The Last Friend: A Novel
by Tahar Ben Jelloun
Mehammed Mack
A review by Male in the Maghreb
"The novel of French expression is where one finds the most audacity in contesting
the social order," Moroccan writer Tahar Ben Jelloun once said, referring
to the curious practice of writing Arabic literature in the colonial tongue. "This
use of the Other's language is considered by some as treason." As more
translations trickle in, Anglophone readers are getting a much-needed glimpse
into the unorthodox recesses of the Arab mind — as expressed in the countercultural
writings of the post-independence Maghreb. This underappreciated North African
region has recently produced far more ambitious and modern work than such former
giants of Arabic literature as Egypt and Iraq.
Ben Jelloun's latest novel, The Last Friend, recounts the 40-year
friendship of two Moroccans, Mamed -- a slight, chain-smoking joker -- and Ali,
whose pale complexion, intellectual aloofness and birthplace of Fez liken him
to the author. Their evolution mirrors that of a country, caught between Islamic
traditions and the sensual inhibitions of Tangier, growing ever more culturally
and politically complicated. After a careless adolescence, Mamed and Ali dabble
in socialist groups only to become ensnared in a military detention camp, where
their bond deepens. Set free after 18 months by a royal pardon, Ali remains
in Morocco while Mamed goes to Sweden. In the end, a grave illness challenges
their friendship. Just when all seems lost, one receives a letter from the other,
an epistolary bang expressing characteristically effusive Moroccan grief. Born
of an insular and fraternal society, this emotion -- an honor for men to display
-- is beautiful for its nakedness and spiritual scope, but also regrettable
in the way it excludes others, notably women and children. Male friendship in
the Maghreb, with its "platonic" kisses and hand-holding, is seen
in the West as an exotic near-homosexuality. Ben Jelloun shows that these happy,
innocent images conceal a dangerous underside that can swallow men and their
families whole.
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