Finding Books in Morocco is an Adventure
My passion for reading has grown. My first and second grade teacher, Mrs. Martin, would be very proud of me. God bless her.
Last Saturday, after giving a private English lesson to a young student, I ventured out to a known book haven in Derb Ghallef, a raunchy and untidy neighborhood in Casablanca where you can buy any used or new computer accessory ever made.
I bought Le Rouge et le Noir by Stendhal. I read a chapter of this classic novel each day with the English pdf version which I found online in order to expand my French vocabulary. I bought Enduring Love by Ian McEwan, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, and This is How you Lose Her by Junot Diaz.
Enduring Love is quite a page turner by the renowned British author who wrote Atonement. But by the ninth chapter the theme is very clear: can love endure; or must one endure love? In this case, it is a very twisted love and one in which I will try to endure reading.
I also started reading Golding’s classic novel which I should have read in ninth grade. Yes, I passed the test. But now I am going to actually read the book.
Strangely, the next day, a new associate of mine sent me this editorial linked in the French-language magazine, Le360 by Karim Boukhari. It is a great piece of writing (in French) about the municipal destruction of the last bookstore in Labhira, which he calls Derb Ghallef before Derb Ghallef. I was actually looking for this famous site where books are traded, sold and passed on for nickels and dimes. But I could not find Labhira. Apparently, it was under a bulldozer.
Boukhari writes: It is a scandal and a shame. There is nothing, no pretext, that can justify the destruction of a bookstore. Nor the “massacre” of books.
For me, the real ‘massacre' of books is not to read them.
Moroccans love books. There are shops all over. They are displayed, new and used, on the sidewalks for sale in any souq. But it is rare to see someone sitting in a cafe or on a park bench reading a book. Like the rest of the world, everyone is stuck watching vapid, mindless videos on their phones.
In a small cafe in Zagora, the doorway of the Sahara, I remember seeing a young man reading a book. I was so amazed I sat with him and struck up a conversation. He was reading, of all things, French philosophy, and had an aspiration to travel and continue his formal studies. We had a refreshing conversation about existentialist writer Jean Paul Satre’s book, Huis Clos, (No Exit) and his concept that “L’enfer c’est les autres.” Surely, “Hell is others.” Huis Clos is the first book I ever read in French when I was attending, of all places, Orange County Community College. I was 18.
I find that reading books could actually be the cure for social media addiction. At least, for me, developing a reading habit has reduced my mind-numbing time spent of YouTube, Facebook, and the rest. Don’t get me wrong, I learn a great deal on YouTube watching videos on hunting, trapping, bookbinding, and guitar playing. But taking a healthy break to read can expand your imagination and emotional balance.
Of course, we know this. I have known this but never took the action of committing myself to reading. Now, every day, I curl up in a hammock on the terrace and read for a minimum of 30 minutes. This half hour usually turns into two hours.
Since October, I have dedicated more time to reading and for 2023, I have read the following great books:
Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri My review (2022)
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley My review
The Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak
Hombre by Elmore Leonard
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Enduring Love by Ian McEwan (just finished today)
One of my goals for 2024 is to read, at least, 25 books. I have a list of book candidates which I will elect and read. I will let you know, by way of review, if I am pleased with my vote.
It is difficult to source books here in English. But that is part of the fun. I get to wander into the winding alleys of historic souqs and find treasures for my mind which I will share with you.