Ms Clara Smartest in Morocco

In 1917, during the First World War, the writer Edith Wharton was invited to visit Morocco by the French Governor of the then French protectorate. She travelled around the country for a month, witnessing traditional events, admiring historical landmarks and meeting women who were part of the Vizier’s harem. Back home, she wrote a book, which was intended to be the first tour guide book of the country. It is a Westerner’s view of what was then considered the “Near East” (meaning North Africa). Edith Wharton fiercely and openly defended French governance and implicitly criticized some Arab practices. For example, she described the women of the Vizier’s harem as prisoners and unhappy and the ceremonies she witnessed were deemed primitive.

After reading the book, Ms Clara Smartest decided to travel to Morocco to get to know the country a century later. What she found was a surprising country, rooted in its traditions and accepting modernity on its own terms.

Keyword: HAPPINESS | “Le Petit Prince” [“The Little Prince”], by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

“Thank you for coming, folks”, started Mr John Booklish. “Our book for this month is ‘The Little Prince’, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. This is the second most translated book in the world (the first is the Bible). Basically, the story is about an encounter between a pilot that crashes in the desert and an alien. This alien is a little boy that comes from a star far away and is travelling throughout the universe, meeting other aliens who live on different planets. Like him, those people live alone on their little planet and each one has a certain purpose.”

“A few remarks about the author before we give you the floor”, added Ms Clara Smartest. “Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was a pilot during the war and a courier, having crossed over the desert many times. He wrote several books, including one which stem from his nearly-dead experience after crashing in the desert. The description of his hallucinations is very interesting and lively. In a way, ‘The Little Prince’ also stems from such an experience, but reflects as well his concerns about the direction the world was heading. The thesis in the book is that grown-ups forget to be open to the world, as when they were kids, and understand nothing.”

“Martha, you may take the floor now. Tell us why you enjoyed the book so much”, said Mr John Booklish.

“Well, I think the Little Prince is really sweet. He is polite, but doesn’t let go of something he wishes to understand until he does. He is curious and is exploring the world with an open mind, ready to absorb what comes in his way. It’s a pity that only too late and when he was too far away he understood how much he loved his rose and how much his rose loved him.”

“Well, the rose was really annoying, wasn’t it?”, commented Mr Jeremy Toughready.

“She was acting like that because she wanted the Little Prince to pay attention to her”, replied Miss Martha Lovefeelings a little bit irritated.

“That didn’t work very well, did it? She made him go away.”

“He went away because he wanted to explore the universe.”

“That could be true, but if she wasn’t so annoying, he wouldn’t think of leaving, I’m sure.”

“Well,” interrupted Mr John Booklish, “let’s move on. Johanna, Mark, what do you think about the book?”

“I think the pilot was having a hallucination, which helped him to cope with the situation. He was alone, had just crashed in the middle of the desert, and needed to make a repair on the plane in record time. Imagining there was a boy there with whom he could talk to would be a good distraction”, said Ms Johanna Practicewell.

“It’s a beautiful fable about how adults lose sight of the most important things in life, like what love really is and how to make friends. Those people who the Little Prince met during his journey had become so focused on their purposes they had forgotten anything else. Therefore, the story aims to remind adults how it was to be a child, full of amazement and curiosity about the world”, said Mr Mark Mindhearting. “I especially like the fox. It’s like the voice of conscience we sometimes have in our mind, telling us to look closely, to become aware of what it is all about, really. It’s the fox that says the ‘essential is invisible to the eye’, as saying to look beyond what you can see with your eyes, that the important things, or better yet the most important things, are felt, not seen.”

“Yes! People usually don’t pay attention to feelings, it’s like they are blind”, said Miss Martha Lovefeelings with an indignant tone.

“Adults have responsibilities, children don’t. We need to focus on solving problems, not in guessing that some drawings represent elephants inside snakes”, commented Mr Jeremy Toughready. “The drawing does seem like a hat.”

“A hat with eyes…”, whispered Miss Martha Lovefeelings.

“Ok, people, it’s great that you have different opinions, but you don’t need to fight. This is just a book, nothing else”, interrupted Ms Clara Smartest. “Maybe this was the author’s goal when he wrote the story, to make people stop and think about their lives. Are we really paying attention to what is important to the people in our lives? Yes, people can be annoying, but, without them, life would be very empty.”

“I agree. All the people the Little Prince encountered during his journey lived alone. Yet, they didn’t notice it because they were so absorbed with the role they were performing. Do you really miss people if you don’t even notice they aren’t there?”, asked Ms Johanna Practicewell.

“Maybe, in time. If someone is too absorbed by his or her work, once they retire, they look around and there is no one there, no one to do things with, no one to share the wins and the fails…”, said Mr Mark Mindhearting.

They went on, discussing the ending. Some were sad because they hoped that the Little Prince would be rejoined with the rose. Others presumed that the Little Prince had found a way to get back home and lived happily with his rose.

“I’m afraid our time is almost up. There was much said to think about. And I guess the best endings are those which can have different interpretations”, said Mr John Booklish.

“True”, confirmed Ms Clara Smartest. “Before we wrap up, just to let you know that the next book will be ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’, by Oscar Wilde. See you all (hopefully) in a month.”

Nomad

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a nomad is «a member of a people who have no fixed residence but move from place to place usually seasonally and within a well-defined territory». This concept applies, for example, to Bedouins, people that live in the desert, and Mongolians. The main reason why they move from place to place is because they herd animals (especially camels, in the case of Bedouins, and horses, in the case of Mongolians).

Nomads should not be confused with the merchants that used to cross the desert with goods to be sold on the other side. These caravans were very popular in the old days of the silk route and also in the Sahara Desert (think about the typical image of camels in line, full of goods attached to their back). While caravan merchants would go from one city to another, nomads would stay in the same place for a certain period of time, living in tents in the meantime.

Digital nomads modernised this concept. They too move from place to place and stay there for a certain period of time. However, instead of herding animals, they use technology to work remotely. And they do not usually live in tents, but in rented houses, although there are no rules in this respect. In fact, there are those who buy a camper van (brand new or an old one that they rebuild as they please) and literally move their house around.

The concept somehow expanded to also mean someone who roams without a purpose or a destination. However, this is different from a vagabond. A vagabond is someone who has no money, no professional occupation, and no place to live (they usually live on the street). Nomads have money and a profession, thus, they can pay for accommodation and supplies.

Being a nomad is not for everyone… but, then again, being in the same place doing the same things with the same people is not for everyone either. Before technology, people did not have much choice. If you were born into a nomad family, you would become a nomad, and if you were born, let’s say, in a farm, you would become a farmer. Of course, throughout the centuries, there were always rebels, people who did not accept their fate and would find a way to do what they really wanted (artists, mostly). However, nowadays, with new technology and the Internet, it gets easier to choose what you want to become. This does not mean that it is easy or without difficulties, for sure.

Keyword: DESERT | “Dune”, by Frank Herbert

After being postponed due to the strike of writers and actors in the USA, “Dune: Part Two” will finally open in theatres around the world this month. Both Part One and Part Two were adapted from the first book of the series “Dune”, which is the name of the first book.

Paul Atreides is the son of the Duke, who, by imperial decree, has to take a new stewardship: the planet Arrakis. The entire family has to leave their home planet, a water planet, never to return. Arrakis is a desert planet, also known as Dune, with nothing but sand, gigantic worms, and spice. Spice is what makes this planet so valuable and worms are the creatures that produced it by interacting with the sand. Needless to say that those worms are deadly and harvesting the spice is extremely dangerous. The previous steward of Arrakis, who was removed by the emperor, is extremely wealthy due to the spice harvesting. Why did the emperor transfer this stewardship, banishing the previous Duke from his home planet and drying his wealth source? And why has the arrival of Paul Atreides been so anticipated by the people of Arrakis? And what role will the Fremen, the native people of Arrakis, have in the story?

“Dune”, by Frank Herbert, is considered a classic of science fiction and a cult book for many. In truth, this is just the first volume of a series of six. Many topics are intertwined and its brilliantly-achieved complexity is what makes this book, and the subsequent volumes, so epic. Things are never as they seem and the story takes several unexpected turns over and over again. For example, at the beginning of the book, the Fremen are presented as savages who do nothing but terrorist acts. When Paul Atreides is forced to flee from the ducal palace, he must take refuge with them. We then learn how Fremen have adapted to life in the desert, their relationship with the gigantic worms and also how water is central in their lives. Fremen also have the project of transforming the desert into a forest, which is actually achieved in a later book of the series, but with devastating consequences.

Of course, the story is not just about survival techniques and mega projects. There is a rebellion in the making that will change the whole empire and a mysterious organization of women that will have a crucial role in the process. These women dedicate their lives to the organization and use all their craft (natural and learned) to achieve their goals.

Unfortunately, Frank Herbert died before he could finish the series.

The six volumes of “Dune”:

#1 Dune
#2 Dune Messiah
#3 Children of Dune
#4 God Emperor of Dune
#5 Heretics of Dune
#6 Chapterhouse: Dune

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