نشستم و ریویوی مفصلی برای کتاب برنده‌ی جایزه‌ی معتبر بوکر۲۰۲۳ (به انگلیسی) نوشتم، اما ترجمه‌ی همان ریویو به فارسی را کاری بیهوده دیدم. در اسرع وقت یک ریویوی فارسی از نگاه یک پناهنده‌ی ایرانی می‌نویسم و امیدوارم آن ریویو به عنوان نخستین ریویوی فارسی برای این کتاب با ارزش و خواندنی حق مطلب را ادا کند. تا آن روز عینا همان ریویو را در اینجا قرار می‌دهم:

Some books require patience to write about; however, 'Prophet Song' certainly does not fall into that category. The space and details created by Mr. Lynch are such that the reader is compelled to discuss the book immediately upon finishing it, or else risk losing the intricacies. Before saying anything else, I must caution eager readers awaiting to purchase and read this book to prepare themselves. Prepare yourself to confront the other side of this world, a dark and haunting realm that devours and destroys the souls of humans bit by bit, akin to a moray eel.

I immersed myself in 'Prophet Song' over the course of four days. The atmosphere of the book is very dark and oppressive, yet the reader cannot put it down. Once you begin reading the book, you become a member of Mr. Lynch's world, forced to live in this world. The tension of the story builds not instantly but gradually. In my opinion, this is one of the strengths of the author. If it were to reach its climax too quickly, the reader might discard the book due to the lack of mental stamina to continue. Mr. Lynch possesses a creative pen and skill. In this book, he writes in a manner reminiscent of Gabriel Garcia Marquez in 'The Autumn of the Patriarch.' Therefore, it is essential to note that there are no short sentences or paragraphs for pauses in the story; the narrative unfolds in very long sentences, sometimes spanning several pages. Although I admit that this narrative style may be bothersome for some readers.

I currently reside in England but hail from a country where the meaning of totalitarianism, war, self-destruction, populist behaviors, and poverty is well-known. Perhaps, for a significant portion of European readers, the story that Mr. Lynch narrates might seem ludicrous, but I have a suggestion for them: read Umberto Eco's 'Fascism' to understand his concerns, the concern of how he, the people of Europe, might go to sleep one night in Europe and wake up having lost everything they had the day before. In Mr. Lynch's story, the same concern as in Eco's work comes to life.

Close your eyes and imagine: you live in the heart of Europe. A place where democracy and human rights laws have given you the gift of peaceful living. One day, you wake up and see that the far-right extremists, whose beliefs have been suppressed for years, have risen, and a civil war has begun. With the onset of this war, worse than any other kind, poverty quickly grows, ruining people's lives. People die or disappear.

The story is set in Ireland, but the time period hasn't been clear yet. The main character, Eilish, is a microbiologist married to Larry, a teacher and union leader. They live with their four children and Eilish's elderly father with dementia. Everything begins on a seemingly calm night when two members of the 'GNSB' (a recently formed secret police by far-right extremists in Ireland) knock on the door and question her about Larry. I stop here without delving further into the plot to avoid spoilers. The protagonist of the story strives to preserve her family under extraordinary circumstances she never anticipated. She must make tough decisions and take significant actions, but do not forget, she is in a war, and in war, events do not unfold as people expect them to.

I, as a refugee, believe this book serves as a great wake-up call for those who indulge in sweet dreams. Those who have no understanding of the sorrows of war, bloodshed, totalitarianism, populism, asylum, and displacement. Wait, my intention is not to blame them. They are not at fault. As Albert Camus puts it, 'Nobody can understand the nights in prison until he has spent one night there.' That's why I consider this book to be a wake-up call. Hopefully, people around the world will awaken and comprehend what war truly means. So that when they hear the sound of war in some corner of the world, they won't sit silent and passive in their place. because, as Dr. Ferdinand Céline said, 'Nothing is worse than war.'

'Prophet Song' deserves the Booker Prize in 2023. I give this book a five-star recommendation and urge all my fellow book lovers to read it.