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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
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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."

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Culture

The Black Stone: Sacred Landmark at the Heart of the Holy Kaaba

The Black Stone is located at a height of about one and a half meters from the Mataf surface. (SPA)
The Black Stone is located at a height of about one and a half meters from the Mataf surface. (SPA)
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The Black Stone: Sacred Landmark at the Heart of the Holy Kaaba

The Black Stone is located at a height of about one and a half meters from the Mataf surface. (SPA)
The Black Stone is located at a height of about one and a half meters from the Mataf surface. (SPA)

In the southeastern corner of the Holy Kaaba stands the Black Stone, the faith-filled landmark from which Tawaf begins and ends, drawing the hearts and eyes of millions of Muslims performing the sacred ritual, the Saudi Press Agency said on Thursday.

The Black Stone is located at a height of about one and a half meters from the Mataf surface. It appears black with a reddish tint, surrounded by a pure silver frame, and appears inside in the form of small cohesive parts held together by a binding substance.

During Tawaf, Muslims seek to kiss or touch the Black Stone, if feasible without hardship or crowding, or to point to it while reciting the Takbir, in adherence to the prophetic Sunnah, added the news agency.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia gives special care to the Holy Kaaba and its landmarks, driven by its dedication to serving the Two Holy Mosques. The General Authority for the Care of the Affairs of the Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque conducts periodic maintenance, cleaning, and perfuming of the Black Stone using specialized personnel and modern technologies, including high-resolution imaging to document its features with precision.

Culture

Romanian Writer Cartarescu Hails Books as Balm in Turmoil

Mircea Cartarescu is the most translated contemporary Romanian writer. Daniel MIHAILESCU / AFP
Mircea Cartarescu is the most translated contemporary Romanian writer. Daniel MIHAILESCU / AFP
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Romanian Writer Cartarescu Hails Books as Balm in Turmoil

Mircea Cartarescu is the most translated contemporary Romanian writer. Daniel MIHAILESCU / AFP
Mircea Cartarescu is the most translated contemporary Romanian writer. Daniel MIHAILESCU / AFP

In an age of "overwhelming evil" and "generalised lies", Romanian novelist Mircea Cartarescu, a weaver of literary fantasies born from a childhood under a totalitarian regime, bets on writing to resist.

Literature is "like a bandage on a wound" in "frightening" times, Cartarescu told AFP at the launch of his latest book, a collection of aphorisms on writing, in Romania.

"These are times when we are threatened from so many sides that we no longer know what to guard against," he said, mentioning wars, social unrest, global warming and "ideological confusion".

Cartarescu, who turned 70 this year, is the most translated contemporary Romanian writer and has won many accolades, including the International Dublin Literary Award in 2024.

Real life and the imaginary merge in his novels, creating a universe that Cartarescu admits is an exercise in navel gazing.

"I write to be able to understand who I am," he has said.

- Childhood trauma -

Cartarescu, whose favorite writers are J. D. Salinger and Franz Kafka, has likened his writing process to termites building their nests without knowing the result in advance.

"I never wrote literature to publish books, but to live in them," he once said about his most recent novel, the 632-page "Theodoros", published in 2022.

Set in the 19th century, "Theodoros" tells the story of a servant's son who rises to become emperor.

Cartarescu has since been in no rush to finish another novel, but he has started on one -- though he told AFP it is "not a novel in the strict sense".

"It's something I've never written before, and I don't think anyone else has either," he said, refusing to go into further details.

Born in Bucharest in 1956 during a period he has previously described as "marked by poverty and terrible famine", the introverted boy was fascinated by literature from an early age.

As a student and then a teacher at the University of Bucharest, he lived only "through and for literature".

A huge fan of Bob Dylan, Cartarescu has translated 100 of the US folk singer's songs into Romanian and has described himself as a "beatnik, a liberal in the widest sense of the term".

But it was his childhood that marked him most and that he tries to rediscover, if not to relive, in his writings.

"It is the most obscure period, that which intrigues me most," he has said, pointing to the trauma of losing his twin brother at the age of 18 months.

"Nearly all that I write is linked to that. I have always felt that something was missing, as if I looked in a mirror and saw no one," he said in an interview with the Adevarul newspaper.

He blamed that death on the "awful conditions" in which his family lived -- they had just moved into a single filthy room in a working-class district of Bucharest.

- 'Collective madness' -

After years of deprivation, Cartarescu said December 22, 1989, when the totalitarian regime of Nicolae Ceausescu was overthrown, was "for all Romanians the happiest day".

Later, Cartarescu often advocated for the independence of the justice system, and took part in protests.

But in time he said he lost hope, especially after the pandemic, so he now prefers to stick to his writing.

In a published journal, he criticized the surge of a far-right candidate in the 2024 Romanian presidential elections as "collective madness".

He likens current times worldwide to those before World War II, but with added risks related to artificial intelligence, "the greatest threat to humanity".

He told AFP he would never use AI in his literature, nor read a book written with it, as his interest lies in exploring what is human.

"Why would I read the work of an insectoid or an alien?"

Dozens of his readers gathered in a Bucharest bookstore in October, listening in church-like silence to the novelist talk about his latest published work.

"We gather around a book to protest against a world that no longer resembles us," he told them.

Culture

Pakistan's Last Antique Restorers Give Old Treasures New Life

Restorer Shakeel Ahmed works on an antique at his workshop in Rawalpindi. Farooq NAEEM / AFP
Restorer Shakeel Ahmed works on an antique at his workshop in Rawalpindi. Farooq NAEEM / AFP
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Pakistan's Last Antique Restorers Give Old Treasures New Life

Restorer Shakeel Ahmed works on an antique at his workshop in Rawalpindi. Farooq NAEEM / AFP
Restorer Shakeel Ahmed works on an antique at his workshop in Rawalpindi. Farooq NAEEM / AFP

Sitting outside his small shop in a warren of alleyways in the ancient Pakistani city of Rawalpindi, Ahsan Shakeel buffed an antique brass pot to a high shine, pressing it against a mechanized wheel.

"We've removed all the dents, but it still needs polishing," the 72-year-old restorer, among the last still practising his craft, told AFP as the spinning buffer sent fine metal dust into the air.

Quitting a job as a hotel cook, Shakeel followed in his father's footsteps to become an antiques restorer, opening his workshop in the Bhabra Bazaar market in densely populated Rawalpindi in 1980.

Today, he is one of the last master restorers preserving antique metalware in Pakistan.

Rawalpindi's roots stretch back to prehistoric human settlements and over centuries the garrison city evolved into a major commercial hub where metalcraft from the Mughal and British colonial periods converged.

Moving inside his shop, Shakeel navigated wall-to-wall shelves stacked with centuries-old ewer jugs, samovars for boiling, dishes, jars and teapots, most of which were made of copper or brass.

He took down various items and enthusiastically explained to AFP their materials and origins.

The vintage items are now increasingly rare in the modern era in which they have been replaced by stainless steel and plastic kitchenware.

"I used to travel everywhere, Lahore, Gujranwala, Karachi, back and forth (to purchase antiques)," he said.

- 'Life back into the dead' -

Shakeel procures the items he restores mostly from scrap yards, ports, or household clearances.

"Often, the condition of the items is so bad that no one would buy them," he said.

The shop owner and his colleague Shakeel Ahmed restore the battered items by hammering out dents, re-tinning the interiors over coal fires, and polishing the metal. A badly damaged item could take a few days to fix.

After restoration, a piece can sell between $100 and $1,000. Shakeel's customers are mostly collectors or antique enthusiasts, including foreigners.

Today, he mostly relies on online platforms and messaging applications to buy and sell antiques.

"I don't have the same health anymore, so I travel less," he said.

Prices for antiques are on the increase but the number of customers has fallen over time, Shakeel said.

"The money doesn't turn over quickly in this business. It's a very slow trade," he said.

"Customers who still exist, they are not many. They collect these things because they understand these items. Those who don't understand them would think it's all useless," Shakeel added.

Ahmed said he enjoyed restoring worn and damaged objects because they carry stories within them from different communities in the past or historical periods.

"This is a very old thing," the 56-year-old man said at his own dimly lit workshop, as he gently used a small hammer to smooth out little dents on a large brass hookah pipe for smoking tobacco.

"What we do is like putting life back into the dead," Ahmed said.