Adventures In Algeria by Alexandre Dumas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
It is not surprising to me that Dumas behaves the way he does. Valiant yet sensitive, generous and gregarious. In his own mind, at least. He wants to be a Musketeer.
I think he shoots at a bird every blessed day.
It’s also not surprising that he’s treated so well by the locals. He is, after all, touring a conquered territory in one of the warships of the conqueror. There’s some question as to whether it was quite exactly legal for him to do so. And the most tiresome parts of the book are when he feels the need to argue the point. Dude. Your travel book is not the place for fighting with French naval bureaucrats. I’m in it for quaint views of old Algiers, not petty sniping.
That’s a good writing technique lesson, actually. If the subject of your story is your trip to Algiers, only talk about your trip to Algiers. The political fight afterward is a different subject. Save it for the editorial page.
He’s got two friends who are always sketching. They’re in Algeria to get subjects for their art. They go off on their own all the time, just to wander around sketching. I would love to have an edition of this book that includes those sketches. Somebody should be able to put that together. But this abridged Chilton edition seems to be the only English translation available.
The most fun is when he retells jokes he heard from locals. Particularly the anecdotes about the difference between Arab government and French government. The Arabs always come out better in that comparison. Dumas appreciates arbitrary power, I guess. Or has a bee in his bonnet about French bureaucracy; I wonder why?
You can feel his thrill through the page when he meets an Arab who quotes an Arabian proverb to him. It’s almost embarrassing. For sure romanticized out the wazoo. But it’s Alexandre Dumas; you don’t read him for accuracy.
If you want to get a picture of what old Algiers looked like to an adventuring, romantic Frenchman, this is it.