Abahn Sabana David

Available for the first time in English, Abahn Sabana David is a late-career masterpiece from one of France’s top writers.

Late one evening, David and Sabana, communists, arrive at a country house where they meet Abahn, the man they’ve been sent to guard and ultimately kill for his perceived transgressions. A fourth man arrives (also named Abahn), and throughout the night these four characters discuss understanding, capitalism, violence, revolution, and dogs. A gun in the house disquiets the scene.

Suspenseful and thought-provoking, Duras’s novel is evocative of Samuel Beckett as it explores human existence and suffering in the confusing contemporary world.  

Translated from the French by Kazim Ali