“His great novel, his “immense contemporary social fresco”, his “made-in-bladi human comedy” - in the words with which he dazzles his virtual contacts - was now out of the question. To those who still asked him: “What's the status of this novel?”, he invariably replied: “Perhaps under other skies. Here, all we promote is mediocrity. And everyone would nod in agreement, wishing him well.”
Djawad Rostom Touati
Farid, Malia, Rami, Adib and other characters wander through La civilisation de l'ersatz, the second part of the trilogy: Le culte du ça, each equipped with their own socio-cultural baggage, some motivated to change the course of their lives, sure that the sun is much warmer elsewhere; others resigned to the idea that the world is as it is: just a two-variable equation - dominated/dominant -; and still others, self-sufficient, seeking redemption in the misfortunes of others, make their way between the strata of a society in turmoil, the victim of a frozen past, a sequestered present and a future held hostage.
In La civilisation de l'ersatz, both neo-prolo-aspirants-bourgeois who don't even know they're there, replace each other between the fingers of a born writer.
Everything is relativity: time, space, not to mention the mind...
