Charlot had been born in Algeria into one of the original French colonial families. As a Pied-Noir (person of European heritage who was born in Algeria during French rule) there was continual tension with the Algerian people, and his bookshop, and lending library, operated through highly unstable times as the independence movement gained force, leading to the Algerian War of 1954-1962, including specifically the Battle of Algiers. He based himself both in Algeria and in Paris, depending on time's sway. No obstante, la historia comienza con el fin de la librería, más tarde convertida en biblioteca cuando ya no vende ningún libro y es de alguna manera rescatada por los organismos públicos de Argel. Pero, incluso convertida en biblioteca, el establecimiento no resulta fácil de mantener y al final, termina siendo vendido para convertirse en pastelería, muy a pesar del bibliotecario de ese momento, a quien le duele que la gente parezca haber dejado de interesarse por la literatura. I liked the story. It flowed smoothly although a bit slow at times, but we expect that of a book about a bookstore, don’t we? LOL. The variety in the structure of the chapters keeps it interesting. Kaouther Adimi, çok kapsamlı bir eser ortaya koyuyor. Yakın ve uzak geçmiş ile bugün arasında gelip gidiyor..Hem Cezayir hem Fransa tarafını anlatıyor. Sadece Charlot ve kitabevinin hikayesini değil; Abdallah ve Ryad karakterleriyle de başka bir evrenin kapılarını aralıyor. Abdallah’ın sadakati,Ryad’ın kafa karışıklığı, kitabevinin bulunduğu sokaktaki sakinler.. Tarihsel gelişmeler bu öykülerin beraberinde geliyor; bir bakmışsınız ikinci dünya savaşı cephesine gönderilen Cezayirli asker olmuşsunuz; bir bakmışsınız 1961’de uğruna savaştığınız, size güzellikler vadeden aynı ülkenin nehrine atılmışsınız..Barbar olduğunuz ileri sürülerek.. Çamaşır suyu katılmış sular püskürtülmüş yüzlerinize, sizin dilinizi alıp kendi dillerini öğrenmeniz için var olan okullara kabul edilmemişsiz.. The modern stream features a young man sent to clean out the bookshop for a new owner who wants to sell sweet treats. The young man does not have a literary bone in his body and as the story progresses, his ignorance becomes palatable and the neighbours of the shops do all they can to foil his efforts to clear out the shop. Their loyalties lie with the old man, Abdallah, who has been working there all his life and it had become his home.

Our Riches" is a fictionalized biography of book publisher Edmond Charlot, a window into mid-Twentieth Century Algerian history, and an expression of love of the written word. At the young age of 20, Charlot opened Les Vraies Richesses (the true wealth) in 1936 in Algiers. It was a small bookstore, lending library, and cultural center where Charlot also published Mediterranean authors. Many of his publications are widely read classics today, especially those written by Albert Camus. Charlot's life is told in brief journal entries from the 1930s to the 1960s, grounded in historical research. The creation of the bookstore and publishing company, a second publishing location in wartime Paris, and Charlot's friendships with the authors are all part of the journal. I try not to give five stars too often. In my eyes, it diminishes the value of the books that truly deserve to be read. I suppose that you could argue that all books deserve to be read. I also suppose that you would probably be right in that argument. Nuestras riquezas, de la joven escritora Kaouther Adimi (Argel, 1986), pertenece a una especie de subgénero literario que nunca caerá en desuso porque se alimenta de un sentimiento imperecedero: sí, esa febril nostalgia que cualquier amante de la lectura ha experimentado al sumergirse entre las páginas de un libro que habla sobre otros libros. Nuestras riquezas es una obra que estruja hasta la última gota, sin ningún tipo de remordimiento, ese pasteloso romanticismo que nos hace venerar la mera proximidad de un manuscrito. Con suma artesanía narrativa, un lenguaje seductor y un tono que atrapa desde la primera escucha, Kaouther Adimi nos invita a pasear por las abarrotadas calles de Argel hasta el 2 bis de la calle Hamani, antigua calle Charras, donde un emprendedor e idealista Edmond Charlot abrió en 1936 una librería de préstamo llamada Las Verdaderas Riquezas. A Bookshop in Algiers follows two timelines as we see the creation and then ruin of a bookshop that once felt like the heart of so many bibliophiles. Going between the 1930’s-1960’s and present day, we see two different characters and their relationships with books, and how books change them. Later scenes from Charlot's life (i.e. notebooks) include the turning point of Camus' death and the final years of Algeria's battle for independence.This book is a celebration of publishing industry and those who make stories available to the readers. The contemporary chapters, focused on Ryad and his efforts to clean out the small Les Vrais Richesses store as well as longtime caretake Abdallah, are a sad coda to this bit of literary history.

The writing loses direction at times; characters appear who were never introduced, along with details that are unnecessary and uninteresting. Yet the truly potent effect of the book is that by taking on literary history from the underbelly of the French nation -- from the colony just across the sea -- Adimi confronts us with episodes that are simply never spoken of in France" - Elisabeth Zerofsky, The New York Times Book Review Our Riches does convey a sense of what was attempted and what was lost, or never achieved, but the subject matters -- Charlot's work as well as Algeria itself -- and their stories are so pared down that it's hard not to feel a great deal is missing. Por la mañana, cuando llego a la librería, me paro un momento delante del escaloncito que hay ante la puerta para contemplar el local que me pertenece. En ocasiones me quedo allí inmóvil tanto tiempo que el camarero del café de al lado se alarma y me pregunta si va todo bien. Pues claro que va todo bien: los libros están colocados por orden alfabético, las obras de arte colgadas justo encima, y aquí solo tienen derecho de ciudadanía la literatura, el arte y la amistad.”] The name of the shop comes from one of Jean Giono's books -- with Charlot having written to the master for permission to use the name. TW: Although generally this is a feel-good book about books, bookshops and publishing, there are some disturbing descriptions about the French police massacre events leading up to (1945) or occurring during (1961) the Algerian War of Independence (1954-1962)]Estoy preparada, me espera por delante un tranquilo fin de semana y quiero perderme por las calles de Argel. Estoy preparada para adentrarme entre las páginas de esta historia. Eso me pensaba, desde el primer párrafo me doy cuenta de que me equivocaba. Comienzo la lectura y ya con la primera página estoy asombrada. No estaba preparada para este flechazo. No encuentro las palabras para transmitir lo maravilloso que ha sido perderme en las páginas de este pequeño gran libro. Seguro que muchos de nosotros hemos pensado más de una vez en dedicarnos al sector editorial o a los libros. Incluso, muchos de nosotros habremos soñado con tener una librería propia. Y es principalmente de esto de lo que habla la novela, de libros y de sueños. Esencialmente de esto último. Charlot's bookshop is named after a novel that he admires Les Vraies Richesses: (1937) by Jean Giono (1895-1970). Adimi adds many cameo appearances by young writers of the time that Charlot was to publish, notably Albert Camus (1913-1960) with his first works. She builds a complete timeline of Charlot's life through a series of diary entries that take us through all of the ups and downs of his career. These entries are tinged with nostalgia and loss, another store of Charlot's repeatedly bombed and ultimately destroyed in 1961, with his correspondence and archives all lost: "A whole life reduced to rubble".