written by Mia Couto and translated from Portuguese by David Brookshaw.
Few writers or poets have had the impact that Mia Couto has had on me in recent years. His beautiful prose, unique characters, and mastery of poetic license have made him one of my favorite writers in recent years. Known as a heavyweight artist in the Latin American literary scene, recent English translations of his work has taken his fame in the US and UK to stratospheric levels. I, like many others, began with his short story collection ‘Rain’ and was instantly hooked. The longer and far more intimidating novel ‘The Tuner of Silences’ has been on my TBR list ever since. It was high time to cross it off.
This novel takes place in Couto’s native Mozambique and tells the story of Mwanito and his family’s self-imposed exile on an abandoned game reserve his father dubs ‘Jezoosalem’. A mere child when they leave the big city for a life of isolation, Mwanito grows up with questions about his mother, what women are like, and wonders if indeed the world beyond ‘Jezoosalem’ has perished like his father claims. It is a premise as strange as it is wonderfully written with characters that grow on you with time. Joining him is his older brother Ntunzi, who remembers life in the city and cannot stop yearning for it; the soldier Zachary Kalash who has practically sworn himself to their father; and their uncle Aproximado who brings supplies with him in a truck from time to time.
Of course, the world hasn’t ended, just the life Mwanito’s father had. As the story goes on and crazed, cult-like worldview is continuously challenged, readers are taken on a journey that is at times dramatic, humorous yet always entertaining and beautiful. By the end, it is a hard heart that has not cried, laughed, or clapped their hands in joy during Mwanito’s wild adventure. For a unique meeting of prose and poetry, you can’t do much better than Couto and ‘The Tuner of Silences’.
Ismael David Mujahid, Managing Editor