# Maps (1986) by Nuruddin Farah: a novel of the Ogaden war

> Nuruddin Farah's Maps (1986): Askar, Misra and the Ogaden war, its unusual narrative voice, the Blood in the Sun trilogy and how critics have read it.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/books/maps-farah/
Last checked: 2026-11-12
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## The book

**Maps** is a novel by [Nuruddin Farah](/en/people/nuruddin-farah/), published in 1986. It is the first part of his **Blood in the Sun** trilogy, followed by Gifts and Secrets (1998) ([Encyclopedia.com, Nuruddin Farah](https://encyclopedia.com/arts/culture-magazines/farah-nuruddin-1945); [Kirkus Reviews](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/nuruddin-farah/maps/)). The Encyclopedia.com entry calls Maps his "most famous novel", the book that "cemented" his reputation ([Encyclopedia.com](https://encyclopedia.com/arts/culture-magazines/farah-nuruddin-1945)).

## The story

The main character, **Askar**, is an orphan born in the Ogaden, the region contested between [Somalia and Ethiopia](/en/relations/ethiopia/) ([The Modern Novel](https://www.themodernnovel.org/africa/other-africa/somalia/farah/maps/)). His father died in prison months before his birth and his mother died giving birth alone; he was found and raised by **Misra**, a servant who becomes a mother to him and whose own national identity is a recurring question in the book ([The Modern Novel](https://www.themodernnovel.org/africa/other-africa/somalia/farah/maps/)). Askar sees the Ogaden war from Kelafo, then moves to Mogadishu to live with his uncle Hilaal and Hilaal's wife Salaado, where he studies maps of the region and Somali history. Refugees from the war reach Mogadishu, Misra among them, and her arrival drives the last part of the book. At the end Askar must choose between going to university and joining the liberation fighters ([The Modern Novel](https://www.themodernnovel.org/africa/other-africa/somalia/farah/maps/)). The war itself is on [The Ogaden war, 1977](/en/history/ogaden-war-1977/).

## How it is told

The narrative shifts between the first, second and third person, each voice telling part of Askar's story ([Hilarie Kelly, Ufahamu, eScholarship](https://journalpub.escholarship.org/ufahamu/article/55806/galley/42193/download)). Kelly's study describes it as a novel that demands patience, with a strong psychological side ([Ufahamu](https://journalpub.escholarship.org/ufahamu/article/55806/galley/42193/download)).

## How it has been read

Critics read Maps as a novel about identity and belonging: who counts as Somali, how borders and maps define people, and how a person's body and history relate to a nation's claims ([The Modern Novel](https://www.themodernnovel.org/africa/other-africa/somalia/farah/maps/); [Cambridge, The Disorder of Things](https://cambridge.org/core/books/disorder-of-things/from-the-carceral-to-the-biopolitical-the-dialectical-turn-inwards-in-maps/9E7A1CB26D616D38DBDCCBEE55340941)). It has been translated into German ([Suhrkamp, German edition extract](https://res.cloudinary.com/suhrkamp/images/v1742121586/55532/maps_9783518456309_leseprobe.pdf)).

## Where to read it

- In a library: [WorldCat](https://search.worldcat.org/search?q=Maps+Nuruddin+Farah)

## Related pages

- [Nuruddin Farah](/en/people/nuruddin-farah/)
- [From a Crooked Rib (1970)](/en/books/from-a-crooked-rib-farah/)
- [Somali authors and their books](/en/society/somali-authors-and-their-books/)

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