The book collectors of Daraya by Delphine Minoui, translated by Lara Vergnaud
PanMacmillan, 2020. ISBN: 9781529012323.
(Age: Adult) Highly recommended. How do you even begin to describe
this book? For most people, Syria is a far-off place in the midst of
a war that not many could say what it is about. We just know that
cities are being destroyed and its people are fleeing as refugees.
President Bashar al-Assad has painted the rebels as militant Islamic
terrorists led by Daesh or ISIS. However journalist Delphine Minoui
stumbles on an online photograph of the secret library of Daraya,
the Damascus suburb under siege by Assad's forces. It shows young
men browsing before neatly arranged shelves of books. It is an
underground library of books rescued from the rubble of bombs, each
book with the previous owner's name meticulously recorded on the
first page, in the hope that one day the book will be reunited with
its owner. In the meantime, the library is the haven of the young
rebel fighters, not terrorists, but idealistic young men who want
freedom and democracy for their country. They collect the books and
share them; the titles range from the love poems of Nizar Qabbani to
Shakespeare, to Saint-Exupery's Little Prince, to American
self-help books, to J.M Coetzee and Paulo Coelho. The library
becomes a safe meeting place for ideological discussions and English
language classes.
Outside the library the inhabitants of Daraya faced the ongoing
barrage of barrel bombs, sarin gas attacks and napalm. Minoui tells
us the story through snatched moments on WhatsApp, FaceTime and
Skype, text messages and shared photographs and videos. We get to
know each of the young men who protect the library, their passion
for books, photography, art, and poetry, and their dreams for a
better future for their country.
Daraya falls in the end, the besieged inhabitants beaten by
malnutrition and starvation. But Minoui's book remains a testament
to the courage of the young men who fought back against a cruel
dictator and aspired for a better world.
Themes: Books, Libraries, War, Resistance, Freedom, Syria.
Helen Eddy