
No Friend but the Mountains
Writing from Manus Prison
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About this listen
“Our government jailed his body, but his soul remained that of a free man.” (From the foreword by Man Booker Prize-winning author Richard Flanagan)
In 2013, Kurdish-Iranian journalist Behrouz Boochani was illegally detained on Manus Island, a refugee detention centre off the coast of Australia.
He has been there ever since.
This book is the result. Laboriously tapped out on a mobile phone and translated from the Farsi.
It is a voice of witness, an act of survival. A lyric firsthand account. A cry of resistance. A vivid portrait of five years of incarceration and exile.
Winner of the Victorian Prize for Literature, No Friend but the Mountains is an extraordinary account - one that is disturbingly representative of the experience of the many stateless and imprisoned refugees and migrants around the world.
©2019 Behrouz Boochani, Omid Tofighian (P)2019 Anansi AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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What listeners say about No Friend but the Mountains
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Wild
- 07-10-22
Excellent Truth Speaking
The intro starts with beauty and truth toward speaking words written to be understood. Once that respect is established, the realities are discussed from a number of integrities. The absence of justice is approached from the multiplicities of prisoner’s integrity. Reading the book will change your own sense of bravery. Do not fail the truth you respectfully know.
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- Kaveh Dan
- 08-13-19
Great book, terrible narration
The audiobook narration is a shame to this great piece of literature. Multiple amateur narrators (why?!) alternate between the chapters and the quality of the recording is poor.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous
- 01-18-20
Eye-opening & heartbreaking but it is a must-read!
This is a great book. I was shocked to learn about the refugees’ conditions in the prison. You know it’s bad but to hear first-hand is awful. How can we treat people like human garbage? I hope Australia shuts down these prisons for good. Thank you for sharing your storing.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Dr. B
- 04-23-20
A Beautiful Horror Story
An exceptionally well written monograph. Both a piece of exceptional literature and a critical analysis of international migration and detention centers.
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- Blades and Bows
- 04-03-22
poorly put together
what a waste... the story may have been great but, I never got the feeling is too when the actual story started in the forward ended. very poorly put together.
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- Mehrzad Mohammadi
- 04-23-23
Third time is the charm? Nope.
I tried to listen to this book three times:
On my first try, I basically gave up since I was disappointed with the quality of the narration over the first preamble to the story. Second try, I was bored to death with the amount of unnecessarily prolonged prelude to the story. I tried repeatedly. Nope. Third and final try, I skipped the first part, and went directly for the story. Survived the first chapter, but the second chapter - each chapter is narrated by a different narrated - was narrated as if the woman was holding her number one while doing it. I'm not gonna try again. Just disappointed.
//
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