Customer Reviews

Desert (Verba Mundi)

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2008 winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature J.M.G. Le Clezio presents Desert, a novel about the struggle for survival of a desert warrior culture, "the last free men". Consisting of two alternating viewpoints in contrast over the course of a century. Beginning in a North African desert in 1909 with the migratory journey of a young boy and his "blue men" desert warrior people, forced out of their land by French colonial soldiers, and interwoven with the story of an orphan girl in modern Marseille descended from the desert people, Desert is an enthralling and unforgettable read, flawlessly translated from the original French by C. Dickson. At once both a personal human story and a saga of the (often cruel) legacy of colonization, Desert is highly recommended particularly for public and college library collections.

...to be alliterative.

LeClézio won the Nobel Prize in Literature, in 2008, primarily for this work. In the making of such awards, like the premise that the Supreme Court makes its legal decisions based on the results of the last election, there are undoubtedly significant political considerations. LeClézio has written about "The European Dilemma," to play off a phrase originally formulated by his fellow European, Gunnar Myrdal, when he wrote "An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy" in 1944. Each book, in quite different ways, examines the problems of a democratic society with a significant unassimilated minority, which has been brought, or induced to come, for the value of their "cheap labor." LeClézio's book concerns France, a country that is nominally Christian, but largely secular, far more so than the United States; 10-12% of France's population is Muslim, mainly from the Maghreb (Northwestern Africa.) The "assimilation," or lack of same, of the latest arrivals to France is the central theme.

LeClézio novel is presented as two alternating stories; the first is of the coming-of-age boy, Nour, and is set in 1909-10, when French forces are hunting down "rebel" leaders and their followers in Mauritania and southern Morocco. The second narrative is of Lalla, a coming-of-age girl who decides to flee her bleak life in a "bidonville" (a shanty town) and seek her "fortune" in Marseille. The author does not give an exact date for her story, but it must be in the late `70's. The author never directly addresses the "cause and effect" aspects of these stories; it is left to the reader.

"Desert" isn't an easy read, but then neither is Faulkner or Joyce. I felt the real strength of the novel is LeClézio's ability, as someone coming from an industrialized country, to depict accurately the pre-industrialized outlook. It is fully attuned to the natural world, where awareness of the phase of the moon is intrinsic; a life without watches; a life full of djinns and spirits. LeClézio's novel reminded me of the works of AbdulRahman Al Munif, particularly "Cities of Salt," in which he depicts the pre-industrialized outlook in Arabia as it collides with the foreign oil workers from Aramco. I also found Lalla's experiences in Marseille quite evocative. It is a city that I had disliked for a considerable period, but finally adjusted my outlook; instead of trying to see another Provencal village, I realized it was simply a "sunny New York."

However, I did have some problems with the novel. Sorry, I do have a watch, and a calendar, and Lalla's experiences over the nine months of her pregnancy were just too unrealistic. Among other matters, she became fluent in French in apparently four or five months. I also felt that various descriptions of the desert world were too expansive, and at times redundant. And geographically, the depiction of the location of the "bidonville" did not conform with the landscape of Northern Morocco. There could also have been tighter editing; for example, how many times was the reader told about the "bristling hair" on the dogs in Marsaille? And then there is a problem for mono-lingual readers. Books written in English sometimes have non-translated French or German, assuming the reader knows these languages, or inferring the meaning by context. LeClézio ups the language requirements by including non-translated Arabic, such as the words: "majnoon," and "ummi." Ok, so maybe we should be learning, and in these cases its "crazy," and "my mother."

Much credit should go to LeClézio for his depiction of one of Europe's central problems, not now, when there is so much focus on the so-called "clash of civilizations," but rather at its very inception, in the `60's and `70's. His novel will remain a seminal work as we seek solutions to the problem. Finally, it was heart-warming to note that Leclézio has chosen Albuquerque as his home, for six months of the year. No doubt the desert environment, similar to Mauritania, is a pull. Unfortunately he seems to be unrecognized in his adopted hometown, which may be the way he prefers it. Still, it is an honor, and he should be much more widely read.

This isn't a traditional novel, it certainly don't contain a strong plot where the interaction between characters drive it forward. She meets other characters, she moves through a landscape, but she doesn't understand them anymore than they understand her.

It's a beautiful poetical meditation about the inner-life of the people of the Maghreb. The main character that you spend the most time with is an uneducated orphan that creates explanations for what happens around her out of superstitions, stories told by the fire, and dreams. Seen through her eyes, there's a lot of magic and wonder in the desert. It's all about the images.

Lalla and Nour, the two young protagonists of this engrossing novel, have a lot in common. Descendants of an ancient Berber tribe in the Western Sahara, they carry the traditions, the stories and visions of their tribe, and, last not least, the intimate connectedness to the rugged desert lands of their forebears. Their lives, however, never connects directly: Nour was born at the end of the nineteenth century and Lalla could have been his great-grandchild, a teenager probably in the nineteen seventies. Their two narrative streams are interleaved, resulting in a touching and extraordinary portrait of not only two special children, but of their culture and different times. Each an astute observer of their surroundings, their view of the world, while innocent and dreamlike, also holds depth and hope for the future.

From the first pages Le Clézio's "Desert" carries the reader into another world: a caravan of nomadic Berber tribes, led by the famous "Men in blue", the Tuareg, slowly winds it way through a landscape harsh and bleak to the extreme, yet stunningly beautiful and profoundly mystical. The Berber and Tuareg clans have called this part of the Sahara desert their home for thousands of years. In the North (in today's Morocco) the chiefs were promised new pasture land to settle. Based on the historical events of 1909 to 1912, when the sovereignty of the tribal chiefs under the leadership of Ma el Ainine was finally crushed by the French colonial forces, the author introduces the fictional young Nour, more observer than participant. Through his eyes we follow the Berber efforts to protect the ancestral lands from invading forces and ward off the "soldiers of the Christians". Ma el Ainine, revered as a holy man and grand chief by his people, was regarded by the French as a "fanatic", a "savage" and murderer, who had to be destroyed at all cost. Le Clézio realistically depicts the desolate conditions facing the chiefs, their ragged warriors, and the women and children, weakened by hunger, following behind as well as they could. Nonetheless, his empathy with these proud defenders of their desert lands is openly displayed through Nour's perspective. At the time of publication in 1980, it was rare for a French author to take so determinedly the position of the historical underdog in the Western Sahara as Le Clézio. *)

The other protagonist, Lalla, a lone orphan raised by her aunt, is like a spirit child of African story telling. Living in a desolate shanty town on the outskirts of a Moroccan sea-side town, she prefers nature to people and is irresistibly drawn to the desert close by, the rugged hills and high plateaus where she dreams and loses herself in the stories of her mysterious past. She senses, mostly subconsciously, her unique heritage that is deeply rooted in her: belonging to an ancient desert tribe, profoundly connected to the sun-drenched and parched land that constantly calls her. The line between reality and vision is easily blurred, especially whenever she feels the intense watchful eye of "Es Ser", who she calls "the Secret One". Her only friends are the mute shepherd boy Hartani and the old fisherman, Naman. From one she learns to see beyond and below the stone boulders, the crevasses and the sea of sand; with the old story teller she discovers the countries beyond the ocean where white gleaming cities offer a different kind of future.

Eventually, circumstances lead her into that other world, but what she observes and experiences is nothing like what she was told by Naman. The description of Lalla's life in Marseilles is a devastating yet visually powerful portrait of the city's underbelly. Radicz, the young beggar and thief, becomes her guide into this foreign culture. Le Clézio does not hesitate to use a somewhat unrealistic scenario of the rags to riches kind to elucidate the extraordinary personality that he imagines for Lalla as she grows into a young adult. It is not difficult to guess where Lalla's journey ends...

At several levels, this novel is all about journeys - physical and mental/emotional. Whether the long trek north by the Berber tribes through the exhilarating desert landscape of what is now the still disputed region of Western Sahara, or Lalla's exploration of the same landscape in southwestern Morocco, the spiritual journeys of Nour and Lalla are intimately linked. Some readers might find the lengthy descriptions of searching, wandering and constantly moving somewhat too drawn out and slow. However, the deliberately used repeats and slight atmospheric variations may encourage the reader to slow down to the speed of a camel caravan; a speed where we can ourselves see beyond the surface to discover the intricate and rich physical and mental landscape that his protagonists share. I admit to a certain (positive) bias where desert landscapes and the historical context of Berber and Tuareg tribes are concerned. The review is relates to French original, not the English translation. Any quotes in the text are my translation. J.M.G. Le Clézio was awarded the first Académie Française's Grand Prix Paul Morand for Désert in 1980. [Friederike Knabe]

*) See also Gens Des Nuages (Collection Folio) (French Edition), (People of the Clouds), a non-fiction account of the region and its culture. Written together with his wife, Jemia, a descendant of the ethnic group depicted in the novel. Richly illustrated by Bruno Barbey.

I have just discovered LeClezio so I'm glad he won the Nobel. If he hadn't, I wouldn't have found him. The prose is poetical and his descriptions very beautiful. If, like me, you like beautiful prose, read this.

Having become accustomed to novels that follow the formula of - create the friction between characters right away and let the story be told through dialogue - I started my usual fast reading, skim, scan, get the idea and move on but it didn't work. LeClezio's prose demanded that I respect it. I started reading aloud to slow myself down to a gentle read and I was thrilled with the lyricism, rhythm, and care that was taken with the description. I sank into it and allowed myself to ride along with the author. Slow down and read. You will be pleased you did.

The story of Lalla was, in addition to being a comment on the horror and greed that accompanies colonialism, restored to womem a sense of respect. I have always wished that I could be someone like Lalla, that I wouln't bow to the society's view of women. She allows me to have a strong, independent view of myself of a women. She is what I should be and what I should have been before capitualization to pragmatism and compromise.

Nours story is the sad story of the elimination of a culture seen as barbaric. For example Christians proselytize and view other religions as paganistic. They criticize and 'save' the barbarians and in the process kill off all who differ with them. Nour is a pure, good, wonderful boy. He wants only to do what is good. He, along with the shiek he follows are murdered. This juxtaposes the view of the shiek's followers to whom he is a 'Christlike' figure and the view of the French that he is evil.

In India, Rama had blue skin and this appears elsewhere in other religions. Blue skin means a diety is among us. Just a comment. It is not really part of the book.

While there was some very good prose and a very good story concept, this book, for me was disjointed and, largely, overwritten.

The idea of showing an inherited untamed spirit of the last North African desert tribes to hold out against the "Christian invaders" is a good one. Unfortunately, the stories of past and present, through much of the novel, are only tenuously connected. I like that the author has chosen a woman to embody this spirit, but her story is not realistic.

First is the freedom accorded to Lalla as a young teenager. She can walk alone, talk with men, have a temper tantrum on her first day of work and walk out on marriage contract which was, no doubt, negotiated at some cost. While she may have been from a tribe of "free men", I doubt that women had this degree of autonomy. Once she gets to France, her French language skills (not mentioned as is her illiteracy) and her rise to fame while pregnant are pretty fantastic. Her lack of planning for her baby may be meant to define her as one of the tribe of the "last free men", but it doesn't ring true.

It may be the fault of the translator, but words such as "hunger" and "terrified" are overused such that they lose their meaning. Not that the people in this book aren't hungry and terrified, it's that more creative description is expected from a Nobel Laureate.

Some of the dialog doesn't match the characters, the most egregious example being on p. 115, where Naman, the fisherman, says in his tale, "The celestial music resounded throughout the forest." Naman had traveled outside of the desert, but he had not been portrayed as an educated man as implied by his choice of words.

There are parts and pages where the writing shows the skill of the author, but on the whole, neither the writing nor the development of the story suggests a Nobel quality artist.

This is a book of poetic description. Le Clezio makes you feel the sand underfoot, in your hair, and down your throat. The beauty of the land and the relationships of the people who live there are densely described.
In contrast to the nomads who are defending their lives from the Christian crusaders at the beginning of the story, are the poor Muslim immigrants to Europe today. In stark contrast from the dry open spaces and freedom of the Sahara they have left is a life of desperate poverty, cold and isolation. One is left wondering if leaving home and family is really an improvement and leaves the R. Eader understanding a little better how some can become radicalized.

Finally finished this overrated tedious bore. Of course the subject was "romantic" and "exotic"in Edward Said's sense of Orientalism, but the portrayals / betrayals of characters' essence were cardboard, many scenes not incredible, rather simply not credible. Rather than run on, will only note that Le Clézio probably won the Nobel for some other work, the jury not having read enough of either John Berger or Mohammed Mrabet.

LeClezio at his best. This book is worth your time and will leave you with fond memories. You will find it difficult to leave the characters behind and they will be with you for years to come. Not a bad thing.

Bored beyond belief I actually finished this book just to see what the folks in Stockholm saw in this book. I never saw it. I read many books set in different countries and/or different periods. That is what attracted me to this book. Perhaps the Swedes just had to award a prize to an anti-colonial book. Whatever. Don't waste your time on this one. If you want to go some place in time and space read the Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng.