The Timbuktu School for Nomads by Nicholas Jubber: book review

The Timbuktu School for Nomads: Lessons from the People of the Desert (2016) is set in northwest Africa from Fez in Morocco to his destination: Timbuktu in Mali.

Nicholas Jubber is setting out on the travel of his dreams – following in the footsteps of the 16th century traveller Leo Africanus in 1510. The year is 2013. And the route is a journey of 1,200 miles.

There are nine parts to this travelogue, and after each of eight parts is a lesson: baggage, riding, tracking, camp, study and play, lore, water, and score. For example, ‘the dues of hospitality extend for three days.’ The lessons are those of the Tuareg, Fulani, Berbers and others and the values within their communities.

Jubber writes of the poets of the Sahara, the Numidian Arabs, and the definition of Moor, and of the people he meets along his long journey to the mysterious mystical city of Timbuktu.

But it is not until page 179 – 60% into the book – that he writes of crossing into Mali. He has not yet reached Timbuktu. Finally, on page 265 – 87% into the book - ‘a mulberry ribbon of dawn glimmers over the boards on the outskirts of Timbuktu.’ The outskirts of Timbuktu. This is definitely not a book about the destination – it is about the journey. In fact, the original title of the book was The Timbuktu School for Nomads: Across the Sahara in the Shadow of Jihad.

The real lesson of this book is ‘it’s a long way to Timbuktu’ – or as Jimmy Buffett wrote in 2002 in his song Far Side of the World: ‘I was riding long before I flew, Through the wind and sand and stars. Caravan, Ride that hump, And Timbuktu’s a jillion bumps, Sleeping bags…’ Yes, in this Jubber travelogue, I wonder whether I’ll ever get to Timbuktu for it seems a jillion bumps away.

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

Comments

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. That

Flaws in the Glass, a self-portrait by Patrick White: book review

The manuscript, Flaws in the Glass (1981), is Patrick Victor Martindale White’s autobiography. White, born in 1912 in England, migrated to Sydney, Australia, when he was six months old. For three years, at the age of 20, he studied French and German literature at King’s College at the University of Cambridge in England. Throughout his life, he published 12 novels. In 1957 he won the inaugural Miles Franklin Literary Award for Voss, published in 1956. In 1961, Riders in the Chariot became a best-seller, winning the Miles Franklin Literary Award. In 1973, he was the first Australian author to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for The Eye of the Storm, despite many critics describing his works as ‘un-Australian’ and himself as ‘Australia’s most unreadable novelist.’ In 1979, The Twyborn Affair was short-listed for the Booker Prize, but he withdrew it from the competition to give younger writers the opportunity to win the award. His autobiography, Flaws in the Glass

The Beggars' Strike by Aminata Sow Fall: book review

The Beggar’sStrike (1979 in French and 1981 in English) is set in an unstated country in West Africa in a city known only as The Capital. Undoubtedly, Senegalese author Sow Fall writes of her own experiences. It was also encapsulated in the 2000 film, Battu , directed by Cheick Oumar Sissoko from Mali. Mour Ndiaye is the Director of the Department of Public Health and Hygiene, with the opportunity of a distinguished and coveted promotion to Vice-President of the Republic. Tourism has declined and the government blames the local beggars in The Capital. Ndiaye must rid the streets of beggars, according to a decree from the Minister. Ndiaye instructs his department to carry out weekly raids. One of the raids leads to the death of lame beggar, Madiabel, who ran into an oncoming vehicle as he tried to escape, leaving two wives and eight children. Soon after, another raid resulted in the death of the old well-loved, comic beggar Papa Gorgui Diop. Enough is enou

FEAST OR FAMINE

Search This Blog