Attorneys of the Desert

Desert (Verba Mundi)

Description

The Swedish Academy, in awarding J.M.G. Le Clezio the 2008 Nobel Prize in Literature, praised Desert as Le Clezio's definitive breakthrough as a novelist. Published in France in 1980, Desert received the Grand Prix Paul Morand from the Academie Francaise, was translated into twenty-three languages, and quickly proved to be a best-selling novel in many countries around the world.

Available for the first time in English translation, Desert is a novel composed of two alternating narratives, set in counterpoint. The first takes place in the desert between 1909 and 1912 and evokes the migration of a young adolescent boy, Nour, and his people, the Blue Men, notorious warriors of the desert. Driven from their lands by French colonial soldiers, Nour's tribe has come to the valley of the Saguiet El Hamra to seek the aid of the great spiritual leader known as Water of the Eyes. The religious chief sends them out from the holy city of Smara into the desert to travel still further. Spurred on by thirst, hunger, and suffering, Nour's tribe and others flee northward in the hopes of finding a land that can harbor them at last.

The second narrative relates the contemporary story of Lalla, a descendant of the Blue Men. Though she is an orphan living in a shantytown known as the Project near a coastal city in Morocco, the blood of her proud, obstinate tribe runs in her veins. All too soon, Lalla must flee to escape a forced marriage with an older, wealthy man. She travels to France, undergoing many trials there, from working in a brothel to success as a highly paid fashion model, but she never betrays the blood of her ancestors.

Reviews

Rating: 3 / 5
Date: 2010-05-10
Summary: "Culture and compromises"

This is a book of poetic description. Le Clezio makes you feel the sand underfoot, in your hair, and down your throat. The beauty of the land and the relationships of the people who live there are densely described.
In contrast to the nomads who are defending their lives from the Christian crusaders at the beginning of the story, are the poor Muslim immigrants to Europe today. In stark contrast from the dry open spaces and freedom of the Sahara they have left is a life of desperate poverty, cold and isolation. One is left wondering if leaving home and family is really an improvement and leaves the R. Eader understanding a little better how some can become radicalized.

---

Rating: 4 / 5
Date: 2010-03-05
Summary: "Mauritania, Morocco, and Marseille..."

...to be alliterative.

LeClézio won the Nobel Prize in Literature, in 2008, primarily for this work. In the making of such awards, like the premise that the Supreme Court makes its legal decisions based on the results of the last election, there are undoubtedly significant political considerations. LeClézio has written about "The European Dilemma," to play off a phrase originally formulated by his fellow European, Gunnar Myrdal, when he wrote "An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy" in 1944. Each book, in quite different ways, examines the problems of a democratic society with a significant unassimilated minority, which has been brought, or induced to come, for the value of their "cheap labor." LeClézio's book concerns France, a country that is nominally Christian, but largely secular, far more so than the United States; 10-12% of France's population is Muslim, mainly from the Maghreb (Northwestern Africa.) The "assimilation," or lack of same, of the latest arrivals to France is the central theme.

LeClézio novel is presented as two alternating stories; the first is of the coming-of-age boy, Nour, and is set in 1909-10, when French forces are hunting down "rebel" leaders and their followers in Mauritania and southern Morocco. The second narrative is of Lalla, a coming-of-age girl who decides to flee her bleak life in a "bidonville" (a shanty town) and seek her "fortune" in Marseille. The author does not give an exact date for her story, but it must be in the late `70's. The author never directly addresses the "cause and effect" aspects of these stories; it is left to the reader.

"Desert" isn't an easy read, but then neither is Faulkner or Joyce. I felt the real strength of the novel is LeClézio's ability, as someone coming from an industrialized country, to depict accurately the pre-industrialized outlook. It is fully attuned to the natural world, where awareness of the phase of the moon is intrinsic; a life without watches; a life full of djinns and spirits. LeClézio's novel reminded me of the works of AbdulRahman Al Munif, particularly "Cities of Salt," in which he depicts the pre-industrialized outlook in Arabia as it collides with the foreign oil workers from Aramco. I also found Lalla's experiences in Marseille quite evocative. It is a city that I had disliked for a considerable period, but finally adjusted my outlook; instead of trying to see another Provencal village, I realized it was simply a "sunny New York."

However, I did have some problems with the novel. Sorry, I do have a watch, and a calendar, and Lalla's experiences over the nine months of her pregnancy were just too unrealistic. Among other matters, she became fluent in French in apparently four or five months. I also felt that various descriptions of the desert world were too expansive, and at times redundant. And geographically, the depiction of the location of the "bidonville" did not conform with the landscape of Northern Morocco. There could also have been tighter editing; for example, how many times was the reader told about the "bristling hair" on the dogs in Marsaille? And then there is a problem for mono-lingual readers. Books written in English sometimes have non-translated French or German, assuming the reader knows these languages, or inferring the meaning by context. LeClézio ups the language requirements by including non-translated Arabic, such as the words: "majnoon," and "ummi." Ok, so maybe we should be learning, and in these cases its "crazy," and "my mother."

Much credit should go to LeClézio for his depiction of one of Europe's central problems, not now, when there is so much focus on the so-called "clash of civilizations," but rather at its very inception, in the `60's and `70's. His novel will remain a seminal work as we seek solutions to the problem. Finally, it was heart-warming to note that Leclézio has chosen Albuquerque as his home, for six months of the year. No doubt the desert environment, similar to Mauritania, is a pull. Unfortunately he seems to be unrecognized in his adopted hometown, which may be the way he prefers it. Still, it is an honor, and he should be much more widely read.

---

Rating: 4 / 5
Date: 2009-11-06
Summary: "Man & Women"

I have just discovered LeClezio so I'm glad he won the Nobel. If he hadn't, I wouldn't have found him. The prose is poetical and his descriptions very beautiful. If, like me, you like beautiful prose, read this.

Having become accustomed to novels that follow the formula of - create the friction between characters right away and let the story be told through dialogue - I started my usual fast reading, skim, scan, get the idea and move on but it didn't work. LeClezio's prose demanded that I respect it. I started reading aloud to slow myself down to a gentle read and I was thrilled with the lyricism, rhythm, and care that was taken with the description. I sank into it and allowed myself to ride along with the author. Slow down and read. You will be pleased you did.

The story of Lalla was, in addition to being a comment on the horror and greed that accompanies colonialism, restored to womem a sense of respect. I have always wished that I could be someone like Lalla, that I wouln't bow to the society's view of women. She allows me to have a strong, independent view of myself of a women. She is what I should be and what I should have been before capitualization to pragmatism and compromise.

Nours story is the sad story of the elimination of a culture seen as barbaric. For example Christians proselytize and view other religions as paganistic. They criticize and 'save' the barbarians and in the process kill off all who differ with them. Nour is a pure, good, wonderful boy. He wants only to do what is good. He, along with the shiek he follows are murdered. This juxtaposes the view of the shiek's followers to whom he is a 'Christlike' figure and the view of the French that he is evil.

In India, Rama had blue skin and this appears elsewhere in other religions. Blue skin means a diety is among us. Just a comment. It is not really part of the book.

---

Rating: 1 / 5
Date: 2009-08-20
Summary: "worst book I ever finished"

Bored beyond belief I actually finished this book just to see what the folks in Stockholm saw in this book. I never saw it. I read many books set in different countries and/or different periods. That is what attracted me to this book. Perhaps the Swedes just had to award a prize to an anti-colonial book. Whatever. Don't waste your time on this one. If you want to go some place in time and space read the Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng.

---

Rating: 4 / 5
Date: 2009-08-14
Summary: "Beautiful, lyrical language"

This isn't a traditional novel, it certainly don't contain a strong plot where the interaction between characters drive it forward. She meets other characters, she moves through a landscape, but she doesn't understand them anymore than they understand her.

It's a beautiful poetical meditation about the inner-life of the people of the Maghreb. The main character that you spend the most time with is an uneducated orphan that creates explanations for what happens around her out of superstitions, stories told by the fire, and dreams. Seen through her eyes, there's a lot of magic and wonder in the desert. It's all about the images.