'For Bread Alone' by Mohamed Choukri Has Not Lost its Charm

Arabia cover of "For Bread Alone" by Mohammad Choukri
Arabia cover of "For Bread Alone" by Mohammad Choukri
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'For Bread Alone' by Mohamed Choukri Has Not Lost its Charm

Arabia cover of "For Bread Alone" by Mohammad Choukri
Arabia cover of "For Bread Alone" by Mohammad Choukri

El-Fanak Press, Casablanca, has released again the masterpiece of Mohamed Choukri "For Bread Alone" one of the writer's most popular and controversial novels as part of a book series adopted by the publishing house to provide books for all people.

"For Bread Alone" has once again proved its position as one of the most creative Moroccan novels in the Arab region and worldwide, especially after the record numbers it hit in terms of sales and languages it has been translated to, not to mention the myriads critical readings and the huge impact it left in the Arabic cultural scene. The novel gained international fame and was translated to 39 languages including English by Paul Bowles in 1973 and French by Taher bin Jelloun in 1981.

The novel was written in 1972 but wasn't published in Arabic until 1982. It makes part of the Tangier novelist's biography, along with the "Time of Mistakes," and "Faces."

Choukri was encouraged to write the "The Bread alone" by US writer Paul Bowles who lived in Tangier at the time. The novel was translated into French by Taher bin Jelloun. When released for the first time, it made a significant echo. Some Arab countries even banned it because of its unfamiliar boldness.

The French version of the novel took the same title, but the English translation was entitled "For Bread Only."

Critics have agreed that Choukri's novel "depicts the misery and marginalization that dominated large categories of the Moroccan society in the middle of the past century."

Late Spanish writer Juan Goytisolo said Choukri "looked at his country's situation from the bottom, and he saw what rulers cannot see."

Arab writers said "the novel was a slap on the face and succeeded where many other writers failed. He managed to become both the hero and the writer of his writings."

For his part, Choukri said: "I aimed not to beautify the ugliness, in my life and the life of others. I wanted to highlight the distortion of the community."



Tea-Loving Nepal Is Warming up to Coffee 

An employee prepares a coffee for a customer at Himalayan Java cafe at Boudhanath Stupa in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (AP)
An employee prepares a coffee for a customer at Himalayan Java cafe at Boudhanath Stupa in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (AP)
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Tea-Loving Nepal Is Warming up to Coffee 

An employee prepares a coffee for a customer at Himalayan Java cafe at Boudhanath Stupa in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (AP)
An employee prepares a coffee for a customer at Himalayan Java cafe at Boudhanath Stupa in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (AP)

Coffee hasn't always been an easy sell in Nepal.

The Himalayan country is a major tea producer, as well as a major consumer. When people greet each other in the morning, they don't ask “how are you.” They say “have you had your tea?”

Tea — usually served with as a sweet, milky beverage in a piping hot glass tumbler — is as much a part of Nepal's culture as rice, a constant presence at homes, meetings and social gatherings.

But a growing number of Nepalis are warming up to coffee, as trendy cafes spring up street corners in cities and towns across the country.

Nepalis started trying coffee in the 90s. One cafe in the capital, Kathmandu, is widely seen as the pioneer.

Gagan Pradhan began Himalayan Java as a single cafe in an alley, and it's grown to a chain with 84 locations in the country. Pradhan estimates there around 7,000 cafes across the country, although so far international brands like Starbucks aren't in Nepal.

“There are lot of tea shops throughout the nation, but the kind of set up they have is still kind of old fashioned,” Pradhan said. “I think with investors and people like us, when it comes to coffee shop we are more serious not only with machines, we are serious with everything like the lighting, the set up, the furnishings, the location.”

Pradhan said tea shops usually offer just black tea or tea with milk, whereas a typical coffee menu has 10-15 hot beverages and about 10-15 cold beverages, he said.

Pradhan said it’s an appealing business because the initial investment to open a cafe is very low, they’re clean and simple enough for a single family to run, and customers are willing to pay more for coffee.

Several of eastern Nepal’s tea plantations in the mountains of east Nepal, famous for the tea, are joined by coffee plantations now.

Coffee is expensive, but it's a lifestyle Nepal is part of a regional trend. Coffee consumption has soared across traditionally tea-drinking countries in Asia as members of growing middle classes seek out novel flavors and adopt international trends.

Coffee is a premium drink in Nepal: it costs about $2 at Himalayan Java, which is enough to buy a meal at a local cafe in Kathmandu, or five cups of tea. Still, cafes bustle with office workers on breaks and students looking for places to study.

“I think the idea of drinking coffee (in Nepal) was first triggered with people thinking it would elevate their standard of living, but then once they tasted coffee many people just liked it and continued to drink it,” said Deep Singh Bandari, a social worker who is a regular visitor to the coffee cafes.

Nepal is starting to produce coffee too. Most of the coffee drunk in Nepal is imported, but in the country's famous eastern tea-growing regions coffee plantations are springing up.

According to Nepal’s National Tea and Coffee Development Board, about 400 tons of coffee was produced in fiscal year 2021-22, the most recent for which data is available. That's a drop in the percolator compared to the 26,000 tons of tea produced the same year, but the board predicts rapid growth.

“Both young and old people in Nepal just love coffee, and the number of coffee drinkers is growing every day. This trend is just going to grow,” said Pradhan.