Samuel Shimon recounts his experience as an Iraqi who found himself far from his homeland in the heart of a different European city, Paris, which becomes a space for self-discovery, freedom, and writing. The narrator carries with him the memory of Iraq, including its political and social events and personal experiences, and then confronts a new reality in a city that brings together people from diverse cultures. The experience of the immigrant and the intellectual emerges as he tries to build a new life amidst the difficulties of language, work, and relationships, while the old memory remains present in the details of daily life. The text does not present Paris as an ideal place, but rather reveals its contradictory aspects, from freedom and openness to loneliness, marginalization, and the constant search for a place. Personal narrative intersects with literature, journalism, and encounters with writers and artists, revealing the city as a cultural space that can open new doors for individuals. The complex relationship with the homeland is also explored, where leaving does not mean abandoning the past, but rather carrying it to the new place and reconsidering it from a distance. The book combines autobiography, memory, and social observation, giving the reader a picture of the Iraqi experience in exile and the transformations that can occur when one lives between two cultures. Writing becomes a means of understanding the past and of recording details of a life that might have disappeared without memory and narrative.
