The Pleasant Surprise of Son of Elsewhere

 

Libraries are great institutions, aren't they? We purchase a fair number of books -- "we, we purchase books?' says Ruth, with eyebrows raised. We both buy books, although there may be a slight imbalance. We are also both avid borrowers of audio books, as well as the hold in your hand kind. And often the library is the source of books I might not otherwise buy. 

I recently finished one of those "maybe the library has it" books, and it turns out that it was one of the best of the year for me. It's called Son of Elsewhere: A Memoir in Pieces by Elamin Abdelmahmoud. I'd heard about it in a couple of places and I was curious, but not totally committed. 

Elamin emigrated to Canada with his mother from Sudan when he was a tween, five years after his father, and the first line of his story is "It took two stopovers and nineteen hours of total flying time for me to become Black."  He began his new life in Kingston,,Ontario which he describes as "holy shit White." 

As with so many other immigrants Elamin was plunged into the deep end of the "elsewhereness" pool -- my description -- and he does an excellent job of describing what that meant for him. He was actually proud of the moniker Oreo (black on the outside, white on the inside) as he endeavoured to fit in with classmates and others. He found a path to belonging through enthusiasm for world wrestling and later nu metal music, as improbable as they might sound. Elamin and his Baba, his father, shared a passion for the TV action drama 24,  starring Keifer Sutherland, until they begin hearing the phrases of their Muslim prayers in the mouths of a family of terrorists. 

Along the way he contended with the many differences in and implications of culture and religion and skin colour. His parents came from middle class Sudanese families but had to slog their way to a degree of prosperity in Canada. As a result they chose what seems to be an immigrant pattern of saying no to their son a lot in the hope that they could protect him from the culture in which he was immersed and in which he wanted to find a place. They did it for love, but it didn't feel that way. 

I was intrigued that he developed friendships with a group he describes as a cadre of church kids: Although Elamin's family was Muslim, moreso than he was "We had a lot in common -- the slightly religious background, the skepticism of drugs, the difficulty of family expectations."  

Abdelmahmoud describes beautifully rituals such as communal grieving, and he tells of  his family's return to Sudan after several years with insight and poignancy. I highly recommend you searching for Son of Elsewhere, and you may want to actually purchase it!