Machaho Tellem Chaho

' La Soif ' ( The thirst ) is Assia Djebar's first novel. It was published in 1957 by Julliard editions in Paris, France. By all accounts, it was a difficult novel to own up to for Djebar immediately after its publication. ' La Soif ' not only appeared during Algeria's war of independence, while the fighting against France was raging in Algeria, but it was set very far away from war or any matters relating to colonisation. Narrated by a young priviledged Algerian woman during her summer holiday, La Soif is the story of a complex foursome, two couples, who spend the summer together by the sea. As tensions rapidly build between the two women and men, the foursome disolves into a threesome. This mischievous slip will lead to tragic events that will affect the life of each character, for ever. ' La Soif ' is an intimate and sensual novel. It is built looking inward, by a woman who looks at her body, and tries to understand its needs, her tenden...

'The Escape' ( L'évasion ) by Ahmed Akkache is the 'Prison Break' epitome of Algerian literature. Set in the 50s, Akkache tells the story of the attempted escape of five Algerian men imprisoned in the political wing of a French prison, in the city of Angers. Ahmed Akkache was a communist militant and an important figure during the Algerian war of independence, as well as post-war. During his militancy, he was arrested by the French authorities. He was sent to France and jailed there - a customary tactic of the French authorities to break the link between freedom fighters and their groups, and which was implemented before and throughout the war of independence. In these French prisons, Algerian militants were grouped in the same jail-wings to contain them, and to contain the news and facts of war that these men would otherwise necessarily reveal to French men if they were jailed together. While in jail in Angers, Akkache managed to escape from the p...