M'Hashish

by Mohammed Mrabet, Paul Bowles (Translator)

"Ah," said Hassan, "I don't believe in the world. There's another world where life is different."

These are stories of that world. The word m'hashish (equivalent in Moghrebi of "behashished" or "full of hashish") is used only in a literal sense, but also figuratively, to describe a person whose behavior seems irrational or unexpected. The tales here deal with some of the possible results, desirable and questionable, of being in that state.

Mohammed Mrabet was born in Tangier around 1940. Since 1965, Paul Bowles has taped and translated numerous strange legends and lively stories recounted by Love with a Few Hairs (novel), The Lemon (novel), The Boy Who Set Fire (stories), Harmless Poisons, Blameless Sins (stories), The Beach Café & Look & Move On (autobiography), and The Big Mirror (novella).

Genres: Short Stories, Morocco, Fiction, Literature, Africa, 20th Century, Drugs

79 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1969

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

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

A strange and hypnotic book that has the logic of being under the influence of a powerful drug - unique.

[César Lasso · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a short read, just ten very short stories. Hashish-smoking is the thread connecting these, but the book is quite more than just that - it's a look into Moroccan humor and mentality.

[Indran · Rating 5 out of 5]

I f***ing loved this book. It´s not necessarily artistic, it´s just simple hilarious stories that come to a shocking , surprising end in a minute or two. This is among the few books I´d re-read.

[Edit from Nov 2022] Oh God, how I love this book's mischievous spirit

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

M'Hashish is a collection of stories by Mohammed Mrabet about Moroccan men who enjoy the pleasures of smoking kif. It was originally published in 1969 so I trust that a lot of heads probably bought this collection and enjoyed it while getting high. Considering Mrabet's association with Paul Bowles I expected his stories to be filled with darkness like his mentor, but actually these stories were very light. The ones with anal sex were hysterical, one even had a happy ending. Five brown stars.

[Jason Pettus · Rating 5 out of 5]

2021 reads, #98. I have a new housemate here at the Chicago co-op where I live, a fellow Goodreads member and book nerd, and he's got me exploring avenues of literary history I've usually never gone down before. That includes Moroccan visual artist Mohammad Mrabet, who's also a storyteller in the tradition of the Ait Ouriaghel tribe he's from, still alive and currently a spritely 86 years old, but as a young man just happened to fall in with a crowd of American and British intellectual expats in the decades after World War Two, which brought him to the attention of and eventual friendships with Tennessee Williams, William S. Burroughs, Paul Bowles and others. It was Bowles who generated Mrabet a Western audience, through a series of written transcripts of his oral stories he published back in the US in the late '60s through mid-'70s, although my housemate tells me the rumor is strong that Bowles liberally added his own details to the stories here and there as they went through the translation process.

In any case, they're an interesting mix of ribald content (all the ones here, for example, have to do with the smoking of hash, and several of them feature outrageous sexual details), but with a sincere tone and often a subtle philosophical point to get across; kind of like a Muslim version of The Canterbury Tales, where there are multiple goals with the text and it's very much a product of its time and place. It was an interesting experience, reading it this week, and along with my beginning rabbithole dives into people like Borges and Calvino, I'm glad to be having these new reading experiences courtesy of this new book-nerd housemate of mine. Here's hoping I'll get to share a lot of other brand-new literary explorations for me as the months continue.

[George K. · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Ο νέος που ζούσε μόνος", εκδόσεις Απόπειρα.

Βαθμολογία: 7/10

Ο Μαροκινός Μοχάμεντ Μράμπετ έγινε σχετικά γνωστός στον Δυτικό κόσμο, χάρη στην γνωριμία του με τον μεγάλο Αμερικανό συγγραφέα Πολ Μπόουλς, ο οποίος έζησε στην Ταγγέρη για πάνω από πενήντα χρόνια. Ο Μπόουλς, λοιπόν, μετέφρασε πολλές από τις αφηγήσεις και τις ιστορίες του Μράμπετ στ'αγγλικά.

Το μικρό βιβλιαράκι που μόλις τελείωσα, -το οποίο έτυχε να βρω σήμερα με μόλις μισό ευρώ-, περιέχει δέκα πολύ μικρές ιστορίες, που λίγο έως πολύ έχουν να κάνουν με το κιφ, που είναι γνωστό και ως χασίς. Στις ιστορίες αυτές συναντάμε απλούς (και απλοϊκούς) ανθρώπους που καπνίζουν κιφ ή σχετίζονται με αυτό, έτσι βλέπουμε μερικά στιγμιότυπα από τον καθημερινό βίο στο Μαρόκο της δεκαετίας του '60. Εφόσον μιλάμε για στιγμιότυπα, ουσιαστικά οι ιστορίες αυτές δεν έχουν ούτε συγκεκριμένη πλοκή, ούτε βάθος. Και ο αναγνώστης δεν προλαβαίνει να δεθεί με τους χαρακτήρες ή τις καταστάσεις. Πάντως αρκετές από αυτές είχαν λίγη φάση και κουλές στιγμές. Η γραφή είναι αρκετά απλή, χωρίς κάτι το ιδιαίτερο, όμως μου φάνηκε ταιριαστή με το ύφος και τον σκοπό των διηγήσεων, χώρια που βοήθησε πολύ στην ξεκούραστη ανάγνωση.

Γενικά μπορώ να πω ότι πέρασα καλά, είδα έναν άλλο κόσμο και ήρθα σ'επαφή με μια διαφορετική κουλτούρα, όμως δεν ξετρελάθηκα. Οπότε θα του βάλω τρία αστεράκια. Στα ελληνικά έχει κυκλοφορήσει ένα ακόμα βιβλιαράκι του, με τον τον τίτλο "Το σεντούκι". Θα το έχω στα υπόψιν.

[Allan Hough · Rating 5 out of 5]

Might be my favorite book ever. And I'm not even a stoner.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tales from North Africa, translated by Paul Bowles.

[Jeff Laughlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Smoking that shit and reading that shit ain't shit, just some everyday.

[Corto · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s interesting to see that weed prohibition, misinformation about weed, and stupid stoner tricks transcend time, place and culture. Also interesting that this book came out of an Islamic nation - but the 60’s I suppose - were a different time.

As frequently noted, this book is short. However, it is pleasant. Take an hour (or less) and enjoy with a pipe, or a beer or two.

[Khaoula]

Fun

[Liam · Rating 4 out of 5]

My recent purchase of a dry herb vaporizer (my first ever cannabis-related purchase) inspired me to pull from my shelf this short collection of legends and folk tales of "kif wisdom" by Moroccan painter and storyteller Mohammed Mrabet. The stories of full of hijinks in all its forms, be it wicked, sexual, strange, hallucinatory, or some combination of each. Simply told and full of unexpected turns, reading this collection was a fun and easygoing way of spending a couple of hours.

I also found it interesting how Mrabet's dozen of books came to existence. If I understand correctly Mrabet did not write much of anything, but famous American writer and expatriate Paul Bowles, fascinated by Mrabet's verbal storytelling, would tape Mrabet telling his stories and then translate them into English, resulting in the dozen or so books being published.

[Persaefone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Libricino davvero carino e poco conosciuto.

Questo libricino è un insieme di racconti che si svolgono in epoca contemporanea e la cosa più bella è che alla fine dei racconti di Mrabet c'è la spiegazione delle parole usate in alcuni racconti (tra cui una ricetta che vorrei provare a fare ma di cui gli ingredienti sono introvabili in Italia).

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading Project: This was the sixth stop in a series of writers who I haven't read before!

General Review: In terms of reading experience, Mrabet's collection was easy to read. Most of the stories ended with sophomoric (non-pejorative) impressions of substance use, religion, and sexual desire. I was somewhat prepared for this because I read a bunch of reviews of Mrabet's collections before embarking on this one.

Sexist? Immature? Homophobic? Yes, this collection and much of Mrabet's work could easily receive this quick signifiers. So why am I giving this collection 4 stars? Reading these stories, I got swept up in the idea that Mrabet's stories could be an interesting site for examining the formation of queer identities in Tangiers. Mrabet's literary career (at least in the states) is due in no small part to his "companionship" with Paul Bowles. Mrabet perceives male on male encounters as interpersonal gambits for power and revenge. More on this in the months to come (maybe).

And, really, at the end of the day, what is the difference between having a curse put on you, getting blasted on hashish, and kissing the homies goodnight?

Further Reading (?): Yes, I think so. I'm waiting on my copy of "The Lemon" to arrive, and I recently received a copy of "The Boy Who Lit the Fires." I may seek out more of Mrabet's work, but many of his volumes are no longer in print. And these pockets don't go too deep.

[Keith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute, but not deep. Kinda like the Moroccan stoner nephew of Idries Shah. Includes helpful glossary of nearly untranslatable (and therefore untranslated) cultural terminology. The easily offended will likely find this offensive: not to say that this qualifies as part of the Beat movement, but if Beat writers piss you off, then you would do well to avoid this entirely.

[Interzonatron · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very enjoyable, humorous, drug induced and erotic collection of fun short stories. It wasn’t until I was about half way through that I found out Mrabet is illiterate and his books were made based on verbal short stories recorded and translated by Paul Bowles. That’s very humbling to realize. Goes to show how important the orally transmitted tradition is within many cultures.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Expected more stories than just a few, but still great. Mrabet's writing style is very simple, yet such simplicity captures Moroccan attitude and lifestyle the best. Kif, sex and frivolous characters. Readers of Paul Bowles might find the inspiration that brought Bowles into a literary fame.

[Clifton · Rating 5 out of 5]

These are deceptively simple, fable-like tales of Moroccan kif users. The stories reveal a lot about Moroccan culture under the French.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a great collection of short stories. More like fables. Best thing about each one is the ending. My only complaint is I wish there more of them.

[Jordan Gowza · Rating 3 out of 5]

The epitome of 'stoner thoughts', at times amusing and at times completely messed up. Don't do drugs kids.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Would've been a 4.5 if it didn't have the multiple unnecessary and horrific depictions of rape

[Pedro · Rating 3 out of 5]

An unusual collection of hashish / kif stories set in Morocco. The story about the fakir and the Sultan was particularly odd. But interesting to read about Other lifestyles and cultures .

[Digi M · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few tales of often bad things that happen to people after they smoke hashish.

I expected to enjoy it more as it’s translated by Paul Bowles. But, had it not had his name on it, I most probably would have thought even less of it.

Not a bad work. Just not essential to go out of your way to find it. I much prefer Paul Bowles short stories, which have similar themes, but pack more of a punch.

[Roger · Rating 2 out of 5]

Long before there were Hippies, there were Beats. Both were counter-culture groups, one morphing into the other as the 1950s became the 1960s. The spiritual home of both groups was San Francisco, and the intellectual heart was City Light Books, which originally published the work of the Beats (most famously Ginsberg's Howl), but soon broadened it's scope to other counter-culture movements. It's fair to state that the output of the publishing house is of varying quality, as this book attests - it's no Howl.

Paul Bowles, multi-talented musician, author and bohemian, best known in literature for The Sheltering Sky, lived in Tangier for much of his adult life, hence his knowledge of, and ability to translate these short tales of Mohammed Mrabet, a famous artist and storyteller from the Rif tribes of Morocco.

M'Hashish is a collaboration between the two men. The tales are simple stories of incidents in the lives of Moroccans who indulge in smoking hashish (Kif in the local language). The stories are pleasingly exotic, and are a window into a different way of life. They don't pull back from the dangers of too great an indulgence in the drug, but also emphasise the peace and tranquillity that many users find in its use.

What was probably seen as risqué and exotic at the time of publication seems now, from a distance of more than fifty years, quaint and without real meaning. There is no deep literary or social value to these stories, and I get the impression (although I don't know for sure), that Mrabet was Bowles' pet project.

At just over fifty pages, you will not lose much time if you read these stories, and they are an amusing time-capsule.

Check out my other reviews at http://aviewoverthebell.blogspot.com.au/

[Brent Legault · Rating 3 out of 5]

These are more like fables without morals or freaked fairy tales than they are short stories. Paul Bowles might have merely translated these or he might have written them himself. It doesn't matter because they don't measure up to his better material. They are a bit simple-minded for my taste.

[Karen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Frankly I wished I'd never read it. I did for a college class, and the professor had a few irked words from me for picking this one for a class. Even he didn't think it was that great after all.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

short stories. i read the new directions edition from 1970.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kif smoking fables. Great.