Book review: Black Foam

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One of my favourite experiences is starting a new book and feeling lukewarm about it, only to be left utterly impressed by its story by the end. And this is exactly what happened with “Black Foam” by Eritrean author Haji Jabir.

The protagonist… well, who are they anyway? As the back cover already explains, his identity depends “on where and when you meet him.” Sometimes he’s Dawoud. Other times Dawit. David was perhaps the unluckiest. And was he ever really called Adal?

Jabir embraces non-linear storytelling in “Black Foam,” and I’ll admit that I slightly struggled to get through the beginning. However, I feel that this may have been due to the fact that I simply had to get used to a lot of geographical, social, and historical elements that were unfamiliar to me at first.

Once I had a bit more of a sense of the world, I quickly became very intrigued by the story. The protagonist’s journey takes him to many different locations, but weirdly, he always seems to end up in the same place.

When we think of someone who keeps changing their identity, we might associate that with opportunism or someone trying to trick their way to the top. But in “Black Foam,” all the protagonist wants is the very simplest of lives. His many identities are in essence a response to a world that keeps rejecting him. Rather than seeking the extraordinary, he is trying to determine who he needs to be to simply be allowed to live his life in peace.

The protagonist is a complex character. Over the course of the story, we see him lie, cheat, and betray others to get what he wants, and he actually takes great pride in his ability to lie so eloquently that others are enthralled by his made-up tales. In fact, whenever he does decide to tell someone the truth, things tend to go wrong for him. “Black Foam” is an excellent book to pick up. It explores well-established issues, including identity, migration, and relationships, in really unique ways that are almost guaranteed to leave you suspended in philosophical musings for days after you’ve reached the incredibly poignant ending.