A Bookshop in Algiers

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Estoy preparada, me espera por delante un tranquilo fin de semana y quiero perderme por las calles de Argel. Estoy preparada para adentrarme entre las páginas de esta historia. Eso me pensaba, desde el primer párrafo me doy cuenta de que me equivocaba. Comienzo la lectura y ya con la primera página estoy asombrada. No estaba preparada para este flechazo. An unassuming, short, but by no means little book. It is equal parts memoir, novella, and biography. A memoir of a man I had never heard of, and wish that I had sooner. A novella of a nation. A biography of the history of a country which barely registers on some people's radars. Charlot achieved greater fame when he started a publishing house. He published early works by Camus, Rilke, Garcia Lorca and Gertrude Stein. Charlot was daring. He pushed the limits of what could be published. He was imprisoned by the Vichy authorities for a time as a Gaullist and communist sympathizer. An entire press run of one of Lorca’s books was seized and destroyed by police.

In 1994, she returned to Algeria, which was then under the influence of terrorism. Having very few opportunities to read, she started to write her own stories.Pequeñas riquezas es una librería que abre sus puertas a principios del siglo XX con mucha ilusión y con muchas ideas en mente por parte de nuestro personaje. Incluso, con el paso del tiempo decide ser él el que publique algunas obras, algunas de ellas sabiendo que no serían vistas muy bien por la época y la sociedad y otras que serían de grandísimos autores como Albert Camus. Pero como todo negocio, tanto la librería como la editorial pasan por dificultades. Nuestro librero trata a toda costa de salvar su pequeño negocio y para cuando decide jubilarse la librería todavía sigue abierta. Kaouther Adimi me transportó desde el primer párrafo a las calles de Argel. Me perdí entre callejones, deambulé por sus recuerdos, me mezclé con sus olores y me enamoré perdidamente. Me enamoré de ese increíble templo, de esa librería llamada ‘Las verdaderas riquezas’. Me enamoré de ese hombre que la creó, de toda la pasión que volcaba en su trabajo y de toda la lucha para que saliera adelante. The author was born in Algeria (1983) and now lives in France. This is her third novel and it was nominated for the Prix Goncourt.

Kaouther Adimi's novel is multilayered in its presentation: there are sections set in 2017, when the tiny storefront -- measuring only some seven by four meters -- has been bought by someone who plans on letting his nephew open a beignet shop in its stead; the engineering student Ryad travels from France to take on the job of clearing out the place and repainting it for the handover, while Abdallah, the longterm caretaker of the place warily watches what happens to the establishment. That is: a store selling new and second-hand books, which is also a lending library, and not just a business but a place where people come to talk and read.Estoy absoluta y completamente enamorada del 2bis de la calle Hamami. Siento un flechazo absoluto por el entusiasmo de Edmond Charlot, por su amor a los libros y por fundar 'Las Verdaderas Riquezas', una librería/hogar donde he podido conocer los comienzos de Camus, Gide, Giono, Jules Roy y un montón de autoras y autores más que no he parado de apuntar. Siento que ese pequeño rincón, ya es un poco mío. Así es como yo concibo mi trabajo. El escritor tiene que escribir, el editor tiene que dar vida a los libros. No veo límites a esta idea. La literatura es demasiado importante como para no dedicarle todo mi tiempo».

He finds a small spot -- 2b Rue Charras (conveniently near the university) -- and sets up shop, his ambition that it: "be a library, a bookstore, a publishing house, but above all a place for friends who love the literature of the Mediterranean". It's a struggle but he reports already in the fall of 1945 that they're: "managing to publish 12 to 15 books a month"; by 1947: "Sales are reaching 100,000, and much more for some titles"; by 1949 Éditions Charlot has flamed out, bankrupt. Against this setting Charlot energised the local writing industry, launching many writers. Though avoiding political affiliations, he had been wrongly accused by the Vichy regime of being a Gaullist and communist sympathiser and imprisoned. At other times he sought to mingle with and support leading thinkers and creators, such as Andre Gide and de Saint-Exupery.Por la mañana, cuando llego a la librería, me paro un momento delante del escaloncito que hay ante la puerta para contemplar el local que me pertenece. En ocasiones me quedo allí inmóvil tanto tiempo que el camarero del café de al lado se alarma y me pregunta si va todo bien. Pues claro que va todo bien: los libros están colocados por orden alfabético, las obras de arte colgadas justo encima, y aquí solo tienen derecho de ciudadanía la literatura, el arte y la amistad.”] A sort of meeting place for friends, but with a Mediterranean outlook too: bringing together writers from all the Mediterranean countries, regardless of language or religion

I loved this novel for its timeless adoration of literature. Stories withstand throughout all and that is truly beautiful. “Literature, at least, will never abandon me” being a fantastic quote to stand by this. There is so much gorgeous writing in this book, a credit to the Adimi, but also to Chris Andrews, the translator. Readers can fill much in, as the text does provide lots of keywords, people, and moments that readers can free-associate from, and as such it forms a good sort of foundation, but all in all it still feels rather thin. You may also opt to downgrade to Standard Digital, a robust journalistic offering that fulfils many user’s needs. Compare Standard and Premium Digital here. The royal, impersonal we, used by one of the two streams of narration, is rather distracting in A Bookshop in Algiers. We follow Edmund the bookstore owner of the eponymous bookshop from the title. Albert Camus is a child at home in the bookshop, as is Andre Gide, Little Prince writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, while Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir are met later on in the book when Edmund visits Cafe de Flore. Charlot was the one who ‘discovered’ and published the first books by Albert Camus and had close literary relationships with other writers of that era such as Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Andre Gide and Jean Giono. Charlot is portrayed as an idealist, humanist, dreamer, and bibliophile who strongly believed in the power of storytelling as a path to peace and unity.A Bookshop in Algiers is a truly delightful read. Kaouther Adimi paid homage not only to Edmond Charlot but also to the art of storytelling, literature, and bookshop as a place of a great importance for local communities, of cultural exchange and freedom of thought. Here, a bookshop is more than just a physical place selling books – it is an idea, a magnet for those who dare to dream.