Movies in Morocco

Having just recently watched "Prince of Persia - the sands of time" much of which was filmed in Morocco and clearly recognised as so, it was interesting to read that "Salmon Fishing in Yemen" was also partially filmed there.

Read about the filming here.

This was a book I enjoyed reading and I look forward to the proposed release of the movie at the end of 2011. Here is more information about the book.

Among the Righteous

A few weeks ago for one of the book groups I belonged to we discussed the book, Among the Righteous by Robert Satloff. It appealed for two reasons. First it focused on the Jews of North Africa, and second, Robert Satloff lived in Rabat for a about a year and was known to some of the book group members.

The book focused on the search for Arabs in North Africa who had in some way given protection to or rescued the Jews of North Africa during the Holocaust. With my limited knowledge of European and African history, the first third of the book related the history of these areas, the intertwining of it in relation to and prior to the Holocaust. I did not know that Nazi Germany, Vichy France and Fascist Italy penetrated so far into Africa and with such effect. They took away the civil rights of the Jews, confiscated their property, restricted their movement, used them as slave labour and imprisoned them in concentration camps. For me, I had know idea of this French attitude, which seems contradictory when France at the time took on Morocco as a protectorate.

A number of the concentration camps and much of the slave labour was involved in the building of a railway line across the Sahara. The author managed to visit (in the early 2000s) the remains of some of these camps, come railway stations, in Morocco close to the Algerian border. Some of our book group members thought this would be an interesting visit to try and undertake today.

Next the book focused on the author's search for Arabs who had aided, protected and rescued North African Jews, and a difficult search it was. It seemed that Arabs either did not know about their families earlier involvement in this area or did not want to broadcast their involvement in it.

However he did succeed finding a family that hid Jews on their farm, while some Jews got false identity papers at the Grand Mosque in Paris. What I found saddest though was prior to the time of the Holocaust, the Jews in Tunisia were given French citizenship with many joining the French Army. Yet when Tunisia was invaded by Vichy France their citizenship was revoked with the Jews becoming the enemy of France.

The result was that a once large and important part of North Africa's population has now dwindled to a tiny number. Recently I was told there is one Jewish family remaining in Fes. The synagogues and Jewish cemeteries may remain but those to support, maintain and use them do not.

Among the Righteous was an interesting and eye-opening tale, but not one that kept me riveted.

Plum Wine

Today we had book group where we discussed the book Plum Wine by Angela Davis-Gardner. This book was about an American, Barbara, who went to Japan, Tokyo specifically, to teach English in 1966. Here she befriends a Japanese teacher, who one her death leaves her collection of plum wine to Barbara. Wrapped around each bottle of wine is an annual record of important life events for the previous year, written in Japanese of course. In the process of getting this translates, she falls for her translator Seiji, a potter, who also features in some of the annual records.
I would describe the book as a light read, a romance. It touches on deeper issues such as the bombing of Hiroshima and the effect on survivors and the Japanese response to the Vietnam War, but most our bookgroup members felt these issues could have been developed in more depth. Then again maybe that was not the aim of the author in the book.
With one member who has previously lived in Japan for 6 years, the book had a far greater meaning. It brought back many memories of her live there, and she is sure her daughters will also enjoy reading the book. However, other members felt they could not recommend the book to others. This really does show how books can be interpreted differently by different people. As for me I would only recommend this book as a light read.

The Strings of the Lute

Wednesday evening at bookgroup we discussed a book self-published by one of our own. It was "The Strings of the Lute" by Eileen Colucci.
Focusing on mixed culture marriage, the book follows the life of Lorraine who grew up in Long Island, New York, then moved to France after college where she met Larbi, a Moroccan studying architecture in France. The story follows their life in France, visits to each others countries and families before they finally marry and move to Morocco to live.
The book certainly presents many of the issues that must be faces in this inter-cultural situation, showing how solutions are arrived at and the effect on their lives. It portrays the Muslim world in a very positive light and shows the ready acceptance of this religion to non-believers. Morocco itself is also portrayed in a very realistic light. With a number of bookgroup members including the book's author, long-time residents of Morocco who are married Moroccans, discussion was animated.
Most felt the portrayal of Morocco and Islam was excellent but it also brought back to some the fact that many mixed marriages here in Morocco have not lasted. Naming of friends in this situation who separated followed. Much discussion also involved how much of the tale was based on the authors own life.
Being based on a traditional Arabic song or nouba, provides an interesting framework for the book, with preludes and five mizanes or measures.
For me, one of the issues was the books length (170 000 words) and the fact that the preludes told me what the ending was going to be, although interestingly not all the members saw the ending there.

A Rabat Meandering

Since so many of my posts have related to books, I thought I'd keep up the theme. This afternoon after work, I went meandering in downtown Rabat with a friend to try and find the English bookshop. I have read about it on a website, and after checking, found it in the latest Lonely Planet. Happening to choose the hottest day so far this year, we were fortunate to find it just a minute or two after getting out of a taxi near the Rabat Train Station. Down a side street, the shop was packed with books in English, boxes on top of boxes with barely room to move. There was novels, books on Morocco, feminism, Islam, literature, textbooks, books of plays, language books and books of short stories. The majority of books were used copies, but who cares, although there were a number of new books that had been printed in Morocco. One of these was Edith Wharton's book "In Morocco", legally printed in Morocco and a bargain at 50D, which just happens to be the first book I need for next years bookgroup.
Although the selection is limited, the bookshop certainly provides an option for those who are desperate for something to read. Other books I saw but didn't buy included Walter Harris's "Morocco that Was", Peter Mayne's "A Year in Marrakesh" and "Valley of the Kasbahs" by Jeffery Taylor.
The hot weather was a good excuse to stop at nearby Cafe Lina for a drink - yes a nice healthy orange juice. It was a shame about the chocolate tart that also captured my eye, but enjoy it I did.