
I love the coquin smile of Bigue and the sweet smile of Fayelle Another one of my fav'
Coucher de soleil Dakarois




Hey y'all back to our African women profile/photoshoot..Before I start I wanted to say that my heart goes out to the Haitian earthquake victims...pfff this is truly a tragedy..May God be with them, may we all give a hand whether with donations or with all of our prayers..salam!!

Ok..So Fayelle Ouane & Bigue Sane are the two women I chose last weekend to spend time with, doing the girly thing with the beautiful clothes by Astou Sy & Fatou Niang. What I've been trying to do lately is spend time with 2 African women , play dress up with local Dakarois designers,talk, laugh and play African Next top Model in Dakar..what ?! u know there's a model inside of all of us. I'm no expert photographer but I love taking pictures.

I would like to thank these 2 beautiful women, who were game despite their reserved nature, and the 2 designers, Astou Sy & Fatou Niang the 2009 WAPI winner.

If you would like to get in touch with them, here are thei info:

Astou Sy Dadis Boutik: 221-33-860-57-70 and her email is dadisboutik@yahoo.fr

Fatou Niang: 221-77-518-0036

Let's gooo:)

1/Fayelle,as a Malian woman,how do u perceive senegalese women?
I see them as beautiful in a very diverse way (in terms of height, skin complexion, size, etc.) and determined. I see them as strong women who can do everything from running a household to running a business or an organization and oftentimes, they are doing all these things. In the region, they are also known as being extremely "good wives" if there is such a thing: very polished, well put together and very dedicated to keeping their husband happy. They are definitely considered as "tough competition" in this field...

1/Bigue as a Senegalese woman, how do you perceive Malian women?I see them as graceful amazones. I admire and respect them for their strength.

2-What's your fav' country u visited and why?
Fayelle-I always say that Africa has some of the most amazing places in the world. It's a shame that more people don't consider visiting the continent because I am sure they would be pleasantly surprised. It would be difficult to select my favorite country but Kenya is a country that I would want to go back to. It had tremendous diversity (wildlife, oceans, etc.) and I thought the people were extremely friendly. I think I saw the most beautiful beach in this little town called Kilifi and the best thing about it was that I had the beach all to myself.

Bigue- I loved my trip to Cameroon. It's a beautiful country blessed with gorgeous flore, great people, great local food as well, the one that strikes me abt its people is that they produce and eat local for the most part.I felt like I was back at home in my lovely Casamance there.I was lucky to be there to celebrate women's day which is a big deal there,it was a beautiful experience for me.

3-Do u find urself different from ur mother or do u see u a lot os similarities?
Fayelle-I think there are a lot of similarities between us: we are both aiming to find a balance between our professional and our personal lives. On a deeper level though, I think the main reason we are so similar is because we share the same values and ideals.

Bigue- Yes I do feel that I have the similar sensibility,however I don't think that I could be as great as a mother as she's been to me. She's my sheroe, I admire her greatly and the best mother of the world.

4-Do u love urself?are u comfortable within urself?
Fayelle-I am comfortable within myself today (on most days!). It is sometimes difficult not to be affected by people's criticisms about the way you look, but I think once you accept yourself, it makes everything much easier.

Bigue-Absolutely I thank God for making me this way,and I'm totally comfortable within myself.

5-How do u manage to balance ur independence and your lovelife?
Fayelle-I don't see these two as being necessarily in opposition and I feel like most times, it is very important to maintain one's independence to build a successful relationship.
Bigue-As Fayelle and I were saying I believe that being independent is a bonus because it allows my partner to see that my intentions are sincere.

6-What's spirituality and faith to u?
Bigue- Just like Fayelle, I feel that faith is personal,I believe in my faith and respect other faiths.I don't like when people disrespect other beliefs.
Fayelle-It's having a relationship with God and respecting the fact that other people's relationship with God may differ significantly from yours.

7-How was this experience the shooting for u?
Fayelle-It was definitely new: I had never done anything like it before (and probably never thought I would!), but it was fun: I got to discover beautiful places in Dakar and get to know two amazing ladies!

Bigue-I thought it was fun, and we were all relaxed , it was a great experience for me. I got the chance to meet Fayelle but the water was coldddd lol

8-What do u take away from meeting each other?

Bigue-It was awesome, Fayelle is a simple, humble and open minded young lady, all of those atributes made this whole experience that much more enjoyable. She's less reserved than I am and if I was to repeat this experience , I would pick her to be my partner.I also got to eat some good maffe at your house..and that was another source of great motivation lol

Fayelle-Bigue is very calm and composed so even at times when I was getting tired, her quiet energy kept me going. It also made it fun because Bigue had the most unexpected jokes.

Thank you ladies..I really enjoyed spending time with y'all , getting to you both better, sharing the girly moments. Your quiet energy was soothing to me. I also learned that reserved women have great and strong personalities as well, so I thank y'all it was a beautiful human experience...

Vives les gos d'Afrik:)

Eyeee Wayee:)