Author: Delphine Minoui
Title: The Book Collectors of Daraya: A Band of Syrian Rebels, Their Underground Library and the Stories that Carried Them Through a War
Translated: by Lara Vergnaud from French to English
Published: in March 2021 by Picador
Genre: Non-Fiction
“Our revolution was meant to build, not destroy.” – Ahmad Muaddamani
Delphine Minoui tells the true story of a group of young men who saved books from the wreckage of their city, Daraya. I’m always a bit wary when journalists tell someone else’s story but my doubts were truly set aside with the manner in which Minoui consistently centres the voices of the men she was in correspondence with.
I really appreciated the way Minoui not only relayed the story of the book collectors and the other people of Daraya, but also the way she provided valuable context. She spotlighted the revolutionary history of Daraya, its role in the uprising that began in 2011 as well as earlier protests in the 90s. This highlighted the unique modern history of Daraya and why it was significant.
The book collectors created a library that became a space for reading and discovering books, for debates, for seeking knowledge in every way. It became a place to try and uphold some kind of normalcy in the library underground, while above ground, the already destroyed town was continually bombed. Most of all, it became a place of hope.
Four years under siege, blockaded and constantly bombed by the regime, portrayed as extremists, a life lived underground; a brutal reality for the people of Daraya. Minoui conveyed how this translated into every aspect of their daily lived experiences. Making soup with hot water and spices to try and convince their bodies that they’ve had a meal. The ever expanding cemetery with cardboard gravestones making do. The malnourished children who had stopped growing. “Women hold back their tears as they hum nursery rhymes.”
Fellow book lovers will appreciate the power of books and relate to the way they were so important to this community. The brutality inflicted by the regime was hard to read about, but the least we can do is bear witness. This book was beautifully written and I could feel the admiration, respect and love for the people of Daraya, of Syria, in the author’s words.
“Do books hold, if not the key to happiness, at least the power to make us believe in it?”
Safiya Reads 