Earth and Ashes

My friend, in this country, if you wonder why something happened, you have to start by making the dead talk.

Earth and Ashes is a short novel about a man trying to see his son to tell him about the death of their family set during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The author himself was born in Kabul and fled the country when the Soviets invaded, which gives his text some undeniable emotional authenticity.

The story moves rather slowly as most of the time is spent with the main character's inner turmoil trying to process the situation and holding the leftover strings together before confronting his son. It's written in the second person, which I love, narrating the story as if the reader is put in the character's shoes.
For being such a short and confined text, the few characters that appear are all very interesting and the text puts some interesting perspectives on how people deal with sorrow. It's effective and engaging.