Great African Reads discussion

I want to try...

I'll start from Libya:
The Return: Fathers, Sons, and the Land in Between - 8 points
Tunisia: L'italiano -4 points
Algeria: Gli angeli muoiono delle nostre ferite - 3 points
Morocco: La terrazza proibita: Vita nell'harem - 9 points

Yea! Another traveller!

Awesome! Glad you are joining us, Rowi!

^__^

I think I'll follow the western coast, on the east side I read Sudan&Somalia last year...

I've finished my first book for this trip, yaaaaaay!

I really enjoyed The Return (Pulitzer Prize Winner): Fathers, Sons and the Land in Between, if we can say so... It's a strong book about a terrible human experience, and I admire the author for being still so human, so lucid and reasonable, because in his shoes I think I have been gone mad since a while.

Books about Libya are hard for me to read because they always talk also of Italian colonialism consequences... My grand-grandfather died in Libya as a soldier, so it's part of my family history. And it's difficult to stay in Italy in this historical time, where too many people deny our colonialism made only disasters in Africa. Too many of us really believe we went there and brought LIGHT, MODERNISM, CULTURE, CIVILIZATION... When we all should know the disaster we made in Libya, in Ethiopia, in Eritrea and Somalia... And after colonialism, the horrible agreements we firmed with dictators and murderers for oil. "Italians, good people", we usually say... Not always.
It's a hard time, indeed.

Book: 3 points
Landmark: 5 points (Martyr's Square)

Total: 8 points

So, I think I'll go on with Tunisia, with L'italiano

It is painful when one's country harms others. I think we have been in that situation a lot lately, and I fear it will get worse.

It's a complicate question. When, exactly, do your responsibilities as colonizer do end? You went there and fought, destroyed their original political system, put your government... And then you went away. What did you leave there? Did you help a people to build a new, independent, free country, or did you leave a country without an able, mature political class?

It's a big responsibility.

I've finished L'italiano for Tunisia... good book, except for its last 60-50 pages, which I didn’t understand. they’re so fast and superficial...

It's quite funny, to me, the main character, Abdel Nasser, is called "the Italian" because he's handsome... I know a looooooot of Italian guys who aren’t handsome at all 😂

Book: 4 points

Total: 12 points

Rowizyx wrote: "It's quite funny, to me, the main character, Abdel Nasser, is called "the Italian" because he's handsome... I know a looooooot of Italian guys who aren’t handsome at all 😂"

lol 😂

Not all who were born in Italy are beautiful XDDD


Ok, I'll proceed to Algeria with Gli angeli muoiono delle nostre ferite by Yasmina Khadra

Leaving from Algeria, yay! I loved my book, so strong. The Angels Die: the terrible story of Turambo, a poor boy with an incredible jeb

Book: 3 points

Score: 15 points

I've been in Morocco with Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood

It's a memoir about the author's youth in a family harem. The most common, usual kind of harem, where all the women of the family (matriarch, wives, unmarried or divorced sisters, daughters etc) live without ever leaving home. In Mernissi's case two brothers live together in the father's house, each one with his own monogamous family, trying to keep the traditional way to live on.
Fatima is a young girl who tries to answer to her biggest question: why do women have to live in this way?
A good book

Tourist attraction: Majorelle Gardens
I took the picture online, but it seems a beautiful place. Hope to see it one day,



Book: 3 + 5 + 1 = 9 points

Score: 24 points

@Diane, I saw there's no Western Sahara in the countries list... Can I directly pass to Mauritania?

Rowizyx wrote: "@Diane, I saw there's no Western Sahara in the countries list... Can I directly pass to Mauritania?"

Yes.