Narrator Nikki Massoud’s strong, clear voice brings listeners the determination of journalist Delphine Minoui as she pieces together the unlikely story of an underground library in Daraya, the city where the Syrian civil war began. Massoud sounds confident, firm, and consistent as Minoui describes her travels through the Middle East's conflict-torn libraries. Eventually, Massoud retells the stories of Ahmed and his friends, young Syrian men whose shared love of books fueled their determination to scavenge a large collection of books from the ruins of their ravaged city. Speaking with an undercurrent of passion, Massoud underscores Minoui's belief in the importance of Ahmed's story, as well as those of his city and country. M.R. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
The Book Collectors: A Band of Syrian Rebels and the Stories That Carried Them Through a War
Narrated by Nikki Massoud
Delphine MinouiUnabridged — 4 hours, 22 minutes
The Book Collectors: A Band of Syrian Rebels and the Stories That Carried Them Through a War
Narrated by Nikki Massoud
Delphine MinouiUnabridged — 4 hours, 22 minutes
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Overview
Award-winning journalist Delphine Minoui recounts the true story of a band of young rebels, a besieged Syrian town, and an underground library built from the rubble of war
Reading is an act of resistance.
Daraya is a town outside Damascus, the very spot where the Syrian Civil War began. Long a site of peaceful resistance to the Assad regimes, Daraya fell under siege in 2012. For four years, no one entered or left, and aid was blocked. Every single day, bombs fell on this place-a place of homes and families, schools and children, now emptied and broken into bits.
And then a group searching for survivors stumbled upon a cache of books in the rubble. In a week, they had six thousand volumes; in a month, fifteen thousand. A sanctuary was born: a library where people could escape the blockade, a paper fortress to protect their humanity.
The library offered a marvelous range of books-from Arabic poetry to American self-help, Shakespearean plays to stories of war in other times and places. The visitors shared photos and tales of their lives before the war, planned how to build a democracy, and tended the roots of their community despite shell-shocked soil.
In the midst of the siege, the journalist Delphine Minoui tracked down one of the library's founders, twenty-three-year-old Ahmad. Over text messages, WhatsApp, and Facebook, Minoui came to know the young men who gathered in the library, exchanged ideas, learned English, and imagined how to shape the future, even as bombs kept falling from above. By telling their stories, Minoui makes a far-off, complicated war immediate and reveals these young men to be everyday heroes as inspiring as the books they read. The Book Collectors is a testament to their bravery and a celebration of the power of words.
Editorial Reviews
An Editors' Pick at Library Journal
A Fall 2020 Preview Pick at Lit Hub and Kirkus
“This is an urgent and compelling account of great bravery and passion. Delphine Minoui has crafted a book that champions books and the individuals who risk everything to preserve them.”
—Susan Orlean, author of The Library Book
"[An] incredible chronicle . . . The book tells the kind of story that often gets buried beneath images of violence."
—Corinne Segal, Lit Hub
"An extraordinary story about the passion for books in war-torn Syria . . . Shelve this one next to Reading Lolita in Tehran. Heartbreaking, inspiring, and beautifully told."
—Kirkus, starred review
“I was so moved by this account of the young rebels of Daraya, Syria, who, in the midst of a four-year blockade by Assad’s forces (including having poison gas used against them), set up a library with books rescued from bombed and destroyed buildings, an underground (in both senses of the word) library that grew to more than 15,000 titles, ranging from Stephen Covey’s The 7 Habits of Highly Successful People to Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist, and everything in between. In this testimony to the power of reading, these lines stood out: ‘Books are their best way to escape the war, if only temporarily. A melody of words against the dirge of bombs.’”
—Nancy Pearl, author of Book Lust and George and Lizzie
"The Book Collectors hurt me like never before, because I hold this country I have never visited, my country, close to my heart . . . Readers discover how the magic of books kept the rebels motivated, hopeful, sane and, most importantly, alive. From informal classes and impromptu dances to an epistolary relationship, we discover how a cathedral of paper became a sanctuary, a home for the future and a temple of hope . . . Honest and brutal, it opens your eyes to the nightmares of war but also to the glory of books and reading."
—Bader Saab, Patheos
"This compassionate portrayal of an engaging group of rebels serves as a testament to both the resilience of the human spirit and to the power of story. Highly recommended for those interested in current events, Middle East history and politics, and personal accounts of war."
—Library Journal, starred review
"Readers will be moved by the plight of the people of Daraya, and inspired by their faith in the power of books to give information, release, and hope."
—Booklist, starred review
"A haunting portrait . . . Fluidly translated and emotionally powerful, this devastating account pays tribute to the 'dream of a better world that never fully came true.'"
—Publishers Weekly
"[The Book Collectors] provides depth and heart to a story both inspiring and remarkable."
—Jefferson City News Tribune
“Absolutely essential reading. With masterful storytelling, Delphine Minoui recounts the struggle and tenacity of the youth of Daraya who, in the shadow of a merciless war, rescue books from the rubble and bring to life a library unlike any other. Each page connects us to their strength and their spirit as well as to the power of words in a crumbling world. This book is an ode to resistance, to freedom, and to life.”
—Négar Djavadi, author of Disoriental
"After reading this book, there can be no doubt. Not about the power of words versus the words of those in power. Not about the importance of literature in times of despair. And not about the strength of Delphine Minoui's pen, as she honors the act of resistance against the disaster of war."
—Atiq Rahimi, author of A Curse on Dostoevsky
★ 08/01/2020
During the early years of the ongoing Syrian civil war, in the town of Daraya, southwest of the capital of Damascus, civilians were subjected to a ruthless siege by government forces and affiliated militias. Despite this devastation, a few dozen people created an oasis of peace by forming an underground library, salvaging thousands of books from the ruins of their beloved community. In 2015, French Iranian journalist Minoui (I'm Writing You from Tehran) discovered the library via Facebook and interviewed the activist librarians, following their activities on social media from her headquarters in Istanbul, then traveling to Beirut, Lebanon, and close to the Syrian borders to meet some of these book collectors. The group is depicted as part of a moderate, pacifist civil disobedience opposition, whose mission is a movement toward individual freedom by keeping dreams alive through books that take them beyond the misery of their besieged town. VERDICT This compassionate portrayal of an engaging group of rebels serves as a testament to both the resilience of the human spirit and to the power of story. Highly recommended for those interested in current events, Middle East history and politics, and personal accounts of war. [See "Turn the Page," p. 18.]—Ali Houissa, Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY
Narrator Nikki Massoud’s strong, clear voice brings listeners the determination of journalist Delphine Minoui as she pieces together the unlikely story of an underground library in Daraya, the city where the Syrian civil war began. Massoud sounds confident, firm, and consistent as Minoui describes her travels through the Middle East's conflict-torn libraries. Eventually, Massoud retells the stories of Ahmed and his friends, young Syrian men whose shared love of books fueled their determination to scavenge a large collection of books from the ruins of their ravaged city. Speaking with an undercurrent of passion, Massoud underscores Minoui's belief in the importance of Ahmed's story, as well as those of his city and country. M.R. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
★ 2020-06-06
An extraordinary story about the passion for books in war-torn Syria.
Minoui, a Middle East correspondent for Le Figaro, opens with the story of a photograph she saw in 2015 on a Facebook page called Humans of Syria. Taken in Istanbul, it shows two young Syrian men standing in an enclosed room with thousands of books on shelves all around them. Their city, Daraya, was surrounded by Bashar al-Assad’s troops and was being regularly bombed; yet here was a secret, underground library. “Amid the bedlam,” writes the author, “they cling to books as if to life.” How was this possible? Minoui contacted Ahmad, the photographer and one of the “cofounders of this secret haven.” He told her about his devastated, bombed-out city and the books found in destroyed buildings. The author tells two stories: one about the library and the other about a city that had been starved and attacked since 2012 and whose population went from 250,000 to 12,000. In 2013, Ahmad and some friends began collecting books and hiding them underground in a damaged building. They built shelves and organized the books. “From the ruins,” writes Minoui, “a fortress of paper would arise,” an oasis that became popular not just for the books on all kinds of subjects—including much-needed medical textbooks—but as a place for people to gather, talk freely, and learn. They even started a small magazine. More bombs fell, some loaded with sarin gas. The building housing the library was hit, damaging the books, but the dedicated keepers glued pages back in. After 1,350 days of siege, they were struck with napalm. In 2016, the city surrendered, and its people evacuated. The library was pillaged, the books sold “for cheap on the sidewalk of a flea market in Damascus….Four years of saving Daraya’s heritage swapped for a few coins.” It’s an agonizing tale, but readers will be appreciative that Minoui has brought it to light. Shelve this one next to Reading Lolita in Tehran.
Heartbreaking, inspiring, and beautifully told.
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940177391816 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Penguin Random House |
| Publication date: | 11/03/2020 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
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