Customer Reviews

Boy Who Set the Fire and Other Stories from the Moghrebi

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The Boy Who Set the Fire is a curious collection of stories taped and translated by Paul Bowles. The author, Mohammed Mrabet, is an oral storyteller but not necessarily traditional. I would have appreciated knowing which, if any, of the stories are traditional.

Perhaps the most powerful story is "What Happened in Granada" which revolves around the disrespect of the English family running a hotel for the Moroccan driver of a man who had left his ill wife in their care. The story does an excellent job of showing the misunderstandings that can led to mistreatment.

The flip side is "The Woman from New York" where a Moroccan shows his mistrust of the American woman and the hippies (I'm assuming based upon the date of the story); their manner of living causes the Moroccan to consider them sickly, dirty and slanderous.

Some of the stories are humorous. "Doctor Safi" tells the story of a man who pulls his donkey's rotten teeth. From that he concludes he'd do well with a dental practice (human and animal). A few successes there and he fancies himself a doctor. "The Saint By Accident" follows a similar humorous path with the misunderstandings on the part of the viewers not the "saint".

Several stories deal with illness brought on by sinister powers and cured only by what we would consider religious magic e.g. "The Well". Others are stories of revenge, e.g. "The Boy Who Set the Fire".

The constants across the stories include a preference for the older, rural life style; the ever-present kif; conflict between Muslim and Nazarene. The book provides an interesting insight into the culture of the author and, as such, is well worth reading.