A Bookshop in Algiers

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TW: Although generally this is a feel-good book about books, bookshops and publishing, there are some disturbing descriptions about the French police massacre events leading up to (1945) or occurring during (1961) the Algerian War of Independence (1954-1962)] Our Riches" is a fictionalized biography of book publisher Edmond Charlot, a window into mid-Twentieth Century Algerian history, and an expression of love of the written word. At the young age of 20, Charlot opened Les Vraies Richesses (the true wealth) in 1936 in Algiers. It was a small bookstore, lending library, and cultural center where Charlot also published Mediterranean authors. Many of his publications are widely read classics today, especially those written by Albert Camus. Charlot's life is told in brief journal entries from the 1930s to the 1960s, grounded in historical research. The creation of the bookstore and publishing company, a second publishing location in wartime Paris, and Charlot's friendships with the authors are all part of the journal. Kağıt bulamıyorsunuz, cepheye çağrılıyorsunuz,bastığınız kitaplar ‘tehlikeli’ görünürse hapis yatıyorsunuz,Cezayir özgürlüğünü savunduğunuz halde Fransız olduğunuz için dükkanınız bombalanıyor,sürgün ediliyorsunuz,köksüz bırakılıyorsunuz. Ama içinizde bir ateş var adına edebiyat denen. Sizi düşürse de, kolunuz kanadınız kırılsa da o ateş sizi kavuruyor. Tenían la costumbre de esperar órdenes para vivir. Ahora se han decidido a vivir, humildemente, por su propia voluntad, sin escuchar a nadie, y entonces todo se ha iluminado, realmente como cuando uno encuentra las cerillas y la lámpara y la casa se ilumina, y uno sabe por fin dónde dirigir la mano para encontrar las cosas que necesita (...) Esto es lo que yo sentí cuando llegué a esta librería

For cost savings, you can change your plan at any time online in the “Settings & Account” section. If you’d like to retain your premium access and save 20%, you can opt to pay annually at the end of the trial. He finds a small spot -- 2b Rue Charras (conveniently near the university) -- and sets up shop, his ambition that it: "be a library, a bookstore, a publishing house, but above all a place for friends who love the literature of the Mediterranean".Estoy absoluta y completamente enamorada del 2bis de la calle Hamami. Siento un flechazo absoluto por el entusiasmo de Edmond Charlot, por su amor a los libros y por fundar 'Las Verdaderas Riquezas', una librería/hogar donde he podido conocer los comienzos de Camus, Gide, Giono, Jules Roy y un montón de autoras y autores más que no he parado de apuntar. Siento que ese pequeño rincón, ya es un poco mío. Kitabın en güzel yanı Kaouther Adimi’nin arşivleri, kitapları, söyleşileri tarayarak oluşturduğu Charlot’nun kurmaca günlüğü. Bu günlük aracılığıyla 1930’dan 1961’e kadar hem Cezayir’in kültürel ortamı hem yayıncılık dünyasında yaşanan sıkıntılar hem de Cezayir’in bağımsızlaşma sürecinde yaşananlar hakkında bilgi sahibi oluyoruz. Charlot, bastığı kitaplarla yıllar içinde ünlenen bir kitapçoksever. Edebiyatı o kadar seviyor ki başka bir iş düşünemiyor ve bir kitabevi kurmaya karar veriyor. Sonra kitabevine ek olarak beğendiği genç yazarların tanınmasını da sağlayacak bir yayınevi kuruyor. Kitabevinde sanat eserleri de sergiliyor. İlk eserlerini yayımlayarak tanınmasını sağladığı yazarlar arasında Camus, Gide, Kessel var.

I liked the story. It flowed smoothly although a bit slow at times, but we expect that of a book about a bookstore, don’t we? LOL. The variety in the structure of the chapters keeps it interesting. Kaouther Adimi, (born 1986 Algiers) is a writer, graduate in modern literature and human resources management. She works today in Paris, where she has lived since 2009.

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Kaouther Adimi was born in Alger, Algeria, in 1986. From the age of 4 to the age of 8, she lived with her family in Grenoble, France. It's during this period that she discovered the pleasure of reading, by going to the public library every week with her dad There are still books there when Ryad arrives, but he has little interest in them; still, he gets to know Abdallah and some of the locals, making for a nice small slice of contemporary life in Algiers -- and Ryad does get some sense of what is lost here.

Este pequeño universo humano, íntimo y empático emociona con su sencillez, claridad y cercanía; una auténtica declaración de amor a los libros y la literatura. Mientras desaloja las pocas pertenencias que quedan allí, Ryad, un joven ingeniero recién llegado de París que no siente el más mínimo interés por la literatura, irá descubriendo —gracias, sobre todo, a los testimonios de los vecinos— la estrecha conexión existente entre la librería y las gentes del lugar. Intercalado con el relato del presente, encontramos extractos del diario de Edmond Charlot donde se recogen, entre otras cosas, los tortuosos inicios comerciales de la librería, las desavenencias de Charlot con sus socios o el esfuerzo titánico que implicaba llevar a cabo dirigir todas las actividades relacionadas con la recepción, corrección, traducción y publicación de cada nuevo título. El crecimiento lento pero constante, la inevitable llegada de los premios y posterior reconocimiento... de todo ello da cuenta el apasionante diario de Charlot, al que ni los problemas para hacer frente a los pagos, ni la censura, ni el estallido de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, ni el hecho de estar robando cada vez más tiempo a su familia consiguieron arrebatarle la ilusión por estar al frente de Las Verdaderas Riquezas.

The story in this short novella, is told in two streams one in set in 2017 and the other which is in a diary entry form narrated by Charlot and spans 1930s, through WW2 and Algiers resistance through to 1961. It's a struggle but he reports already in the fall of 1945 that they're: "managing to publish 12 to 15 books a month"; by 1947: "Sales are reaching 100,000, and much more for some titles"; by 1949 Éditions Charlot has flamed out, bankrupt.