Customer Reviews

A Year in Marrakesh

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Oh to be able to relocate to an exotic city and write for an occupation! That's what occurs in "A Year in Marrakesh". While other English citizens are touring Morocco, Peter Mayne relocated there, to become a part of the city of Marrakesh and to come to know it. There are many lively characters here, painted with a comprehensive brush that shows them to be, if not real people, than so realistic seeming that you never find yourself saying, "Yeah, right, like you'd actually meet someone like that."

Also, this book give a gentle entry into the mindset of average Muslim people.

This book will not shake your world-view, but it may give you the hankering to pick up stakes and relocate for a year or more. And isn't that what good travel literature is supposed to do?

This bk was written in 1953. The author uses many French and Moroccan arabic phrases in his writing which makes the experiences & people he encounters feel more authentic but if you aren't familiar with those languages it'd be a frustrating read. Mayne's vignettes are quirky...I never felt as though I got to know him or like him but it was a fairly quick read so I didn't care that much.
There are other books that get to the heart of the Morocco better & deeper with more humor & humanity such as Tahir Shah's "The Caliph's House."

When Englishman Peter Mayne left government service on the Indian Subcontinent in 1949, he moved to Marrakesh, Morocco to test himself and to write a novel. (If he is to be believed, he chose Marrakesh by sticking a pin in a map, blindfolded.) He left after he had completed his novel and his money had run out - a year later. While there, he also kept a journal, which he turned into this charming book, originally published in 1953 under the title "The Alleys of Marrakesh".

In 1949, French control of Morocco was in its last years. (Morocco would gain independence in 1956.) But Mayne barely mentions the political situation or even the French. His year in Marrakesh was spent among the natives, not with Europeans, and it was spent in the alleys and souks, not in the hotels and consulates. Shortly after arriving in Marrakech, Mayne set about learning Arabic and, evidently, he was a quick study. Near the end of the year, and of the book, Mayne tells about a visit from an old friend from Britain, who, with the help of a guide book, had to take Mayne to the tourist attractions in Marrakech (Mayne had visited only a few of them) and who left Mayne his list of "ten people in Marrakesh worth meeting" (none of whom Mayne had met during the previous year). Thus, the book is about native life in Marrakesh, circa 1950, from a perspective about as interior as a Westerner was likely to achieve.

The native Arabs and Berbers could be enigmatic and exasperating, primitive and hard-headed, but Mayne cared for them and the picture he sketches of them is, generally, a compassionate one. It is also a picture tinged through and through by Islam, though not a particularly fundamentalistic or evangelical brand of Islam. Many Europeans found the Moors too laid back and insufficiently industrious, not fully understanding that the Moors "are satisfied * * * that God will determine their futures as He pleases. So they don't have to strive for success, and this is what makes living amongst them such a wonderful relief. For them, none of the things that befall you can be disgraceful because, good or bad, everything comes from God."

This attitude is also evinced in the ubiquitous Arab "Insha'Allah" - i.e., "God willing". It took Mayne a while to learn that when Moors made some sort of appointment with him "Insha'Allah", it was quite a bit less than a firm commitment. After all, on the way to the appointment, the Moor might meet another friend who invites him for tea or he might otherwise be diverted. Something unforeseeable had intervened and the appointment was missed. It would have been rude for the Moor to decline the appointment "Insha'Allah", but it also would have been exceedingly presumptuous of him (or Mayne) to count on the appointment actually occurring. "The past is past: the present is living evidence of God's wishes, but the future is in His hands. How can you foretell what He has in mind for you when you are making your plans."

A YEAR IN MARRAKESH is a graceful, nuanced portrayal of native life in Marrakesh sixty years ago. I cannot think of any ulterior reason why someone in 2010 should read the book other than it is literate and moderately entertaining.

there is a reason that this book is in print after 55 years and that is that it is a classic. the french no longer rule morocco, tourism has overrun marrakesh, two kings have come and gone, but this book continues to be read. why? for its light, compassionate touch. this was the only book that peter mayne wrote about morocco (he was wounded in an attack on a cafe in the events leading up to the ousting of the french and independence for the moroccan people). it is a fun read.

Peter has done something with this book that I thought was almost impossible. He has actually managed to make Marrakesh, one of the most exciting places on Earth, sound wholly pedestrian. This work tells you little about the magic of Marrakesh, and all about the author's need to impress you with how clever he is. Sadly, he has confused writing with typing. A book to be avoided at all costs.