Every now and then a book comes along that jars you in
your heart and your head, a book you'll never forget. THE
SOUND OF LANGUAGE is one of those books.
Raihana, an Afghan refugee, tries to make a new life for
herself in Denmark after her husband was killed by the
Taliban. She has no employable skills and must learn to
speak Danish before she can get a job, per Danish law. At
least she feels safe in Denmark, safe in a way she did not
back in Kabul.
Gunnar, a Dannish beekeeper, is mourning the sudden death
of his wife. When a family friend suggests that he allow
Raihana to apprentice with him in order to help her learn
the Danish language, he refuses but then relents and
begins a tentative relationship with Raihana.
Slowly, the two, separated by language and culture, learn
to communicate and to trust one antoher, with the help of
Gunnar's wife's bee-keeping journal. Together, despite
racial prejudice and violence and through the sharing of
culture, they help their individual communities—each
suspicious, ignorant, and distrusting of the other—to find
and embrace their common humanity.
I can start by saying that unless I read something else
absolutely phenomenal, THE SOUND OF LANGUAGE will be my
pick for best book read in 2008.
With moving yet semi-detached prose, mirroring the way we
tend to treat new people and places outside of our
familiar, Ms. Malladi pens a thought provoking tale of
racial hostilities, prejudices, and reconciliation set
against the backdrop of the current war on terrorism.
What makes this story fresh is that it's not about black
vs. white, even on an international scale. It's deals
with prejudices among Middle Eastern and European peoples
and uses the little things, like a rug or a trip to the
grocery store, to illuminate our shared humanity and
encourage all who read to examine their heart with a nod
toward being a better person. At the same time, the story
is fun, especially when we learn interesting tidbits about
the lives of bees and beekeepers from Anna's journal.
Escaping the turmoil and heartbreak of war-torn Kabul,
Raihana settles with distant relatives in the strange, cold,
damp country of Denmark. Homesick and heartbroken, Raihana
bravely attempts to start a new life, trying hard not to
ponder the fate of her husband, who was taken prisoner by
the Taliban and never heard from again.
Soon after arriving, Raihana finds herself in a language
school, struggling to learn Danish, which she thinks sounds
like the buzzing of bees. To improve her speaking skills,
Raihana apprentices herself to Gunnar, a recent widower who
is steadily withdrawing from the world around him, even
neglecting the bee colonies he worked so hard to cultivate
with his late wife. Over the course of the bee season,
Raihana and Gunnar forge an unlikely relationship, despite
the disapproval of their friends and relatives. But when the
violence Raihana thought she had left behind in Afghanistan
rears its head, she and Gunnar are forced to confront the
ghosts of the past as they navigate the uncertain future.
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