The New York Times Magazine - USA (2020-08-09)

When he set eyes on this pretty cottage , with its

two bedrooms and sensible kitchenette, he called

one of his new friends in amazement: ‘‘You’ve got

to see this place, you’re not going to believe it!’’ The

friend, an Iranian-New Zealander named Donna

Miles-Mojab, laughed as she recounted this story

later. She rushed over, imagining a swimming

pool, gleaming marble fl oors, elaborate gardens.

In those early months, Miles-Mojab became a

kind of guide and cultural translator to Boochani.

Speaking in Farsi, she explained things to him in

a gentle, almost maternal tone. Boochani, she felt,

was oblivious to his own celebrity and the double

takes he provoked around town. For his part, he

was off ended by small and seemingly insignifi cant

exchanges, and he told these stories one night over

whiskey in a pub. ‘‘Something happened to me

here,’’ he leaned forward and lowered his voice.

‘‘If this happened to you, you would cry.’’ He was

walking alone late one night, he said, when he

crossed paths with a group of young people.

Someone called out to him, ‘‘Aren’t you that writ-

er who was on TV?’’ Boochani replied, ‘‘Yeah.’’ He

paused. A tense silence gathered over the table,

heavy with all the violent and demeaning conclu-

sions this story might reach.

‘‘He took out his wallet,’’ Boochani concluded

dolefully, ‘‘and he tried to give me $200.’’ There was

a beat of silence. Miles-Mojab’s face twitched with

smothered laughter. ‘‘Did you take it?’’ she asked.

‘‘No. I said: ‘Keep your money. Probably I am

richer than you. My book is in many countries.’ ’’

This is the complication and the delicacy of Boo-

chani: His most famous work was derived from the

considerable suff ering he endured at the hands of

the state. He is proud, even cocky at times. And yet

this pride must wrestle with the dehumanization

he has endured. His existence was controlled by

a hostile bureaucracy for years; now his days were

arranged by benevolent well-wishers.

Arriving in New Zealand just before the ear-

liest coronavirus infections emerged in China,

Boochani had freed himself as people around the

world were shut into quarantines. He sometimes

thought that he had fi nally escaped detention

and accidentally spread it all over the world. He

wondered, too, whether this taste of extreme

isolation might help people imagine more clearly

the horror of being locked away. ‘‘People should

understand now that life is not only food or hav-

ing a bed,’’ he said. ‘‘We are nothing without peo-

ple. Absolutely nothing, you know?’’

The months slid past. Wait a few more weeks,

Boochani was told. And then a few more weeks,

and still more. Boochani wrote some short sto-

ries. Bought some new clothes. Took up biking.

Then, on July 23, Boochani’s birthday, he fi nally

got word from his lawyer: His application had

been accepted. Boochani could stay in New Zea-

land. He was free. On the phone, he let out a wild

and incredulous laugh. Of course! When else? It

had been his birthday, too, the day he was lifted

from the sea and taken into Australian custody.

Hearing him laugh like that, I remembered one of

his stories: When he was born, his parents asked a

visiting cousin who knew how to read to choose a

name for the baby. The cousin opened a book and

poked his fi nger onto the page at random, strik-

ing the word ‘‘Behrouz’’ — Farsi for ‘‘fortunate.’’

Literally, ‘‘good day.’’

Boochani rode his bike from his house to the

sea. He looked at the expanse of ocean, these

waters that had almost killed him, the sea he sus-

pected of absconding with years of his life, the

waves that crashed now on the mineral grains of

this new land he called home. He looked at the

ocean, at all of that past and all of that future, the

churn of time and destiny, and he smoked a cig-

arette. Just one cigarette. One cigarette and the

sea in his eyes. And then he rode home again.

41

PUZZLIN’

Answers to puzzles of 8.2.20

SPELLING BEE

Marzipan (3 points). Also: Airman, amain, apian, impair,

mamma, manana, mania, manna, marina, marinara,

minima, panama, panini, paparazzi, piazza, pizazz (or

pizzazz), pizza, zinnia. If you found other legitimate

dictionary words in the beehive, feel free to include them

in your score.

Answers to puzzle on Page 44

ICEBERG SHARPTON CUSS

MAT INEE COMEHERE ASET

STAND INGROOMONLY BEAR

ENTRAPS NAY MEADE

ZANY S LOP J EN SAL LOW

EPEES EVERLAST I NGLOVE

BIRTHS ERVINE DEMOTED

RAD I OCAR TE I XE I RA

ASA OAR EROS BOT CAAN

FAL L INGRA IN MOM JAYNE

IMEANT ARP SAO S I RENS

SOROS I IN PARKINGRAMP

HAT S DMS TR I X RAG Y E R

LEGALAID EAGLEEYE

SCAPUL A ONE TON S ENS E S

QU A L I F Y I NGROUND S T I R S

UP LAST NGO CURE ORSO

IRATE PLO ACHIEVE

SORT F E AROFM I S S I NGOUT

HUGE ANT I POD E S TOOP TO

YSER THEATERS YESISEE

KENKEN

DOUBLE OR NOTHING GAS LINES

FU

SE

LA

GE

MA

LT

LI

QU

OR

SA

VA

GE

LI

ON

EL

ACROSTIC

A. Colossus

B. Ozone hole

C. Unpacked

D. Sheriff

E. Ideogram

F. Nonesuch

G. Equalizer

H. Avifauna

I. Umbrella

J. Tomcat

K. High-low

L. Ex officio

M. Philomel

N. Assuaged

O. Infancy

P. Nuisance

Q. Traffic

R. Engrossed

S. Deadlock

T. Wagons

U. Orpheus

V. Regatta

W. Dodgers

(PHIL) COUSINEAU, THE PAINTED WORD — The

English language is studded with terrific group nouns,

... a crash of rhinoceros, a parliament of owls, a
skulk of foxes,... a zeal of zebras.... [C]oinages include
... a couch of video game players and a cuddle of
homecoming queens.

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