Leaving Tangier: A Novel

Review: Leaving Tangier by Tahar Ben Jelloun. 3.5 Stars 02/17/2019Tahar Ben Jelloun, a great Moroccan writer can relate about Morocco, the city on the Strait of Gibraltar and the life, the hopes, the deceptive power of appearances, the corruption of its population. When I started reading the English version of this book I couldn’t tell who the narrator was, however in some areas it was Azel the main character who narrated.The dreams of Azel are the same as many young people who just want to leave Morocco forever and find work in Europe. Azel is memorized by the bright lights of Spain which is visible from Morocco. The story is about Azel and his sister, Kenza, both wish to leave Morocco for greater opportunities. Azel had a chance to get a degree in Law and International Relations but he can’t find work and Kenza is a trained nurse and talented dancer, who is a little more established and adapts to the Moroccans but still wants out. Azel has struggled through life and he will soon be able to leave Morocco. Azel meets Miguel, an elderly Spanish art dealer offers to take him away from Morocco and Miguel also marries Kenza just to be a father figure and friend. Azel soon finds out there comes a price for what Miguel has offered….

Settling into the book was easy enough with writing that sets the scenes well but the characters were difficult to engage with.In a book like this you want to engage closely with the characters, empathise, criticise and go with them on their journey, yet it always felt like there was a pane of glass between the reader and the characters so you could not quite touch or engage with them on the level you needed to to realy feel the story here.A worthwhile read but not on top of the pile.

This novel has various narrators but the plot follows loads of hot topics and how a handful of characters deal with those in an oppressive Morocco.

Loved this book! Wonderful descriptions and unforgettable characters. Gritty and believable for a generation looking for a better life and the price they would pay for it.

This is must read for any one who wants to know more about contemporary Morocco, and/or the Arab Spring. Azel, the main character, and his sister Kenza are young people with hopes and dreams, but the only way they can see to fulfill them is to leave home, and cross the strait to Spain. They'll go to extraordinary lengths to accomplish that end. The results may be more than they bargained for. Tahar ben Jelloun's writing makes you care desperately about these all-too-human characters. I couldn't put it down.

Sad,yearning story of educated people who have no where to go in their home country.Leaving home is not always the answer to find happiness and success while trying to forget or ignore the personal issues that drove the decision. Can you go home again?

This was a great book about being gay in other countries and like many gay people here and in many other situations as well, thinking the grass is always greener on the other side. Unfortunately this is not always the case as our young hero finds nor does his sister who leaves to join him in searching for a better future as well. This a very good novel, one I highly recommend and that would make an excellent play I do believe.

Living in Spain as I do and overlooking Morocco, I found it interesting to get into the mindset of the Moroccan people. It puts many issues into perspective and when we read the newspapers telling of people dying en route to Europe...it resonates much more deeply. The book also examines the various attitudes of people who leave their homeland and how it impacts their lives in so many different ways....a good easily readable book.

I wasn't initially sure I would enjoy reading Leaving Tangier because it took me quite a while to get into this novel. I'm not sure how close the translation is to the original French text, but at times sentences seemed clumsy. I also wasn't convinced by some of the dialogue, especially when different characters launch into speeches in remarkably similar voices! However, those points aside, Leaving Tangier gave me insights into the many reasons why North African people - mostly Morocccans here - feel compelled to abandon their homes and risk a treacherous sea crossing in order to reach Spain and, perhaps, a new life. I also learned about Spaniards making the reverse journey for exactly the same reasons decades earlier to escape poverty under Franco's regime. How come those stories of emigration aren't widely told these days?!I appreciated meeting a reasonably large cast of characters which allowed me to understand a range of viewpoints, Moroccan and Spanish. Jalloun portrays desperation well, but also illustrates the fear and, surprisingly to me, the extreme boredom experienced by illegal immigrants who, having theoretically attained their goal, are unable to legally work or even perhaps to live with any semblance of dignity. Leaving Tangier movingly shows us people risking and giving up everything they have then, sadly for most of them, not being able to succeed. The novel does include violent sexual scenes and a strong theme is sex as currency. I was left feeling quite cynical at the way humans use and manipulate those they perceive as weaker than themselves.

Some interesting characters who could have made for an interesting book but their stories were haphazard and their deaths sudden