The books to bring on a trip are one of the ways to stay on the journey. Accounts that show other people’s outlook on stories near or far, they become magnifying lenses on the present.
Squeezing through bodies and objects in the souks is a challenge. The sandals are dirty with mud and organic residues and the skin impregnated with strong, sweetish or savory scents. As I walk, no one fails to notice my being a European woman, let alone me… But now I’m used to it, I let the thoughts take me and I wonder if I am going like the novels I picked, and if they will nourish the emotion of reading.
On my return to the Riad, I thank Patricia, she’s one of the rather numerous French immigrant pieds-noirs who prefer to return to the south so as not to see the Macron government débacle (pied-noirs is the ambiguous nickname given by the French who live in Europe to the French based in Algeria), and I leave to start to read.
I begin with Choukri. In three days I finish it. I continue with Malouf and his more than five hundred pages keep me company until I return home. And to say that I had Jonathan Franzen’s voluminous Purity with me, who would have thought it would not be enough?
Three beautiful, albeit imperfect, books. Three books extremely different from one another that I strongly suggest if you have plenty of time for a full reading immersion. Three books with profoundly different styles: gaunt and assertive in Choukri, measured and elegant in Malouf, fragmented and complex in Franzen. Three stories distant from each other: the first is autobiographical; the second is a true story (mémoire, fiction, historical account);and the third one full of styles borrowed from the writing of social networks or influenced by technology, coupled with almost philosophical digressions. Three novels that, like all good books, pushed me to look for information on the authors, their professional histories and some hints about their lives. (Incidentally, I’m not a fan of biographies, at all.) Often I prefer not to know anything about what is not public, or what the author wanted to say with his art, although I’m interested in understanding what they studied, how they worked to achieve the result I have before my eyes). Three beautiful and relevant covers: comics-dark for Choukri, atmospheric and slightly retro for Malouf, a rather contemporary visual of an overexposed photo-portrait for Franzen.
The books to bring on a trip are one of the ways to stay on the journey. Accounts that show other people’s outlook on stories near or far, they become magnifying lenses on the present. Causal encounters or pondered choices, physical objects or impulses on screens, the “good” books do not end with the last page: they are reborn in different forms in our words, in our points of view, in our history. They take us on the road wherever we are.
The books and the journey (Part 2)
04/09/2018 emanuela blog, commento libro BLOG, RECENSIONI
I libri in viaggio sono uno dei modi con cui stare nel viaggio. Sguardi di altri su storie vicine o lontane, diventano lenti per leggere il presente.
Nei suq, camminare tra corpi e oggetti è un’impresa. Le ciabatte si impiastricciano di fango e residui organici e la pelle si impregna di odori forti, dolciastri o sapidi. Mentre cammino, a nessuno sfugge il mio essere donna europea, tanto meno a me… Ma ormai ci sono abituata, lascio che il pensiero mi porti e mi chiedo se avrò pescato scritture e narrazioni che mi piacciono, che nutrono l’emozione del leggere.
Ritorno al Riad, ringrazio Patricia, una delle piuttosto numerose immigrate pieds-noirs (come più o meno amichevolmente sono chiamati i francesi installati in Algeria dai francesi in Europa) che preferiscono tornare al sud pur di non vedere la débacle del governo Macron, e comincio a leggere.
Choukri è l’inizio. In tre giorni finisce. Proseguo con Malouf e le sue oltre cinquecento pagine mi accompagnano fino al ritorno a casa. E dire che avevo con me il voluminoso Purity di Jonathan Franzen, chi avrebbe pensato che non sarebbe stato abbastanza?
Tre libri belli, imperfetti, ma belli. Tre libri estremamente diversi che suggerisco caldamente se godete di tempo in abbondanza per immergervi senza sconti nella lettura. Tre libri dalla scrittura profondamente diversa: scarna e assertiva in Choukri, misurata ed elegante in Malouf, frammentata e complessa in Franzen. Tre narrazioni lontane l’una dall’altra: autobiografica la prima; verosimile la seconda (mémoire, finzione, resoconto storico); ricca di stili presi a prestito dalla scrittura dei social network o influenzati dal mezzo tecnologico, insieme a digressioni quasi filosofiche per l’ultima. Tre romanzi che, come tutti i buoni libri, mi hanno invitata a cercare informazioni sugli autori, le loro storie professionali e qualche accenno sulla loro vita. (Per inciso: non sono una fan delle biografie, per niente. Spesso preferisco non sapere nulla di ciò che non è pubblico, di ciò che l’autore ha voluto dire con la sua arte. Ma mi interessa capire come si sono formati, cosa hanno studiato, come hanno lavorato per giungere al risultato che ho sotto i miei occhi). Tre belle e pertinenti copertine: fumettistica-dark per Choukri, atmosferica e leggermente retrò per Malouf, contemporanea nell’effetto di sovraesposizione di un ritratto fotografico per Franzen.
I libri in viaggio sono uno dei modi con cui stare nel viaggio. Sguardi di altri su storie vicine o lontane, diventano lenti per leggere il presente. Incontri causali o scelte ponderate, oggetti fisici o impulsi su schermi, i buoni libri non finiscono con l’ultima pagina: rinascono in forme diverse nelle nostre parole, nei nostri punti di vista, nella nostra storia. Ci portano in viaggio ovunque noi siamo.
The books to bring on a trip are one of the ways to stay on the journey. Accounts that show other people’s outlook on stories near or far, they become magnifying lenses on the present.
Squeezing through bodies and objects in the souks is a challenge. The sandals are dirty with mud and organic residues and the skin impregnated with strong, sweetish or savory scents. As I walk, no one fails to notice my being a European woman, let alone me… But now I’m used to it, I let the thoughts take me and I wonder if I am going like the novels I picked, and if they will nourish the emotion of reading.
On my return to the Riad, I thank Patricia, she’s one of the rather numerous French immigrant pieds-noirs who prefer to return to the south so as not to see the Macron government débacle (pied-noirs is the ambiguous nickname given by the French who live in Europe to the French based in Algeria), and I leave to start to read.
I begin with Choukri. In three days I finish it. I continue with Malouf and his more than five hundred pages keep me company until I return home. And to say that I had Jonathan Franzen’s voluminous Purity with me, who would have thought it would not be enough?
Three beautiful, albeit imperfect, books. Three books extremely different from one another that I strongly suggest if you have plenty of time for a full reading immersion. Three books with profoundly different styles: gaunt and assertive in Choukri, measured and elegant in Malouf, fragmented and complex in Franzen. Three stories distant from each other: the first is autobiographical; the second is a true story (mémoire, fiction, historical account);and the third one full of styles borrowed from the writing of social networks or influenced by technology, coupled with almost philosophical digressions. Three novels that, like all good books, pushed me to look for information on the authors, their professional histories and some hints about their lives. (Incidentally, I’m not a fan of biographies, at all.) Often I prefer not to know anything about what is not public, or what the author wanted to say with his art, although I’m interested in understanding what they studied, how they worked to achieve the result I have before my eyes). Three beautiful and relevant covers: comics-dark for Choukri, atmospheric and slightly retro for Malouf, a rather contemporary visual of an overexposed photo-portrait for Franzen.
The books to bring on a trip are one of the ways to stay on the journey. Accounts that show other people’s outlook on stories near or far, they become magnifying lenses on the present. Causal encounters or pondered choices, physical objects or impulses on screens, the “good” books do not end with the last page: they are reborn in different forms in our words, in our points of view, in our history. They take us on the road wherever we are.
Emanuela Genesio’s Morocco project
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