Friday, March 26, 2021

In Morocco by Edith Wharton

 "To step on board a steamer in a Spanish port, and three hours later to land in a country without a guide-book, is a sensation to rouse the hunger of the repletest sight-seer."
 


In September 1917, Edith Wharton traveled to Morocco. She spent a month there, making her way from Fez to Marrakech in a French military motorcar. She described the cities, detailed the architecture, reported on the ceremonies she viewed, and even included a brief sketch of Morocco's history. It's obvious she did her homework before embarking on this trip; she knew the names of key historical figures, the dates, and the important events in their lives. 
"To see Morocco during the war was therefore to see it in the last phase of its curiously abrupt transition from remoteness and danger to security and accessibility; at a moment when its aspect and its customs were still almost unaffected by European influences, and when the 'Christian' might taste the transient joy of wandering unmolested in cities of ancient mystery and hostility."
This is not an exciting or fast read. Though Wharton chronicles her trip by describing each city and place she visited with exacting detail, she's barely in the book herself. You get no sense of her, or of the people she travelled with, or met. The most exciting thing that happens is a sudden dust storm in Marrakech. Their visit to the Sultan's harem was interesting, too. But mostly this book left me wishing she'd written a fictionalized account of her trip to Morocco instead. That's a book I would love to read! Sadly, I did not love this travelogue. 

Wharton's fine writing does shine through in places however, like in these gems:
"If one loses one's way in Morocco, civilization vanishes as though it were a magic carpet rolled up by a Djinn."

"How can it seem other than a dream? Who can have conceived, in the heart of a savage Saharan camp, the serenity of this hidden place?"

I've owned this book for well over a decade, and now that I've read it, I'm glad I can finally take it off my TBR shelf where it's been gathering dust. I also get to count it as my Travel or Adventure Classic for Karen's Back to the Classics Challenge. So that's good, too.

Happy Reading!

 

  

42 comments:

  1. I hadn't heard of this one. Doesn't it feel great when you finally read something you've owned for a long while? It's funny, often I've had to buy certain books and they still remain unread on my shelves...LOL

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    1. It does feel great to finally read a book that I've owned for so many years. I've had this book for over a decade! It's like once I bought it I felt no urgency to read it, so I let it languish on my shelves forever. :)

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  2. Who knew Edith Wharton traveled to Morocco? It sounds like a trip to both another place and time.

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    1. I never would have pictured her as the adventurous type... and traveling to Morocco back then was a pretty big adventure.

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  3. I've had this on my Nook for an age. I did actually start to read it a couple of years ago but was less than overwhelmed by it so left off and never got back to it. I'm with you, she should have used it to write something fictional.

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    1. I really wish she had used this trip as the setting for one of her fiction books. It would have been an amazing read! This nonfiction book not so much.

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    2. I would love to read that! I have her biography (800 pages!), which I'm hoping to read this year. Maybe there are some details about her trip.

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    3. I hope they mention her trip to Morocco in that biography! It'd be interesting to see what they say about it.

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  4. Interesting! Too bad it didn't work better. Morocco in 1917 should have been a fascinating place.

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    1. Yes! But Wharton's writing style in this one was a bit dry, and not at all like her fiction writing.

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  5. Edith Wharton wrote a travelogue? And it talks about the harem in Morocco? Well, well, well. You're right; I am wondering how much of fiction has been mixed up in the fact. Still, good that you could knock off one from your TBR. :-)
    ~ Lex

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    1. It is good to knock this one off my TBR shelf! :)

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  6. While I doubt that I'll ever read this one, it's kind of nice to learn that Wharton wrote something like this. I agree with you that I would prefer a fictionalized version of all that research she did. I visited Morocco in the early 90s and found it interesting in many ways, but we had to stay on the "tourist track" for our personal safety as Americans really stood out of the tourist crowd.

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    1. You're so lucky! I've always wanted to go to Morocco and see Fez and Volubilis and Marrakech. I'm still hoping I can get there someday.

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  7. This sounds interesting. It's a bummer that it didn't live up to expectations. I can imagine a fictionalized version of her time there would've been great.

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    1. Yeah, I was sorry this wasn't better, too. It was a little too descriptive and kind of boring.

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  8. Didn't know that Edith Wharton wrote a nonfiction book but it sounds like her tremendous talent was in writing fiction and I agree a novel about Morocco by Wharton would have been great. Reminds me that I must read more of her novels.

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    1. I really wish she had used this trip as a basis for one of her novels! That would have been a book to read. :)

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  9. I don't do well in hot countries so I wouldn't want to go there for that reason but it does look like a fascinating country!

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    1. I've always wanted to go to Morocco. Maybe someday! :)

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  10. Well, I'm surprised to hear that Wharton took off on an adventure like this. I'm interested in her perspective as a New York aristocrat on a totally different world.

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    1. I was surprised to find she traveled to Morocco, too, and that it was during WWI. And I wish she'd given more of her own personal thoughts and opinions in this book, but it was more just description and history of Morocco.

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  11. I think it would be really interesting to learn about Morocco back then.

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    1. It was interesting to get a feel for life in Morocco then.

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  12. Aw, I'm sorry this wasn't more gripping. Travelogues can be tough to get through sometimes even when the destination is fascinating or noteworthy. I do love that first quote. I've always had a thing for Morocco for some reason.

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    1. Morocco is a fascinating place and one I've always wanted to see. Maybe someday, right? :)

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  13. Too bad it wasn't a bit more exciting. At least you get to check off one from your challenge, though. :)

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    1. Yes! I think that's the best part of this one. :)

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  14. I'm glad you liked it a bit even though it wasn't exciting or fast.

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    1. :) I like it even more that I can finally check it off my TBR list.

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  15. How nice it is to finally get to the shelf sitters right? How fascinating to have traveled there back then and too bad it wasn't exactly what you were hoping for but still does sound interesting.

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    1. It did have some interesting moments hidden among the less interesting passages. But I do find it fascinating that she even travelled there at that time.

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  16. What a disappointment--based on the title and author, I was fully expecting to add another must-read to my list. I also like to have the author be part of the travelogue narrative--that's what separates a travelogue from a mere guidebook, although your quotes elevate this above the traditional guidebook!

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    1. I was disappointed, too, because I really love Edith Wharton's writing, but this leaned more towards travel guidebook than fascinating travel memoir.

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  17. This book sounds like an interesting read but it's too bad that it didn't have too much of the narrator's personal account; which I feel would make this book a much better reading experience. That said, Morocco fascinates me so I may probably read this with a different expectation. :)

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    1. Morocco is fascinating! I'd really like to go there someday.

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  18. If you can't travel in person, travel via books! Plus, you get to sort of time travel too, in this instance.

    Surely someone should take you up and write a fictionalized version of this! I'd read it.

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    1. Traveling by book is one of my favorite things. (And so much cheaper than traveling by plane or train.) :D

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  19. I loved Wharton's fiction but never knew she had written a travelogue. Sorry to hear it wasn't more of an exciting read, although Morocco does sound like a really interesting travel destination.

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    1. Morocco has always interested me. I hope I get to go there someday.

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  20. I love Edith Wharton and have read a lot of her books, but I hadn't even heard of this one. I'm not sure if I want to read this travelogue or stick with her fiction . . .

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    1. Stick with her fiction! This was good, but not as good as it could have been.

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