Review of Les Yeux baissés

[(review date autumn 1992) In the following review, Sellin offers a positive assessment of Les Yeux baissés, arguing that the novel succeeds on both a narrative and allegorical level.]

Sometimes authors fade after winning a big prize. Such is not the case with Tahar Ben Jelloun. A series of brilliant novels, including two of his finest, La Prière de l'absent (1982) and L'Écrivain public (1983), culminated in a very successful diptych--L'Enfant de sable (1985) and La Nuit sacrée (Prix Goncourt 1987)--that brought Ben Jelloun international fame. He did not rest on his laurels, publishing in short order a brief, haunting tale of an old man's recollections of his youth, Jour de silence...