Kaouther Adimi

'If you're in a bookshop browsing, then A Bookshop In Algiers is for you, by definition. A beautiful little novel about books, history, ambition and the importance of literature to everyone, especially people who are trying to find a voice.' Nick Hornby In 1936, a young dreamer named Edmond Charlot opened a modest bookshop in Algiers. Once the heart of Algerian cultural life, where Camus launched his first book and the Free French printed propaganda during the war, Charlot's beloved bookshop has been closed for decades, living on as a government lending library. Now it is to be shuttered forever. But as a young man named Ryad empties it of its books, he begins to understand that a bookshop can be much more than just a shop that sells books. A Bookshop in Algiers charts the changing fortunes of Charlot's bookshop through the political drama of Algeria's turbulent twentieth century of war, revolution and independence. It is a moving celebration of books, bookshops and of those who dare to dream.

A Bookshop in Algiers

Marion

Those Arabs. Those towelheads. Those rats. Those kebabs. Those turds. Those lice. Beat them. Slaughter them. Rub them out. Send them flying. Use batons. Use our police weapons. Use bricks. Kill as many as possible. Kill them by the dozen. Slaughter these people who have no right to be here in Paris, by the Seine, among our monuments, our trees, our women. Slaughter them. Beat them.

Throw them in the river. See the Algerian bodies sinking into the muddy water. Far away now, the brown bodies. Make them dis-appear. Quickly. Brutal charges. Arab-hunting in Paris. Paris!

Manned by Papon's police, Paris kills. Savage. Chases in the streets of Paris. Don't think twice: throw them over, into the Seine. Broken bodies. Beaten with rifle butts and batons. Bodies hung in the Bois de Vincennes. Seine full of corpses. Hate set free. Noise. Chaos.

Baton blows raining on bodies lying flat, on bloodied skulls, on unarmed. And the silence of the Parisians. Another charge. People on the ground. Blood everywhere. Ambulance sirens. More blows, and bodies in the Seine. A pogrom in 1961. Purify France of its Arabs. Disinfect the avenues. Slaughter the assassins. Repression.

Tragic. Starting in the morning, Paris kills. The police, the riot squad, and the gendarmes are reinforced by the Auxiliary Police Force: brigades made up of Harkis, who fought with the French in Algeria. Zero tolerance. The arrests began even before the demon-stration. Insults, blows, harassment. Made to swallow whole ciga-rettes. Water mixed with bleach. Brutal roundups. Blood on the Arab face. Broken legs. We hit, we unleash the dogs. We line the brownskins up against the walls. We pack them into police vans. We grab them in the street by their curly hair. We hunt the type. We throw stones. We drown them. For a whole month after, bodies will be pulled from the water. The killing will go on for days. Corpses in the Seine. Hands tied behind their backs. Strangled with their own belts. Bodies bound and fung into the water. When the families in Algeria are informed, they will not understand what has happened.

The Second World War has just finished. We know that we will soon have to take arms, and that France cannot stay in Algeria.

Do mints have an expiration date, or are they good forever, like books?

A homage to reading, literature and publishing industry. The book pays homage to French-Algerian publisher Edmond Charlot who founded a bookstore in Algeria and published the work of many French and Algerian authors like the highly esteemed Albert Camus, the story of he’s work as an important literary figure is told against the backdrop of world war 2, the war against French colonialism in Algeria and civil war in Algeria.

A truly delightful read

A homage to reading, literature and publishing industry. The book pays homage to French-Algerian publisher Edmond Charlot who founded a bookstore in Algeria and published the work of many French and Algerian authors like the highly esteemed Albert Camus, the story of he’s work as an important literary figure is told against the backdrop of world war 2, the war against French colonialism in Algeria and civil war in Algeria.

Beth Bartholomew

A Bookshop in Algiers follows two timelines as we see the creation and then ruin of a bookshop that once felt like the heart of so many bibliophiles. Going between the 1930’s-1960’s and present day, we see two different characters and their relationships with books, and how books change them. 

I really enjoyed the way this book went between these two timelines, whilst also inserting cultural and political turmoil into the shaping of the plot. We saw a very personal insight into part of Algeria’s history, as well as a perspective offering a wider view on this political unrest. All the while not feeling daunting or like it was belittling the reader in anyway. This is a moment in history I don’t know too much about, but I now feel compelled to learn more. 

I loved this novel for its timeless adoration of literature. Stories withstand throughout all and that is truly beautiful. “Literature, at least, will never abandon me” being a fantastic quote to stand by this. There is so much gorgeous writing in this book, a credit to the Adimi, but also to Chris Andrews, the translator. 

A beautiful book with a true respect for writing and passion. It was a delight to read and made me fall in love with reading even more. 

A Bookshop in Algiers

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