The Big Mirror

by Mohammed Mrabet, Paul Bowles (Translator, taper)

Esta poderosa e impactante historia de amor relata una leyenda de sangre, espejos y locura funesta. Ali, un joven terrateniente, se casa con Rachida, y juntos se instalan en un hermoso palacete de la medina de Tánger. Mientras Ali trabaja en la hacienda, Rachida se pasa todo el día encerrada, contemplándose en un gran espejo instalado en uno de los salones. Poco a poco Rachida va perdiendo la razón. El gran espejo mágico está maldito y no siempre refleja lo que tiene delante. Un baño de sangre particularmente cruel exorcizará la magia negra. El gran espejo, publicado por primera vez en Estados Unidos en 1977, fue un libro fruto de la colaboración literaria entre Paul Bowles y Mohamed Mrabet, tras otros como "Amor por un puñado de pelos" y "El limón".

Genres: Fiction, Horror

77 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Mohammed Mrabet (real name Mohammed ben Chaib el Hajjem; born March 8, 1936) is a Moroccan author artist and storyteller of the Ait Ouriaghel tribe in the Rif region. Mrabet is mostly known in the West through his association with Paul Bowles, William Burroughs and Tennessee Williams. Mrabet is an artist of intricate, yet colorful, felt tip and ink drawings in the style of Paul Masson or a more depressive, horror-show Jean Miro, which have been shown at various galleries in Europe[1] and America.[2] Mrabet's art work is his own: very loud and intricate, yet comparable with that of his contemporary, Jillali Gharbaoui (1930–1971.) Mrabet is increasingly being recognized as an important member of a small group of Moroccan Master Painters who emerged in the immediate post Colonial period[3] and his works have become highly sought after, mostly by European collectors.[4]

Reviews

[Carlos]

Como muchos lectores, de vez en cuando, uno debe hacer el esfuerzo de salirse de su zona de confort y decidirse a leer algo nuevo que nunca haya leído antes. Eso fue lo que me ocurrió cuando decidí darle una oportunidad a esta obra de Mohamed Mrabet, un escritor nacido en Tánger.
En esta primera vez leyendo a un autor marroquí, he de decir que me encontraba sin saber lo que me esperaba en esta historia que tenía un título bastante llamativo, especialmente si lo combinamos con la información de la sinopsis.
Y tengo que decir que me han gustado mucho esos toques oscuros y macabros típicos de las buenas obras del género de terror, disfruté de esta lectura que condensa en un relato de algo más de noventa páginas todos los patrones típicos del género de terror, perfecto para leer durante una tarde.

[Shehzor]

The cover of this book says, "taped and translated from the Moghrebi by Paul Bowles". There could not have been a more engaging tidbit, to get one to read this author immediately.
We all know of those revolutionary storytellers from every culture who never recorded their material, whose medium was entirely oral. Homer, Vyasa, even Prophet Mohammad to an extent falls under this category of the unlettered geniuses. I'm not sure if Mrabet is truly illiterate or simply refuses to write his stories as an artistic idiosyncrasy, but it is wonderful to see the power of such a wild imagination, unrestricted by the dictatorship of the written medium, in our own time.
The five stars are quite an instinctive response, considering how shocking and visceral the narrative was. Enjoyed every second of reading it. The characters are pretty well fleshed out, considering the short length of the book. The seamless transitions between dreams and reality deserve an entire essay on their own. The symbol of red and white, though a little cliche to western audiences, feel pretty fresh in the context of this story.
A second reading, after having read Mrabet's other works, would probably help contextualize and embolden one's enjoyment of this unique story.

[Nabil Radouane]

our horror stories are more horrible in english lol, i like it :) i enjoyed reading it...

[Sara Touri El Mansouri]

De Mrabet ya leí "El limón" y "Amor por un puñado de pelos". Al descubrir " El gran espejo" no dudé en comprarlo. Es un libro que se lee perfectamente en un par de horas. Es una historia curiosa y macabra. Sangre y locura. Ciertamente capta la atención de la persona que lo lee. Perfectamente podrían hacer la película basada en este relato.

[Rural Soul]

The Moroccan fables which are written by elders. Nevertheless they feel like bedtime stories for us.

[BaSila Husnain]

The monk, only from Morroco

[Indran]

I love the matter-of-fact narrative style, but was more in the mood for funny surprises, not twisted and gory surprises.

[Abd El]

gorgeous