Damascus Nights by Rafik Schami + Reading Around the World (Vol. 2)

Damascus Nights [1989/95] – ★★★★

German-Syrian author’s novel relies heavily on the Al-Qaskhun/Al-Hakawati or Storyteller tradition of the Middle East (think One Thousand and One Nights) to tell the story of one coachman Salim, who, inexplicably, lost his voice even though he is a gifted storyteller. The year is 1959, the place is Damascus, Syria, and Salim’s seven loyal friends started to devise ingenious ways to enable Salim to talk again. One of the solutions proposed is that each of Salim’s friends should tell him his own story, and when Salim hears them all, he would be able to speak again (“the curse of his muteness will be broken”). So, begins the whirlpool of fables blending seamlessly reality and fiction to one spellbinding effect, as each of Salim’s friends – locksmith Ali, geography teacher Mehdi, barber Musa, former statesman Faris, Tuma, the “emigrant”, café owner Junis, and once unjustly imprisoned Isam, all try to outsmart and outspeak each other. However, is Salim the cleverest and slyest of them all in the end?

Rafik Schami pays tribute to the tradition of storytelling in Syria, that goes as far back as the Ottoman Empire of the early 1500s. Storytelling’s magical pull still fascinates many, and for that reason, is often linked to wizardly or elevated to the height of religious significance. So, there are bewitching stories within stories in this novel that all revolve around one common theme – the mystery and power of the human voice and storytelling. There are many “Scheherazades” in this story, but all of them have one single puzzle to solve – not only to return Salim’s voice, but get to the bottom of the teaching of their varied life experience and stories they were told when little. What was the final lesson? What is the secret behind the magnetic pull exercised by eloquent storytellers? One of Salim’s friends may be close to answering this question by saying: “What amazed me was that the good hakawatis (“storytellers”) didn’t have flying carpets constantly whizzing around, or dragons spitting fire, or witches concocting crazy potions. They kept their listeners just as spellbound with the simplest things. But there’s one thing that even a bad hakawati has to have—a good memory” [Touchstone publications, 1995: 178 (emphasis added)].

In other respects, the novel is a comfy enough read that transports the reader to the streets of one of the oldest cities in the world – Damascus (dating as far back as 10,000 BC). The rhythms and pulses of the city are conveyed by all the atmospheric descriptions of the place and its various characters. So much so that, while reading, we can just about inhale the aroma of all the spices emanating from the window of a nearest kitchen or can guess the true character of a personage by their eccentric walk. There are fairy-tales here of people being jinxed and their natural talents being traded for money, but at the core of it are still ordinary people bonding, crying, laughing and experiencing all the ordinary life tribulations, and in the midst of one complex geopolitical situation plaguing the country.

Rafik Schami is a curious, extremely versatile author, whose fiction often blends truth and fiction, trying to get to the bottom of both. Damascus Nights is both childishly simple and, at its very core, – insightfully puzzling and inspiring. Steeped in the Middle Eastern folklore, there are stories here of kindness, loyalty, betrayal, and overcoming hardship through one’s will alone. 🧞‍♂️

I previously enjoyed so much my Around the World in 50 Books reading challenge that I have decided to “upgrade”/extend this challenge to 80 books, and then title the challenge Around the World in 80 Books. That means I have another 30 books to read for this challenge – books set in 30 different countries. I completed my initial challenge of 50 books in just under three years, and, hopefully, this updated challenge will take less time. What I particularly loved about this challenge is that it introduced me to many authors I would never have even known had I never started the challenge. It broadens the reading horizons considerably, especially when it comes to books from Africa, Middle East and Latin America. Damascus Nights is set in Syria, and is the second book after Krleža’s On the Edge of Reason (set in Croatia) to count for this extended challenge. This is my personal challenge, but anyone who is interested in joining can certainly do so by also grabbing the banner (with 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 etc. books to read as it suits you), or I would like to know about your own plans for any similar reading challenge or its progress (also promoted by Goodreads – Around the World in 80 Books).