Customer Reviews

The Caliph's House: A Year in Casablanca

5 star:		(54)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a very funny and readable account of Tahir Shah's ordeals trying to remodel a decrepit palace in Casablanca. In some ways, Shah's account reads like a man's Moroccan version of UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN. It's less romantic and food-oriented, but references the similar nightmares and pleasures involved with restoring an ancient dwelling.

This book is VERY funny. Tahir Shah is an Englshman of Afghani descent, so Morocco really is a culture shock for him. The odd and "backwards" aspects of trying to get things done in Morocco are amusing and educational. For instance, Shah ends up having to have the house exorcised for jinni (genies) and even having to take a second wife (it's not what you might think) to finish the project.

Looking at the other reader reviews below, it's clear that I'm not the only one with a high opinion of THE CALIPH'S HOUSE. Trust us!

I found out about Tahir Shah's "The Caliph's House" in an issue of the International Herald Tribune. Although I've lived in Spain, speak French, and have many friends from Northern Africa (Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco), I've not yet had the pleasure of visiting Morocco, where Tahir Shah moved his wife Rachana and children to escape the stale, boring life of London.

Raised by an Afghan father on tribal legends and childhood treks through the Atlas Mountains, Shah is drawn by the sense of exotic beauty and deep-seated cultural values of Morocco, enough so that he purchases a run-down estate in a shantytown. The Caliph's House is filled with traces by bygone beauty: secret gardens in inner courtyards, mysterious locked rooms, and unlimited potential for restoration: the beautiful bejmat mosaics and fountains that Islamic art has been famous for for centuries, carved cedar shelves, grand doors.

Shah quickly realizes that despite its French appearance and legacy, Casablanca is purely North African, governed by age-old ritual and superstition: Jinns that rule his new home and cause accidents and deaths, workmen that never finish a single project, the constant headache of bargaining for every item needed for restoration, living next to seething slums where Arab Gulf Al-Qaeda members are recruiting in the local mosque.

The cast of characters is immensely entertaining, serving to outline the contrasts in modern Morocco: a French countess who was a friend of Shah's grandfather, a pessimistic French diplomat, an elderly stamp collector who trades stamps for stories, three guardians who come with the house but end up causing nothing but headaches, a local gangster and his trophy wife, and the servants that Shah hires to attempt to add rule and order back to his life, but who quickly teach him that to accomplish anything, he needs to think like a true Moroccan.

Unlike the myriad of home restoration shows on the BBC and HGTV, Shah's project is plagued by disaster from the beginning: a phony architect and his bungling workers knock down walls with glee, Shah's black market sand provider is jailed on prostitution charges, his mail-order furniture from India (ordered after several glasses of wine)and personal library of 10,000 books is held hostage by Moroccan customs, and the supposed haunting by Jinns is enough to nearly drive Shah and family from Dar Khalifa, but cooler heads and a new cultural awakening prevails. Shah learns to admire the wealth of cultural traditions that guide Morocco, reconnects with his famous grandfather, who spent the last years of his life in Casablanca, and finds the journey ultimately rewarding.

Full of sharp humour, eagle-eyed observations gleaned from a lifetime of travels, and an eye for beauty, "The Caliph's House" is a delightful, exotic journey into the cultural heart of Morocco, full of whispering fountains, lush secret gardens, the glitter of glazed tile mosaics, the muezzin's chant, and the call of the unknown.

In "The Caliph's House", Tahir Shah shows us that he
has graduated from a Sorcerer's Apprentice to a master
alchemist. Wanting to transform his life for his
young family, Shah leaves his crapped apartment in the
cold and wet London for a large but forlorn palace in
the warm and sunny Casablanca. Once there he begins
the arduous task of transforming lead into gold.
Anyone familiar with Shah's other books knows that he
seeks challenges where success is far from guaranteed.
This formula brings interesting and down right
hilarious adventures which begin the very first night.
From beginning to end Shah weaves a magical spell. A
good book nourishes the soul the way a good meal
nourishes the body. "The Caliph's House" is a feast
-- Bon Appetite.

To readers who favorably reviewed this book I'd like to recommend reading other travel narratives by Tahir Shah. I am a big fan of Shah. All previous works were records of Shah undertaking ambitious projects with bravery and ardor. I always appreciated his sense of humor, and admired the list of classic travel literature he reads for preparation. In this book the project -- renovating a Caliph's house he purchased in Casablanca, Morocco -- remains unequivocally ambitious, but the book lacked the other hallmarks I grew to expect from Shah.

For instance, unlike his other books, little history is provided for the readers. Other than stating that "Dar Khalifa" means the Caliph's House, he doesn't even get to discover which Caliph the house belonged to. The closest he gets to the Caliph's identity was through a old European neighbor who happened to be a friend of Shah's own grandfather: "Who was the Caliph of Casablanca?" "He was a member of your family," said the countess airily. "He was a Sharif, one of the Prophet's descendants."

Also uncharacteristic of his work, no bibliography is provided either.

The little excursion the author took to learn about his grandfather was to me the warmest and also the most historical part of the book. Details of the renovation work, and descriptions of the house guardians' fear for Jinns occupy most of the story.

To me the book represents a transformation attempt by Shah. Having started a family and running out of wild adventures to pursue, I think he had judiciously chosen a worthy topic to write about. Even so, I expect richer context from Shah, for I know for certain that he is capable of delivering such. Reading any of his previous works I believe should more than justify this last statement.

I loved this book. In fact, I just ordered four of Shah's other books from Amazon. "The Caliph's House" was hilarious in parts, sobering in others (after reading it I don't think I will ever live in Morocco), and insightful on many of the differences between the Western/Christian and Middle Eastern/Muslim perspective. I love to travel and enjoy restoring old houses so the subject matter was well suited to my interests, but more than that, I feel I gained perhaps a glimpse into the Muslim way of thinking about their religion, family, relationships, business and beliefs. It is a fun read, well written and highly entertaining. I look forward to reading Shah's other books and have already loaned "The Caliph's House" to a friend.

I couldn't decide whether to laugh or cry! (Bet Tahir felt the same way!)

What can I say. I felt like I was back in Morocco living through what must have seemed like hell some days... but Mr. Shah took it all in stride! I have to hand it to him... he is a very patient man. The personal rewards of undertaking such a huge project and over seeing so many workers, who speak a foreign tongue, would have driven most people around the bend. But instead, Tahir Shah made this journey a rich adventure, not only for himself, but for the reader. I've spent quite some time in Morocco and have had my share of friends from there, but I have never read about these people written in such a wonderful and loving way. With all their crazy beliefs, customs and ways of life, they are the most generous and alive people I have ever met. Bravo to Tahir for writing such a real and honest account of these people and himself!

Unlike books that make you feel you have visited a place, reading THE CALIPH'S HOUSE is like being there. Besides the Moroccans and their jinns, you meet Americans, you flashback to Britain, then get into the seamy side of Ramadan. It's like what really happens when you visit a strange country and get off the beaten track--far from what the programmed tourist agent or the propagandist ever shows you. I like Tahir Shah. His book comes off like going on an adventure with a good friend.

I couldn't put this book down. My husband is Moroccan and I've spent a lot of time with in his family home there. I could relate to a lot of Shah's descriptions, based on my own and friends' experiences. Shah's writing is wonderful, funny and not at all condescending like other "live abroad" books.

The Caliph's House is my favorite book by Tahir Shah so far. As enjoyable as its predecessors, it takes the usual features of Shah's work -surreal adventures, humor, lack of self-consciousness, endurance of obstacles, extravagant characters, revelatory moments- to a higher level of complexity. Shah weaves his tale in an intricate-yet-seamless pattern of interconnected stories, echoing the reconstruction process of the house itself. Some of the smaller stories, particularly the ones involving non-linear problem solving, have an old or timeless feeling to them; they seem to have come out of a folk-tale collection. The book manages to convey a great deal of knowledge about Morocco, while touching on issues such as religious fanaticism or the narrowness of Western life ("the cycle of zombie commuting and pseudo-friends"). Above all, The Caliph's House is about dealing with a different and unknown culture. What the reader encounters is not standardized tourism or paranoid confrontation or a platitude-laden celebration of multiculturalism, but something subtler and richer (and more fun). There is much to learn from Tahir Shah's attitude: a mixture of respect, flexibility, humor, trust and sheer stubbornness.

All of Tahir Shah's books are marvelous quests that refigure the envelope of the Travel-Adventure genre.His obsessions take the reader far beyond where Paul Theroux and Simon Winchester have long since bailed out.
Following insane aventures in Africa, India and South America I wondered how compelling a book about the renovation of a crumblig estate in Casablanca could be...by page 4 I realized this was no " Year in Provence".Tahir's trials are no less compelling than previous quests. Bombers and demons,sacrifice and tears and laughter...its all here.All delivered to us in our safe armchairs by a writer of unique courage, will and humanity.
Buy all Mr. Shah's books and hang on for the ride...you will not know where you are going but will love every moment .