Loading ...Top 10 Books Based in Tangier
From William Burroughs’s Naked Lunch to Paul Bowles’s translations of Moroccan authors, here are the best novels set in the city
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
BY: CHRISTINE MANGAN
Mark Twain. Edith Wharton. Patricia Highsmith. The Beats. At one time or another, these literary figures passed through Tangier, and were inspired by the places they saw and people they met. Then there is the wealth of great writers born there: traveller Ibn Battutah, storyteller Driss ben Hamed Charhadi, writer Mohamed Choukri.
Despite this literary link, finding stories set in Tangier is a difficult feat, particularly ones by Arabic writers. The problem lies in language; in Morocco, which language you decide to write in – Arabic or French – is crucial, and while some work will eventually be translated into English, this is not always the case. There also appears to be fewer women writing about Tangier – my list features an almost exclusively male perspective of the city. There are, in fact, female Moroccan writers: Fatema Mernissi, an Arab Islamic feminist whose most well-known work was Beyond the Veil; Leila Abouzeid, whose novella Year of the Elephant was the first work by a Moroccan woman to be translated from Arabic to English; and Leïla Slimani, a Franco-Moroccan writer who won the Prix Goncourt for her novel Lullaby. Here is my selection of books by authors from Tangier, who passed through, or who even adopted the city as their home.
1. Street of Thieves by Mathias Énard, translated by Charlotte Mandell
A coming-of-age narrative set against the backdrop of the 2011 Arab spring uprisings, Street of Thieves follows young Moroccan narrator Lakhdar after he is expelled from his family home following an indiscretion with his cousin. Resorting to begging and prostitution to survive, his journey takes him across the Straits to the shores of Spain and the streets of Barcelona, where memories of his childhood friend, Bassam – who may have been involved in violence connected to the uprisings – haunt him.
2. Leaving Tangier by Tahar Ben Jelloun, translated by Linda Coverdale
Leaving Tangier follows the story of Azel and his desire to swap the city of his birth for the sparkling lights of Spain, which he often watches in the distance from Cafe Hafa. What unfolds is an account of his misadventures, as he and his sister fail to adapt to their new life in Spain.
3. A Life Full of Holes by Driss ben Hamed Charhadi, recorded and translated by Paul Bowles
A collaboration between an illiterate Moroccan storyteller and American author Paul Bowles in 1964, this unusual novel follows Ahmed from childhood to the beginning of adulthood. The story details Ahmed’s life as he struggles to maintain hope in the face of the Tangier’s grim realities.
4. Let It Come Down by Paul Bowles
It is impossible to write about literary Tangier without mentioning Bowles, one of Tangier’s most famous expats. Let It Come Down is set in the Tangier International Zone, where American Nelson Dyer attempts to start a new life. Taking its name from Macbeth, the novel details Dyer’s misadventures, which lead him down a path of self-destruction.
5. Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits by Laila Lalami
Lalami’s novel isn’t strictly about Tangier, though the city binds the novel’s characters together. Determined to make it to Spain, several strangers attempt to enter Europe by crossing the Strait of Gibraltar. This is just the prologue however, with the remainder of the book delving into how each character made their way to the lifeboat.
6. Naked Lunch by William Burroughs
Burroughs wrote Naked Lunch while living in the city. The result is a collection of vignettes inspired by the author’s experiences there, the novel follows the adventures of William Lee, a drug addict fleeing arrest.
7. For Bread Alone by Mohamed Choukri, translated by Paul Bowles
Choukri is one of Tangier’s most celebrated authors, and his memoir For Bread Alone charts the story of his family as they trade the Rif mountains for the hard streets of Tangier in pursuit of a better life. Paul Bowles admitted that “although exact, the translation is far from literal”.
8. Whitefly by Abdelilah Hamdouchi, translated by Jonathan Smolin
Detective Laafrit is investigating several bodies that have washed up on the shores of Tangier. Expecting them all to be harraga – a term for those who try to illegally cross the Strait, burning their identification to conceal their past – Laafrit is surprised to find one of the bodies has several gunshot wounds.
9. Si Yussef by Anouar Majid
Tangier-born author Majid’s novella sees university student Lamin have a chance encounter with the elderly Si Yussef in Achab’s Cafe. For the next 12 days, they continue to meet as Si Yussef regales the younger man with stories of his life. It is a work that raises questions of identity, home and how Tangier’s history has been somewhat idealised.
10. The Lemon by Mohammed Mrabet, translated by Paul Bowles
Mrabet was born in Tangier and befriended Bowles, the latter taking it upon himself to translate Mrabet’s oral fiction into written word. Here, Mrabet’s narrative tells about a young boy who runs away from his family home in the Rif mountains. What ensues is an account of his time in Tangier, along with the loss of his childhood innocence.
