A Silent Collision

Description

The novel revolves around the story of Farah, a student from Kuwait, who is honored by her country to represent Kuwait in Sweden to pursue her research in biology, provided she passes a selection process from among students from other countries.

In this new environment and the harsh reality of being a stranger in a foreign land, questions erupt through unexpected and somewhat bizarre situations, or through this silent yet powerful collision between Farah, a Kuwaiti citizen, and Dhari, a stateless resident who has lived in Sweden for over ten years. It seems to be Dhari’s collision with his homeland through Farah, or perhaps the homeland’s collision with the stateless through Dhari. The title, “The Collision,” chosen by the author, is expressive and suggests much. A collision is a powerful physical impact between two large, heavy objects. It is a collision that occurs from a great distance and at tremendous speed. It is the collision between a meteor and a planet, or between one planet and another. In this novel, it takes on a powerful meaning: a collision between two faces, or between the faces of two people who have become symbols of homeland and alienation from it, of identity and its absence. The distance between them is measured by the severity of their alienation—the distance between Kuwait and Sweden in language, dialect, appearance, climate, customs, and traditions. It is also measured by the degree of alienation a person feels from themselves, like the alienation of Dhari, who grew up in Kuwait and then left it, carrying its love in his heart, forever enamored with its rain and palm trees.