Chaos, A Fable by Rodrigo Rey Rosa: book review

Chaos, A Fable (2016, English version 2019) is set in contemporary times in Tangier and America.

Sixty-year-old Mexican author Rubirosa is in Tangier at a book fair and meets Moroccan artist Mohammed Zhrouni whom he has not seen in 26 years.

Mohammed’s daughter Fatima is in America with her husband; his youngest son 20-year-old Abdelkrim is also in America; and his second son Driss is a mechanic in Tangier. Abdelkrim gives Driss a memory card, and Driss gives it to their father Mohammed.

Mohammed asks Rubirosa to turn the photographs and audio files, that he thinks are on the memory card, into a novel about Abdelkrim’s life.

The audio files start with Mohammed visiting his American artist friend, John Field. They are discussing the birth of Mohammed’s son—Abdelkrim. They know he is unique; born to ‘do great works.’ John, now deceased, helped get Abdelkrim to America to attend university.

But the memory card does not contain photographs. It contains a blueprint for the future.

Abdelkrim is an aspiring astronaut, with an engineering degree, and now in aviation school, hoping to become an American citizen. He had befriended Xeno, a brilliant student with a doctorate in fluid mechanics.

The two foreign students want to change the world.

Written in three parts, the novella is a quick read, and a high-tech, provocative tale about disruption, chaos, and anarchy.

MARTINA NICOLLSis an international aid and development consultant, and the authorof:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom(2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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