Timbuktu, a place long mythologised in the Western imagination as the “African El Dorado” was once a thriving medieval centre of learning, home to thousands of priceless manuscripts . In 2012, the city faced a new threat when jihadists linked to Al-Qaeda invaded Mali. As the extremists advanced, a courageous network of local librarians and archivists undertook a daring mission to smuggle the ancient texts to safety…
This month’s read had mixed reviews, possibly more due to its format, rather than the story itself. The book chapters alternated between the history of Timbuktu (and its discovery by Europeans), and the story of the book smugglers. One reader commented that they thought it would probably have been a bit dry without this, and they found the changes in perspective kept it engaging. However another reader felt that this muddled the story.
One group member commented that it was the sort of book that they would usually read, but that they had found it a struggle and had to force themselves to finish. Another member skim read to the end, as they wanted to know what happened but found the prose quite heavy going, although well researched.
Reading about the Victorian explorers attempting to reach Timbuktu was quite interesting as many of us hadn’t really considered the issues that they would face. Problems such as the hostile terrain, disease, exhaustion and logistics (lack of accurate maps, finances, trustworthy guides and transport) all took their toll on the early adventurers. Some of the same issues were faced by the librarians when they were trying to smuggle the manuscripts out of the city to safety.
Having sets of photographs and drawings in the book proved popular. It not only gave a bit more perspective to the story, with the contrast between the librarians and the Victorian explorers, but one reader commented that they were using them as ‘mini milestones’ – a reward for getting through the chapters. The group did slightly go off at a tangent when discussing what a manuscript actually was but the book described them as ranging from religious tracts to bills of sale. The mixture of types of manuscript sounded similar (but obviously much older) to those held in the archives of European countries.
Our readers generally enjoyed the way the ending tied together the threads of the book. It was interesting reading the contrast between what people thought had been destroyed by the jihadists, and what had been rescued. A couple of group members commented that they thought focusing on the number of manuscripts was the wrong way to look at it, when it was fantastic that anything at all had been rescued. While there may have been exaggerations about the number of manuscripts rescued, the danger that the librarians and archivists would have faced was real.
A book of two halves, we gave The Book Smugglers of Timbuktu a solid 4/5
Our next reading group book is a donation from a publisher – The Rest of Our Lives by Ben Markovits.
When Tom’s wife had an affair, he resolved to leave her once their children had grown up. Twelve years later, after driving his daughter to university, he remembers his pact and keeps driving West to visit friends, family and an old girlfriend.
But he also has secrets of his own – trouble at work and health issues – and sometimes running away is the hardest thing to do.
Pick up your copy from the Education Centre Library now, then come along to discuss it at our next Teams meeting on Wednesday 18th March, at 1.00pm
Find out more about our reading groups here or take a look at some of our previous book reviews.
We look forward to seeing you!
