Endless Fall: A Little Chronicle

Moroccan novelist Leftah (1946–2008; Captain Ni’mat’s Last Battle) reflects on the shock of witnessing a classmate’s suicide in this fragmentary memoir. In the early 1960s, shortly after Morocco gained independence from France, Leftah’s schoolmate, Khalid, leapt to his death over the railing outside their history classroom in the small, conservative village of Settat. Khalid left behind a note wishing happiness to his adulterous mother and his friend on the soccer team, whom Leftah speculates may have also been his lover. Leftah buttresses his memories of the incident with complementary episodes—his assault by police while protesting at the French embassy; the drowning death of a Settat criminal known as “El Rey”—that loop back to the tragedy in somewhat cryptic ways. He also takes his own motives into consideration, wondering whether his “little chronicle” is “an act of scavenging or, on the contrary, something aimed at saving from the forgotten the tragic destiny of a gorgeous young man.” What emerges is a searching and poetic elegy for a life cut short. This slim volume packs a formidable punch. Agent: Pierre Astier, Astier-Pécher Film & Literary. (June)