Horses of God

Starred review from March 18, 2013
Acclaimed Moroccan novelist and painter Binebine shows readers a rare glimpse into the lives of boys who are groomed to become suicide bombers in his second novel to be translated into English (after Welcome to Paradise). Set in the gritty and impoverished Casablanca slum of Sidi Moumen, the protagonist, Yachine, and a group of young boys lead desperate yet exuberant lives in the face of disease, poverty, and violence. Yachine's tale is extremely honest, intimate, and spares no details; from murders committed by his vengeful brother, Hamid , or his own secret homosexual encounters. The novel provides context and perspective to often little-explored issues, offering incredible insight into the complex lives of poor boys who are groomed to kill themselves for a cause and commit violent acts in the name of religion. Binebine portrays these young men as supremely human, victims of powers much larger than themselves, and like any Kafkaesque anti-hero, cogs in an incomprehensible and monstrous machine.

April 15, 2013

"When I was a kid our favorite game was to pour bowls of piss onto rich passersby, biting our lips as they cursed, yelled insults, and looked up at the sky." Thus begins this tale of four boys living in a Casablanca slum. They start off playing on a neighborhood soccer team (The Stars of Sidi Moumen) and end as suicide bombers strapped with "paradise belts." The novel's narrator, Yachine, is the ghost of one of the boys, and the novel moves quickly, never lingering too long on individual scenes, although life in the Moroccan shantytown is clearly portrayed. Moroccan painter, novelist, and former math teacher Binebine (Welcome to Paradise) writes with humor and pathos amid the novel's grinding tragedy but never allows the narrative to veer into self-pity or sentimentality. The book is based on the 2004 suicide bombings in Casablanca, and Binebine's unblinking eye for detail makes this a haunting tale. VERDICT Even the most jaded and apolitical of American readers will find this short novel transfixing. Fans of Delillo's more astringent works will find a similar spirit here.--Travis Fristoe, Alachua Cty. Lib. Dist., Gainesville, FL

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