Poppies of Iraq by Helge Dascher

Abstract

WORLDLIT.ORG 93 write the Moroccan collective memory of the Years of Lead during the reign of Hassan II. Nisrine Slitine El Mghari University of Oklahoma Jorge Carrión. Bookshops: A Reader’s History. Trans. Peter Bush. Windsor, Ontario. Biblioasis. 2017. 304 pages. Jorge Carrión begins this paean to bookshops by writing: “Every bookshop is a condensed version of the world.” This axiomatic declaration is important as it establishes the metaphor around which the book is constructed, which Carrión expounds shortly after: “You need no passport to gain entry to the cartography of a bookshop , to its representation of the world—of the many worlds we call world—that is so much like a map, that sphere of freedom where times slows down and tourism turns into another kind of reading.” The director of the master’s program in creative writing at Barcelona’s Universidad Pompeu Fabra, Carrión is the author of three novels as well as numerous travel books and collections of essays. Librerías, translated as Bookshops (the English edition carries the subtitle A Reader’s History, not present in the Spanish), was a finalist for the Anagrama Essay Prize in 2013. It is the first of Carrión’s books to be translated into English. In the chapter “Bookshops Fated to Be Political,” Carrión moves between Hitler’s Germany to Cold War Berlin and, not surprisingly, to Cuba, to discuss the role bookshops have played in fomenting and propping up totalitarian regimes. As a frequent visitor to Havana, this was of particular interest to me. He writes: “It was in the Communist bookshop on calle Carlos III in Havana that future commander and repressor Fidel Castro bought the two key books in his life: The Communist Manifesto and The State and Revolution.” While the bookshops on calle Obispo remain (La Moderna Poesía, which dates to the nineteenth century, comes to mind), they have been reduced to little more than tourist spots whose sparsely stocked shelves sell official histories of the revolution and biographies of Che and Fidel. Bookshops is translated ably by Peter Bush, a renowned translator of Catalan and Spanish literature, including works by authors as diverse as Spain’s Juan Goytisolo, Cuba’s Leonardo Padura, and Uruguay’s Juan Carlos Onetti. Bush’s translation is a delight to read, beginning with his decision to translate the title Librerías as Bookshops instead of “Bookstores” (Amazon is a bookstore, but it most certainly is not a bookshop). In the end, there is much to like in this book and translation and little to criticize. For the obvious bibliophiles and amateurs of world literature who are reading this review, it will be a welcome addition to their bookshelves. George Henson University of Oklahoma Brigitte Findakly & Lewis Trondheim. Poppies of Iraq. Trans. Helge Dascher. Montreal. Drawn & Quarterly. 2017. 120 pages. Poppies of Iraq, an autobiographical graphic novel written by Brigitte Findakly and illustrated by Lewis Trondheim, contains familiar tropes of contemporary graphic memoirs. Findakly negotiates national identities with one parent from the Middle East, one parent from western Europe; she conveys a disarming coming-of-age story in war-torn Iraq, lured by the dream of France; and captures the beauty of home, even amid cultural and religious repression. With nonlinear pacing and vignettes, however, Poppies of Iraq adds a unique storytelling angle to the themes of Marjane Sartrapi’s seminal Persepolis and Riad Sattouf’s acclaimed The Arab of the Future. Findakly Nota Bene Catherine Woodard Opening the Mouth of the Dead Lone Goose Press New York City–based arts and literacy advocate Catherine Woodard searches through the stories and moments of childhood for a “spell” by which to understand death and pry into the parts of life that go silent with it. Drawing on the simple mystery of old attics and rites of passage into adolescence, the childlike speaker tries to make sense of the man she sometimes called her father. The limited-edition letterpress version of this book of poems features the artwork of Margot Voorhies Thompson, who worked closely with Woodard to “knit” their arts together. Yan Lianke The Years, Months, Days Trans. Carlos Rojas Black Cat The Years, Months...