Book Markets in the Middle East

Posted on 2017-05-08 by Andreas Moser

In Iraq, booksellers leave the books at the side of the road overnight, thinking: “Readers don’t steal, and thieves don’t read.”

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That reminds me of an episode during my first visit to Iran.

In a used-book shop, I found so many interesting books in English and German that the owner carefully asked me after a while if I needed more time. “Why?” I was wondering. “Oh, it’s just that I would like to go to lunch soon,” he explained. No problem. I would come back in an hour, I said. “No, no, you don’t have to leave,” he replied. “If you can still spend half an hour here, I will quickly go to lunch and you can stay here in the meantime.” So he left his store to a complete stranger.

At the book markets near the University of Tehran, I learned that the most interesting and the most foreign-language books can be found in the most hidden shops. After entering a run-down building, going to the second courtyard, walking up to the fourth floor and then crossing through some other shops until you reach the last room, you find the place where the literature from the time before the Islamic Revolution in 1979 is being kept.

In a shop for law books, I met an Iranian lawyer who asked me where I was from. “From Germany.” “Oh, Germany! I love three things about Germany: Andreas Brehme, the Frankfurter Schule and Hugo Grotius.“ Andreas Brehme had already retired by that time and Hugo Grotius was actually Dutch, but still, I found it an impressive line-up. Usually, people only think of Hitler and Mercedes-Benz when I disclose my country of origin.

(Thanks to Alaa Sattar for the photo of Houwaish market in Najaf in Iraq. – Hier geht es zur deutschen Fassung.)

Posted in Books, Iran, Travel | Tagged , | 7 Comments

“Death in Venice”

Posted on 2017-05-05 by Andreas Moser

… and there goes Gustav von Aschenbach:

“Death in Venice“ is not my favorite book by Thomas Mann, but he is one of my most favorite authors.

I have met a few people who have dismissed Thomas Mann as a writer after reading “Death in Venice”. In doing so, they commit the literary mistake of their lifetime. Try “Confessions of Felix Krull, Confidence Man” for a light, entertaining read or “Buddenbrooks” for a family saga. If you are up for more of a challenge – and a treat – , read “The Magic Mountain” or “Doctor Faustus” if you are interested in music.

(C) for the photo: Andreas Moser, in Venice in January 2012

Posted in Books, Italy, Photography | Tagged , | 1 Comment

The advice Trump got from Abbas

Posted on 2017-05-03 by Andreas Moser

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Abbas:  Hey, Mr President, you know when I had my last election?

Trump:  Um, um, I am not so good with history. I’ll have to ask Stephen.

Abbas:  I’ll tell you. I was elected in 2005.

Trump:  And you’re still in office now?

Abbas:  Obviously.

Trump:  Wow, that’s a loooong term, that’s yuuuuge. That’s like, um, um, a lot of years definitely.

Abbas:  That’s 12 years – without another election! But you know what’s the best thing about it?

Trump:  No.

Abbas:  It’s unconstitutional. My original term was 4 years. Just like yours. *wink, wink*

Trump:  How did you get around that?

Abbas:  I simply cancelled the elections. You have to find some reason, of course, like terrorism or national security or some bla bla. But hey, what can people do? You’re the President!

Trump:  Can you stay for lunch? I’d like you to meet some of my smarter guys and explain to them how you did it. I am really, really interested in this. Bigly.

Links:

Posted in Israel, Politics, USA | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Documentary “Cuba – Fatherland or Death”

Posted on 2017-05-03 by Andreas Moser

I have already expressed my surprise about how lightly Cuba gets off in international public opinion. But recently, I have been shocked again by how many people can travel to Cuba for a week or two and describe everything as beautiful, nice, funny, friendly and so on. Are they blind? What’s worse, I think many of these visitors want to be blind. They don’t want to know about censorship, they don’t want to find out about political prisoners, they don’t want to ask why Cubans are fleeing the country.

I am tired of yet more superficial reports and photos of vintage cars (you think people want to hold on to uneconomical gas-guzzlers?), cigars (any cigar smoker can tell you that Cuban cigars are overrated), colorful architecture (beautiful for a film set, but not safe to live in) and all the smiles (Cubans know what tourists want and you don’t want to talk to the families of imprisoned dissidents or people who have to prostitute themselves to survive, who might not smile, do you?).

I’ll rather watch documentaries like this:

Here is an interview with the filmmakers:

(Thanks to Edward Allen for the pointer.)

Posted in Cinema, Cuba, Economics, Politics, Travel | 3 Comments

Going on a Cruise again

Posted on 2017-05-02 by Andreas Moser

For my imminent return to Europe, I have, in line with my romantic and old-fashioned disposition, chosen the steamship over the plane.

Thus, I will be cruising the Caribbean and the Atlantic for two weeks, leaving from Cartagena in Colombia on 11 May 2017 with stops in

  • Sint Maarten,
  • maybe even a walk to Saint Martin, which will hopefully still be in the European Union after the French elections,
  • Antigua and
  • Madeira

before arriving in Lisbon on 25 May 2017.

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At 550 Euros, the journey is only slightly more expensive than by plane, but it includes the food for two weeks, more space, comfort and adventure, so it’s well worth it – particularly considering that my next trips will be long walks across Europe which won’t cost anything.

As on my last cruise, I am also looking forward to two weeks without internet. But that means that if you want a postcard from one of the islands in the Caribbean, you have to tell me by 10 May 2017 at the latest. Considering the icebergs, accidents and pirates, this may be the last chance. But even if I survive, it will be a tough journey:

If you feel sick after watching this for three minutes, imagine what it will be like to endure this for two weeks – day and night.

(Hier gibt es diese Ankündigung auf Deutsch.)

Posted in Antigua, Colombia, France, Madeira, Portugal, Sint Maarten, Travel | Tagged , , | 9 Comments

Random Thoughts (13)

Posted on 2017-05-02 by Andreas Moser
  1. Where exactly is the line between the Near East, the Middle East and the Far East? 
  2. I am so old-school, when I am in a remote location, I miss newspapers more than the internet.
  3. I have never received as many Couchsurfing invitations as in Colombia.
  4. If you need to learn being patient, postpone it to next year. That’s a good first lesson in patience.
  5. I admit that I use Tinder, but mainly for learning Spanish.
  6. But sometimes, it also helps to get a feeling for a city: in Cartagena in Colombia, half the girls on Tinder are prostitutes. Sad city. So bad that the rest of the women feel the need to mention that they are not prostitutes.
  7. I can’t afford other ways of adrenaline, so I have to wait for natural disasters.
  8. If you set your computer’s location to Afghanistan, you get bombarded with less adverting.
  9. One day, the majority of people may find it gross or obviously morally wrong to kill animals to eat them.
  10. But this might take longer in the Republic of Georgia, where patrons of a vegan restaurant were disturbed by a mob of people who pelted sausages and meat at them.
  11. Even in the 1990s, my grandmother in Germany believed that I would die if I didn’t eat meat. My counterargument about the millions of people in India who never ate meat and lived until old age didn’t convince her because, as she put it: “You are not an Indian.”
  12. Anyway, I am alive now and my grandmother isn’t, so I won the argument.
  13. I have no fixed plans beyond June.
  14. Macedonia is becoming increasingly interesting. Maybe I will move there after my return to Europe.
  15. The story about an FBI translator who secretly traveled to Syria to marry Denis Cuspert, the German ISIS recruiter, is crazy. But if a white, middle-aged American woman who makes no secret of working for the FBI can travel around ISIS territory unharmed, maybe it’s not that dangerous there after all.

Posted in Afghanistan, Colombia, Food, Georgia, Germany, India, Macedonia, Politics, Syria, Terrorism, Travel, USA | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Germany 1945-1949

Posted on 2017-04-29 by Andreas Moser

These two films illustrate – with quite drastic footage, you are warned – what the Allied powers thought of Germany immediately after the end of World War II. They did see, correctly in my view, a continuity of German militarism and aggression from Prussia to the German Empire to the Third Reich.

What changed so quickly after 1945?

The Cold War.

If it hadn’t been for the division of Europe, these two films and not the Marshall Plan might well have set the tone for the future treatment of Germany by the rest of the world, for decades to come.

Posted in Cinema, Cold War, Germany, History, Holocaust, Military, USA, World War II | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Romania in Paintings by David Croitor

Posted on 2017-04-28 by Andreas Moser

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Yes, Romania really looks that romantic. In all seasons.

(All images taken from the website of David Croitor, where you can find much more.)

Posted in Romania | Tagged , | 14 Comments

Did you notice the irony? (21) NRA

Posted on 2017-04-28 by Andreas Moser

When Donald Trump will speak at the annual meeting of the NRA, surely talking about the 2nd Amendment, attendees will have to leave their firearms outside.

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And I thought more guns were supposed to make every place safer.

Posted in Politics, USA | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Praise the Lord with your Spray Can!

Posted on 2017-04-28 by Andreas Moser

In Sicily, even the graffiti sprayers are religious.

YAHWEH graffiti Palermo

(Seen behind the Cathedral in Palermo, Sicily.)

Posted in Italy, Photography, Religion, Sicily, Travel | Tagged , | 3 Comments