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Stories of the Sahara
by
Sanmao
4.51 · Rating details · 1,251 ratings · 154 reviews
The book that has captivated millions of Chinese readers, translated into English for the very first time.
Sanmao: author, adventurer, pioneer. Born in China in 1943, she moved from Chongqing to Taiwan, Spain to Germany, the Canary Islands to Central America, and, for several years in the 1970s, to the Sahara.
Stories of the Sahara invites us into Sanmao's extraordinary life ...more
Hardcover, 416 pages
Published January 14th 2020 by Bloomsbury Publishing (first published May 1976)
Original Title撒哈拉的故事
English
URL
https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/stories-of-the-sahara-9781408881873/
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Aug 10, 2020Claire rated it it was amazing
Shelves: nonfiction, women-in-translation, memoir, around-the-world-2020, around-the-world, translated, inspirational, taiwanese-literature, chinese-literature
I absolutely loved this book and it will likely be my favourite nonfiction title of the year. It is so refreshing to read a travelogue by a woman from a culture other than "Anglo-Ameri-Pean", and to be discovering a writer that has been beloved by Chinese and Taiwanese of all genders for decades, available for those who like to read cross cultural literature of all kinds.
This is one of those books where you don't even want to share what is inside, you just want to press it on everyone and say "Read this!" but I will say, I was intrigued by the obsession she had to go and live in the Sahara, I was delighted that she lived at the wrong end of the street in among the permanent locals, I loved her sense of adventure and how to overcome boredom in searing heat, she would get in the car and just drive for hours in the desert, but her frankness, her empathy and sense of humour are what really make it. Ignoring her husband's caution against picking up hitchhiker's she can't help herself, the only solution to avoid stopping for people walking for miles along a hot, dusty road would be to not go driving at all, and that's not an option for Sanmao.
I picked this up to read for #WITMonth reading women in translation and this is one of the best, for a reader like me, that combination of travel to a new place, meet local people and the perception of someone from a culture other than my own, priceless. (less)
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Jun 27, 2020Hadrian rated it really liked it
Shelves: travel, nonfiction
I tore feverishly at the wrapping paper and opened the box. Wow! Two eye sockets of a skull stared up at me. I pulled this surprise gift out with some effort and took a proper look. It was a camel skull, white bones neatly assembled, with a huge row of menacing teeth and two big black holes for eyes.
I was overjoyed. This was just the thing to capture my heart. I set it on the bookshelf, clucking and sighing in admiration. ‘Ah, splendid, so splendid.’ José was worthy of being called my soulmate. ‘Where did you dig this up?’ I asked.
‘I went looking for it! Walked around the desert for ages. When I found this intact, I knew you’d love it.’ He was quite proud of himself. It was genuinely the best wedding gift possible.
This travel story has a background so implausible that it must be true. Sanmao (a pen name taken from a comic strip character) was born in Sichuan in 1943, moved to Taiwan as a child, spends time in Germany and Spain as a student, and then dashes off to Laayoune (then El Aaiún) in what was then the Spanish Sahara. She marries a Spanish engineer, first wants to travel across the Sahara in a fit of energy, but settles down and becomes a local fixture of the community.
She is not detached, staying in an enclave as some ex-pats might. Who else is like that, there? She sews, writes for the illiterate, teaches the local kids, tries her hand at giving the bare minimum of medicinal treatment, and even tries to freea slave at one point. Yet for all the novelty of her life, she builds herself a kind of domesticity out of sheer determination - she haggles for music cassettes at the Spanish outpost and cooks, with her husband hanging on for the ride.
These stories, affectionately translated by Mike Fu, have a structured pace and they are staggered from one event to the next. There are moments of comedy and high drama. She is unrestrained in her opinions about the locals - or, well, anybody - and it is small wonder the close telling of her adventures has sold so well in the Chinese-reading world for decades. (less)
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Aug 13, 2020Jimmy rated it it was amazing
Recommended to Jimmy by: Claire
Shelves: female, memoir-ish, year-1970s, poc, taiwan
I loved these stories, and I loved Sanmao! Her voice, empathy, and personality came through so strongly I felt like I knew her and that we had already had many conversations by the end of the book.
Sanmao is a Taiwanese woman who made up her mind to travel and live in the Western Sahara in a time when few women would have dreamt of it. While there, she wrote about her experiences in these essays that are filled with warmth and humor, but also darkness as well in the form of slavery, war, colonialism, etc.
Her story continues after this book ends, as she was still pretty young when she wrote this. I read about her life on Wikipedia, and it's quite amazing (and sad). I recommend you read about her life too, after reading this book.
But the stories are such a pleasure to read, I wished it would never end! She mostly writes about the Sahrawi people she meets, some of the Spanish people who lived there, her husband Jose, and the crazy things she dreams up. The desert is a singular force that seemed to mean a lot to her. I don't want to say anymore, because it's best if you read it yourself. The story 'Night in the Wasteland' alone is worth the price of admission. I read it at night and couldn't sleep for several hours because I was so hyped up.
For my own reference, here are my favorites grouped by mood (so that I can return to them based on how I'm feeling) -- although many of these stories span several moods, so this is just a rough guide:
FUNNY:
A Desert Diner
Apothecary
The Marriage Chronicles
The Desert Bathing Spectacle
Dilettante Fishermen
A Ladder
TOUCHING/SAD:
Child Bride
Looking for Love
Sergeant Salva
The Mute Slave
GRIPPING:
Night in the Wasteland
Seed of Death
Crying Camels
(less)
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Apr 12, 2011Hugo rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
The biggest inspiration in my life. This is what makes me the way I am. I can never thank her enough. Tragically, she is not with us anymore. I really want to stand in front of her, holding her hands and say thank you! You changed my life!
Echo was extremely famous in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan back when the days she was still alive. There is no need for me to introduce her or this book to a Chinese. But for those who are from another corners of the globe, I welcome you to the world of Echo, where nature before metropolis, love before money, people before everything. The Story of The Sahara is the first book of the many books of breathtaking adventures that had been written. A great spirit like hers should never cease. Let us relive her journey and feel the flooding emotions in the world of Echo! (less)
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Jan 19, 2020Aleksandra rated it it was amazing
One of the most inspiring books I have read in a while. Sanmao's personal tone tangled with her openness, honesty, sensitivity and observations are frankly unique. I cannot emphasize enough how much I enjoyed to bear witness of her tales of adventure. Certainly I tried to keep in mind the book was first published in 1976 (translated to English first time in 2019) and "despite the profound empathy with which the writer viewed almost everyone in her life" there are several instances where she may come off as derogatory, misogynist, or racist at worst but nevertheless in her actions through out the whole book her empathy thrives. Out of 20 stories I would say only one did not resonate well with me in a way I was not able to wrap my head around comparisons and humor used in it (which may be the consequence of my lack of knowledge around the cultural and literary allusions used). Nonetheless, I would love to read more of her work and I honestly hope Over River and Mountain (which talks about her adventures in Latin America) will be translated to English soon. (less)
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Dec 03, 2014So rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
My third read but this book never gets old! 读懂了三毛，读懂了人生--this statement still stands.
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Mar 31, 2020Joris rated it it was amazing
Shelves: 中文, ٱلعربية
This book is just incredible. The stories are written with wit, knowledge, and open mindedness.
I had good hopes. I knew Sanmao as an early female travel writer, and her books were recommended to me numerous times by Taiwanese friends before a translation was available. Reading it now, finally, I couldn't believe the freshness of her writing, and I wonder how this must have come across in the dictatorships of KMT Taiwan or CCP China in the 70s and 80s. Sanmao's (real life) stories are amazing, not only by her almost nihilist rejection of conventions but mostly by her zealously staying true to her heart throughout.
Talking about a different culture, especially in occupied territory (Western Sahara is still under occupation 😔) can be problematic, but Sanmao's adventures almost never stray. In fact, the humanity is just jumping off the pages. (less)
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Jul 25, 2018maha rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
Shelves: poetry-and-prose, fav-of-all-time, made-me-cry
4.75
Second read:
the only reason I took that long to finish off this reread was only due to the fact that I couldn't bear the thought of reading that last sad part of the story :'( (less)
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Jan 05, 2015Coco Lau rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
The author Echo is my favorite favorite writer!!! This book is the 4th books of her that I have read. She was brave and different. She went to the Sahara desert by her own. Her lover Jose soon came for her then they start their life there. Who would like to go to a desert. I was very surprised and impresses the first time I knew about her life. This book mainly talked about stories in Sahara desert. Her language in her writing was casual and descriptive. Those story came from her real life so I could exactly feel how she was sad, excited ,worried or interested. I learned a lot about Sahara from this book. the culture their was closed. Especially their opinion about woman. Women there were abject and humble because of the women should be in underclass according to their culture in Sahara. People there were lack of education in her book. So Echo tried to teach local people at her house, which inspired me and moved me. The element I like most in the book is how Echo showed the real side of her and the human nature of people. (less)
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May 11, 2020Phillip Kang rated it really liked it
A rare but very fascinating excursion into life in the Sahara desert through the experience of a foreigner, a Chinese lady, who calls herself Sanmao. Most people, used to urban living, will not find the arid desert - its searing heat, golden sand dunes, and barrenness - alluring but she did and spent many years living there with her Spanish husband.
Told with humour, and seriousness at times, her stories cover a wide range of experiences: with the desert inhabitants, places, political tensions, e ...more
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Feb 24, 2020Amy rated it really liked it · review of another edition
If I treat it as a work of literary fiction, I find it easier to appreciate Sanmao’s writing—and then it’s wonderfully fun to read, with stories of djinns and curses and sandstorms and resourcefulness in the desert; also easier to accept the author as a period character, with all the prejudices of the period. As nonfiction, I appreciate Sanmao’s overall unconventional and bold approach to life, but her melodramatic recountings of herself as protagonist, much less.
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Jan 19, 2018Ting Zhang rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
Shelves: chinese
I cannot believe that as a Chinese, it took me this long to discover the stories of 三毛。I love her straight forward story telling technique, her love for adventure, and the carefree way she lives from day to day. Deep down, I believe that there is a 三毛in every one us, waiting for us to unleash her spirit and venture daringly into the unknown ;)
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Aug 30, 2020Alan Teder rated it it was amazing
Shelves: women-in-translation, non-fiction, 2020-reading-challenge, memoir, travel, essays, translated-from-chinese
Love in the Barrens
Review of the Bloomsbury hardcover edition (2020) translated from the original Chinese 撒哈拉的故事 (Sahara Story) (1976)
I had never previously heard of Taiwanese writer Sanmao (March 26, 1943 – January 4, 1991) until I chanced to see a film documentary Sanmao: The Desert Bride (Spain, 2019) via Toronto's online HotDocs Festival 2020.
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HOT DOCS
Sanmao. The Desert Bride
ARTSCAPES | 86 MINUTES | 2019 | SPAIN | SPANISH CHINESE ENGLISH RUSSIAN | PARTIAL SUBTITLES | WORLD PREMIERE
Available until June 24
Thu, May 28, 2020 - Wed, Jun 24, 2020 Streaming on Hot Docs at Home
NOT AVAILABLE
Through her 1976 book The Stories of the Sahara, and numerous other publications, famed Chinese-born, Taiwan-raised author Sanmao inspired generations of young women yearning for independence from conservative social norms. Setting Sanmao’s words against archival footage and old films, directors Ana Pérez de la Fuente and Marta Arribas weave together an epic retelling of her extraordinary and complex life. Seeking freedom from the oppressive Taiwanese education system, a young Sanmao opts to live as a bohemian expatriate. Through her travels, she unveils a succession of literary works that seem so fantastical to those back home that they thought she was writing fiction. As her self-confidence, radical spirit and unbridled hunger for adventure grows, she creates a remarkable oeuvre of travel writing and autobiography. Sanmao.
The Desert Bride reveals a life of unabashed independence—but also one mired in world-weary melancholy. Heather Haynes
Sanmao The Desert Bride 2020. Overview; Activity. All comments. 0 Comments. All lists. 10 Lists ...
Oct 9, 2020
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Stories of the Sahara (1976) is a collection of travelogue and autobiographical memoir articles about Sanmao's life with her husband José María Quero y Ruíz during the early 1970's in the town then called by its Spanish name El Aaiún in the Western Sahara. It was Sanmao's attraction to the desert that caused her to first move to the Sahara and her then boyfriend José followed after getting a job at the local phosphate mines. The stories usually take a self-deprecatory tone with Sanmao adapting to a 'fish out of water' existence among the local Sahwari people. Throughout all of the stories, the mutual love and support between José and herself is the running thread.
Sanmao's earliest writing was collected in the book 雨季不再来 (Gone with the Rainy Season) (July 1976) after the popular success of the original Chinese edition of Stories of the Sahara (May 1976). She has over 20 published works to her credit. As best as I can determine, this current translation of Stories of the Sahara is her first work to be published in English.
I enjoyed this book immensely due to its stories of an unique life in such extreme circumstances. The humour and zest of the story-telling makes me hope that there will be further Sanmao translations yet to come.
Trivia and Links
The New York Times wrote a belated October 23, 2019 obituary of Sanmao in their Overlooked Series as Overlooked No More: Sanmao ‘Wandering Writer’ Who Found Her Voice in the Desert. (less)
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Aug 24, 2020Margaret rated it really liked it
I raced through this book: a page-turning account written in 1976 by a Taiwanese/Chinese woman married to a Spaniard who realised her dream of living for a while in the Sahara Desert: which was in the 1970s still a Spanish protectorate. Sanmao is infectiously enthusiastic, curious, not to say nosy about the Sahwari people among whom she lived, and tells us much about everyday life and culture, and the reality of living in a climate which is in the course of a single day searingly hot and brain-numbingly cold. All this was interesting, but I couldn't warm to Sanmao, whom I found judgmental, even racist, and impetuous to the point of foolhardiness: whether it was opening her mouth without thinking, or driving endless miles in the - deserted - desert with no particular aim. Nevertheless, since I'm unlikely to get to the Sahara, this was an illuminating and immersive account of what life was - and I suspect still is - like there. (less)
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Jun 30, 2020Sara rated it it was amazing
“I only heard the screaming and braying of the camels in the slaughterhouse grow louder and louder, higher and higher. The entire sky slowly filled with the immense echoes of the camels’ cries, coming down on me like thunder”
I didn’t know Sanmao and how famous and important she still is in the chinese background and literature.
Reading Stories of the Sahara was an unexpected journey not only throughout sarahwi people and their traditions and Sahara desert itself, but also in Sanmao’s life.
She had a powerful, warmth and sometimes awkward voice and her memories were about people, love, inequieties, traditions and tragedies and bittersweet endings just like this rough land that she had loved so much.
I really would have liked to meet her and her husband Josè: two free-spirited human beings. (less)
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Aug 18, 2020Piye Yuan rated it it was amazing
Ever since I was a kid, the stories about Sanmao have been repeated by my mom and aunt. Unlike all their rants that I choose to be oblivious to, Sanmao's story was one of the few that has caught the attention of my rebellious ears and been imprinted on my mind. Who would have thought that I'd come across her stories again after 20 years?
20 years have flown by. The bratty kid who used to finger through his mom's book collections has now become a brattier grown-up. Less hair on the top and more grey ones on the sideburns. Less genuine smiles and carefree lights beaming from his eyes. Instead, more depressing thoughts weighing on his mind and his eyes. Yet, one thing that has never changed is his heart. His heart longing for exotic cultures and wandering to the lands that breed them.
It was destiny for me to pick up this book out of all the Sanmao books belong to his mom. It was a serendipitous choice for me, considering the critical life crossroad I am standing at right now. In this book, I find more than I used to find when I was a kid. Before, I was the one envying Sanmao's vagabond life and her love stories with Jose, yet knowing that could never be a reality for me. Yet, now, I saw more of me in the book, in Sanmao's experiences in the Sahara Desert. While reading this book, I, sometimes, couldn't tell I was reading her stories, stories of my own, or stories of a soul mate of mine. In some specific scenes, all of our faces were mixed up together. I felt like I was just there, doing what Sanmao is doing and being the real me.
Yet, when closing the book, the reality would hit me in stark contrast. The more time I spent at home, the more I want to break the chains of life. Being holed up at home, I have been feeling lonely. No friends who could truly understand me spiritually. Nothing I could look forward to except books and old movies. I become reticent most of the time, not even wanting to talk to my parents.
You see, I was born to be a wanderer who shall hit the road and be on the move all the time. I have had that in me when I was a kid. Before, I would cover it up with all kinds of excuses--I have no money, it's only an idea life that will never come true, I want to prove to be successful in the earthly world, etc. After reading this book, I finally muster the courage to claim that I was born to be a wanderer. For that, I am eternally grateful for Sanmao, for the energies that carry with this book, for my mom and aunt, and for life.
(less)
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Jun 01, 2020Rick rated it it was amazing
Sanmao....my idea of freedom and humanity.
I first read her book when I was very young and at the time I didn't"t appreciate it due to a lack of life experience, but now that I am older and lived my life though up and downs..I can understand how beautiful and real she was. her heart was so pure and sensitive, she saw small things and the true-self of every human being she interacted with. she was a true heroine, a pioneer and a friend.
In China, we had little ideas about Africa nor Spain..therefore when we were kids we learned it from her books, it was like a land of dreams, a surreal destination, a place we wished one day we could visit..now that I am living in Europe because of her, she made me longing of travelling, exploring the world and expand my horizon, I followed Sanmao's footsteps through Spain and west Africa, I even visited many South American countries following another of her book.
This book was her first book and it was written as if a close friend is telling you about her travel and experience...it was intimate, sensitive, colourful and full of human realness, there is no pretentiousness, she told it as how she experienced it. I really wish this book would never end and I could keep exploring this fascinating land with her.
ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT BOOKS IN MY LIFE! THANK YOU SANMAO! (less)
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Oct 05, 2020Charleslangip rated it really liked it
This beautiful piece of travel literature by the Taiwanese writer Sanmao very much exceeded my expectations. It's very much a fish-out-of-water tale about her life in the Sahara desert. Because of her incongruous presence in this unlikely setting, to which she moved with her Spanish husband in the 1970s, she brings a very unique, unusual voice to this work.
Like the best travel and adventure literature, this balances very well a description of her day-to-day life with humorous misunderstandings, and a larger (geo-)political assessment of a region in turmoil, which is full of danger and that impact on the locals in her village. She has no problem showing the good, the bad and the ugly, with a lot of respect and direct sincerity.
Finally, she has a wonderful outlook on life, adventure and trying new things that will shake many readers out of the torpor and the routine in which many of us like to settle!
Come and follow me on Instagram where I do weekly book reviews @charleslangip
(less)
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Jul 08, 2020Sarah rated it it was amazing
Shelves: favorites
So refreshing!
This collection of short stories completely transported me to the Sahara and allowed me to adventure with Sanmao throughout her time in the desert. I was spellbound by her skill at writing intense and comedic scenes - she has a fantastic way of keeping the reader's interest (and surprising them) as she weaves her stories together. Although Sanmao's paradigm may be a little insensitive to Sahrawi culture at times, it is unapologetically honest and mostly open-minded. I learned so much about the Sahrawi and felt completely transfixed as I read about such an unfamiliar culture.
I will definitely be rereading this collection several times over in future.
Note: The translator, Mike Fu, did a wonderful job of bringing Sanmao's voice to an English audience. I would love to see him translate more of her work! (less)
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Nov 19, 2020Terry rated it liked it
Shelves: travel
Here's what makes this collection of experiences exceptional:
⦁ Sanmao is a young Chinese woman writing during the 1970s, a time when young people were changing established norms.
⦁ Sanmao is a gifted story teller. Her observations are witty and honest, easily read.
⦁ She describes the native Sahrawi culture with sensitivity to the vast, vast differences between tribal nomads and Westerners.
⦁ Readers quickly identify with someone coming of age with love and a new marriage. These stories immediately met immense popularity in the Chinese language and with this work newly translated, English readers can now enjoy.
Some stories are very funny and cute while others are absolutely heartbreaking. Her writing inspires me to record my own travel memories, something few other books have done. The Mute Slave and Crying Camels were my favorite. (less)
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Aug 13, 2020WeiLe rated it really liked it
This is one of the notable work by Sanmao, first published in 1976 and finally first translated into english in 2020!!!
It's a memoir during her days living in Western Sahara during the 1970s. The memoirs were divided into several chapters served as short stories, they were fantastic, fun, loving and emotional towards the end. (It gets heavier as pages turn)
Sanmao's life in the Sahara were not spent alone. She married her husband Jose, in the desert and all stories involve her husband, friends, neighbors in Western Sahara. It's lovely to read about their relationship. I'd strongly suggest to read about Sanmao's life before reading this book. Both Sanmao(alleged suicide in 1991) and Jose(diving accident in 1979) are deceased.
*I read this in the original language, thus I can't comment about the translation. (less)
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Nov 04, 2020James (Jimmie) Price rated it it was amazing
Shelves: 5-stars
This book is quite frankly one of the best nonfiction books I’ve ever read. Sanmao, a Chinese woman full of wanderlust, moves to the Spanish Sahara during the dying days of Spanish colonialism. The result is as fascinating as that mix of people, place, and culture sounds like it would be. Rather than being told linearly, though, Sanmao breaks up her narrative into short stories told in random order, so her storytelling feels like you’re sitting next to an old friend around a good campfire, hearing them share their memories as they come back to them. The resulting stories are sometimes heartwarming, sometimes funny, sometimes tragic, sometimes magical, sometimes terrifying, so that, although these events happened maybe 50-60 years ago, they feel timeless, like legends from long ago. (less)
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Nov 06, 2020Carl rated it really liked it
Most of the stories are excellent. They purport to be "true," but it seems to me that there is a little literary nudging going on.
Basic outline: Sanmao, Chinese woman, lives in Sahara with José. She describes her many experiences in the Sahara, conflicts of culture, dangers she faces, civil unrest. Beauty of Sahara comes through over and over, but the most amazing thing is really the given: a Chinese woman living in the Sahara desert with her Spanish husband. Just to get to that spot takes a remarkable woman. (less)
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Oct 09, 2020Alma Tello rated it it was amazing
This book is amazing! Sanmao was the first global traveler blogger before blogging existed. I devoured this book. Sanmao made me feel like I was in Spanish Sahara Desert with her and I learned about the Sahrawi people. I’m saddened that there aren’t many more books of hers available to read, such an amazing, adventurous woman who died too young could’ve taught us empathy towards those living different lives than ours.
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Dec 28, 2020Julian Walker rated it really liked it · review of another edition
A delightful collection of stories about a recent past, mixing myth and reality, in a fabulously descriptive writing style which vividly brings desert living to life.
Filled with fascinating characters, customs and beliefs, the author brings and original perspective to her life in a land far from home, in a hugely enjoyable and escapist read.
I was recommending it to others even before I had finished it.
A lovely book.
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Jul 12, 2020Ian Williamson rated it it was amazing
Ok, 'The Mute Slave', 'Crying Camels', and 'Lonesome Land' chapters that end the book are some of the best stories I have ever read in any genre. It was so easy to think of Sanmao and Jose as some kind of historical fiction characters, and it blows my mind that this is basically a memoir. It does not read like a memoir at all. 5 stars easily, can't wait to read everything Sanmao ever wrote. (less)
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Sep 14, 2020SarahK rated it liked it
Shelves: book-group
A portal into another world. What a remarkable woman Sanmao was - brave, determined, reckless, infuriating, unique - I would not have survived a week in the time and place she describes - her strength in making a life there is inspiring. I didn't love all aspects of the book - the trip to Madrid was just an inner monologue about her mother-in-law - but I am glad it was recommended to me (less)
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Dec 09, 2020John rated it liked it
Shelves: taiwan
Sanmao has been hyped pretty hard to me, so this fell a little flat. I wonder how the translation is. I mean, it's a highly-readable translation, but I wonder what it is that people love about her writing in Chinese that (probably) didn't come across in English. The story I liked most was of her first arrival in the desert. It felt a bit more raw than the others. (less)
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Apr 26, 2020Isabelle rated it really liked it
A great book. Very eye opening and engaging. I was not wanting to put the book down from the second I opened it. I highly recommend this book to everyone.
Thank you to netgalley and the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this in exchange for an unbiased review.
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Aug 01, 2020Veronica rated it it was amazing
Ingenious way of telling a story through a collection of short stories. The author's love of adventure is really a love of life and is reflected in every episode. Great descriptions of the Sahara and its people. (less)
Stories of the Sahara (1976) is a collection of travelogue and autobiographical memoir articles about Sanmao's life with her husband José María Quero y Ruíz during the early 1970's in the town then called by its Spanish name El Aaiún in the Western Sahara. It was Sanmao's attraction to the desert that caused her to first move to the Sahara and her then boyfriend José followed after getting a job at the local phosphate mines. The stories usually take a self-deprecatory tone with Sanmao adapting to a 'fish out of water' existence among the local Sahwari people. Throughout all of the stories, the mutual love and support between José and herself is the running thread.
Sanmao's earliest writing was collected in the book 雨季不再来 (Gone with the Rainy Season) (July 1976) after the popular success of the original Chinese edition of Stories of the Sahara (May 1976). She has over 20 published works to her credit. As best as I can determine, this current translation of Stories of the Sahara is her first work to be published in English.
I enjoyed this book immensely due to its stories of an unique life in such extreme circumstances. The humour and zest of the story-telling makes me hope that there will be further Sanmao translations yet to come.
Trivia and Links
The New York Times wrote a belated October 23, 2019 obituary of Sanmao in their Overlooked Series as Overlooked No More: Sanmao ‘Wandering Writer’ Who Found Her Voice in the Desert. (less)
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Aug 24, 2020Margaret rated it really liked it
I raced through this book: a page-turning account written in 1976 by a Taiwanese/Chinese woman married to a Spaniard who realised her dream of living for a while in the Sahara Desert: which was in the 1970s still a Spanish protectorate. Sanmao is infectiously enthusiastic, curious, not to say nosy about the Sahwari people among whom she lived, and tells us much about everyday life and culture, and the reality of living in a climate which is in the course of a single day searingly hot and brain-numbingly cold. All this was interesting, but I couldn't warm to Sanmao, whom I found judgmental, even racist, and impetuous to the point of foolhardiness: whether it was opening her mouth without thinking, or driving endless miles in the - deserted - desert with no particular aim. Nevertheless, since I'm unlikely to get to the Sahara, this was an illuminating and immersive account of what life was - and I suspect still is - like there. (less)
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Jun 30, 2020Sara rated it it was amazing
“I only heard the screaming and braying of the camels in the slaughterhouse grow louder and louder, higher and higher. The entire sky slowly filled with the immense echoes of the camels’ cries, coming down on me like thunder”
I didn’t know Sanmao and how famous and important she still is in the chinese background and literature.
Reading Stories of the Sahara was an unexpected journey not only throughout sarahwi people and their traditions and Sahara desert itself, but also in Sanmao’s life.
She had a powerful, warmth and sometimes awkward voice and her memories were about people, love, inequieties, traditions and tragedies and bittersweet endings just like this rough land that she had loved so much.
I really would have liked to meet her and her husband Josè: two free-spirited human beings. (less)
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Aug 18, 2020Piye Yuan rated it it was amazing
Ever since I was a kid, the stories about Sanmao have been repeated by my mom and aunt. Unlike all their rants that I choose to be oblivious to, Sanmao's story was one of the few that has caught the attention of my rebellious ears and been imprinted on my mind. Who would have thought that I'd come across her stories again after 20 years?
20 years have flown by. The bratty kid who used to finger through his mom's book collections has now become a brattier grown-up. Less hair on the top and more grey ones on the sideburns. Less genuine smiles and carefree lights beaming from his eyes. Instead, more depressing thoughts weighing on his mind and his eyes. Yet, one thing that has never changed is his heart. His heart longing for exotic cultures and wandering to the lands that breed them.
It was destiny for me to pick up this book out of all the Sanmao books belong to his mom. It was a serendipitous choice for me, considering the critical life crossroad I am standing at right now. In this book, I find more than I used to find when I was a kid. Before, I was the one envying Sanmao's vagabond life and her love stories with Jose, yet knowing that could never be a reality for me. Yet, now, I saw more of me in the book, in Sanmao's experiences in the Sahara Desert. While reading this book, I, sometimes, couldn't tell I was reading her stories, stories of my own, or stories of a soul mate of mine. In some specific scenes, all of our faces were mixed up together. I felt like I was just there, doing what Sanmao is doing and being the real me.
Yet, when closing the book, the reality would hit me in stark contrast. The more time I spent at home, the more I want to break the chains of life. Being holed up at home, I have been feeling lonely. No friends who could truly understand me spiritually. Nothing I could look forward to except books and old movies. I become reticent most of the time, not even wanting to talk to my parents.
You see, I was born to be a wanderer who shall hit the road and be on the move all the time. I have had that in me when I was a kid. Before, I would cover it up with all kinds of excuses--I have no money, it's only an idea life that will never come true, I want to prove to be successful in the earthly world, etc. After reading this book, I finally muster the courage to claim that I was born to be a wanderer. For that, I am eternally grateful for Sanmao, for the energies that carry with this book, for my mom and aunt, and for life.
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Jun 01, 2020Rick rated it it was amazing
Sanmao....my idea of freedom and humanity.
I first read her book when I was very young and at the time I didn't"t appreciate it due to a lack of life experience, but now that I am older and lived my life though up and downs..I can understand how beautiful and real she was. her heart was so pure and sensitive, she saw small things and the true-self of every human being she interacted with. she was a true heroine, a pioneer and a friend.
In China, we had little ideas about Africa nor Spain..therefore when we were kids we learned it from her books, it was like a land of dreams, a surreal destination, a place we wished one day we could visit..now that I am living in Europe because of her, she made me longing of travelling, exploring the world and expand my horizon, I followed Sanmao's footsteps through Spain and west Africa, I even visited many South American countries following another of her book.
This book was her first book and it was written as if a close friend is telling you about her travel and experience...it was intimate, sensitive, colourful and full of human realness, there is no pretentiousness, she told it as how she experienced it. I really wish this book would never end and I could keep exploring this fascinating land with her.
ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT BOOKS IN MY LIFE! THANK YOU SANMAO! (less)
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Oct 05, 2020Charleslangip rated it really liked it
This beautiful piece of travel literature by the Taiwanese writer Sanmao very much exceeded my expectations. It's very much a fish-out-of-water tale about her life in the Sahara desert. Because of her incongruous presence in this unlikely setting, to which she moved with her Spanish husband in the 1970s, she brings a very unique, unusual voice to this work.
Like the best travel and adventure literature, this balances very well a description of her day-to-day life with humorous misunderstandings, and a larger (geo-)political assessment of a region in turmoil, which is full of danger and that impact on the locals in her village. She has no problem showing the good, the bad and the ugly, with a lot of respect and direct sincerity.
Finally, she has a wonderful outlook on life, adventure and trying new things that will shake many readers out of the torpor and the routine in which many of us like to settle!
Come and follow me on Instagram where I do weekly book reviews @charleslangip
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Jul 08, 2020Sarah rated it it was amazing
Shelves: favorites
So refreshing!
This collection of short stories completely transported me to the Sahara and allowed me to adventure with Sanmao throughout her time in the desert. I was spellbound by her skill at writing intense and comedic scenes - she has a fantastic way of keeping the reader's interest (and surprising them) as she weaves her stories together. Although Sanmao's paradigm may be a little insensitive to Sahrawi culture at times, it is unapologetically honest and mostly open-minded. I learned so much about the Sahrawi and felt completely transfixed as I read about such an unfamiliar culture.
I will definitely be rereading this collection several times over in future.
Note: The translator, Mike Fu, did a wonderful job of bringing Sanmao's voice to an English audience. I would love to see him translate more of her work! (less)
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Nov 19, 2020Terry rated it liked it
Shelves: travel
Here's what makes this collection of experiences exceptional:
⦁ Sanmao is a young Chinese woman writing during the 1970s, a time when young people were changing established norms.
⦁ Sanmao is a gifted story teller. Her observations are witty and honest, easily read.
⦁ She describes the native Sahrawi culture with sensitivity to the vast, vast differences between tribal nomads and Westerners.
⦁ Readers quickly identify with someone coming of age with love and a new marriage. These stories immediately met immense popularity in the Chinese language and with this work newly translated, English readers can now enjoy.
Some stories are very funny and cute while others are absolutely heartbreaking. Her writing inspires me to record my own travel memories, something few other books have done. The Mute Slave and Crying Camels were my favorite. (less)
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Aug 13, 2020WeiLe rated it really liked it
This is one of the notable work by Sanmao, first published in 1976 and finally first translated into english in 2020!!!
It's a memoir during her days living in Western Sahara during the 1970s. The memoirs were divided into several chapters served as short stories, they were fantastic, fun, loving and emotional towards the end. (It gets heavier as pages turn)
Sanmao's life in the Sahara were not spent alone. She married her husband Jose, in the desert and all stories involve her husband, friends, neighbors in Western Sahara. It's lovely to read about their relationship. I'd strongly suggest to read about Sanmao's life before reading this book. Both Sanmao(alleged suicide in 1991) and Jose(diving accident in 1979) are deceased.
*I read this in the original language, thus I can't comment about the translation. (less)
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Nov 04, 2020James (Jimmie) Price rated it it was amazing
Shelves: 5-stars
This book is quite frankly one of the best nonfiction books I’ve ever read. Sanmao, a Chinese woman full of wanderlust, moves to the Spanish Sahara during the dying days of Spanish colonialism. The result is as fascinating as that mix of people, place, and culture sounds like it would be. Rather than being told linearly, though, Sanmao breaks up her narrative into short stories told in random order, so her storytelling feels like you’re sitting next to an old friend around a good campfire, hearing them share their memories as they come back to them. The resulting stories are sometimes heartwarming, sometimes funny, sometimes tragic, sometimes magical, sometimes terrifying, so that, although these events happened maybe 50-60 years ago, they feel timeless, like legends from long ago. (less)
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Nov 06, 2020Carl rated it really liked it
Most of the stories are excellent. They purport to be "true," but it seems to me that there is a little literary nudging going on.
Basic outline: Sanmao, Chinese woman, lives in Sahara with José. She describes her many experiences in the Sahara, conflicts of culture, dangers she faces, civil unrest. Beauty of Sahara comes through over and over, but the most amazing thing is really the given: a Chinese woman living in the Sahara desert with her Spanish husband. Just to get to that spot takes a remarkable woman. (less)
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Oct 09, 2020Alma Tello rated it it was amazing
This book is amazing! Sanmao was the first global traveler blogger before blogging existed. I devoured this book. Sanmao made me feel like I was in Spanish Sahara Desert with her and I learned about the Sahrawi people. I’m saddened that there aren’t many more books of hers available to read, such an amazing, adventurous woman who died too young could’ve taught us empathy towards those living different lives than ours.
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Dec 28, 2020Julian Walker rated it really liked it · review of another edition
A delightful collection of stories about a recent past, mixing myth and reality, in a fabulously descriptive writing style which vividly brings desert living to life.
Filled with fascinating characters, customs and beliefs, the author brings and original perspective to her life in a land far from home, in a hugely enjoyable and escapist read.
I was recommending it to others even before I had finished it.
A lovely book.
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Jul 12, 2020Ian Williamson rated it it was amazing
Ok, 'The Mute Slave', 'Crying Camels', and 'Lonesome Land' chapters that end the book are some of the best stories I have ever read in any genre. It was so easy to think of Sanmao and Jose as some kind of historical fiction characters, and it blows my mind that this is basically a memoir. It does not read like a memoir at all. 5 stars easily, can't wait to read everything Sanmao ever wrote. (less)
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Sep 14, 2020SarahK rated it liked it
Shelves: book-group
A portal into another world. What a remarkable woman Sanmao was - brave, determined, reckless, infuriating, unique - I would not have survived a week in the time and place she describes - her strength in making a life there is inspiring. I didn't love all aspects of the book - the trip to Madrid was just an inner monologue about her mother-in-law - but I am glad it was recommended to me (less)
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Dec 09, 2020John rated it liked it
Shelves: taiwan
Sanmao has been hyped pretty hard to me, so this fell a little flat. I wonder how the translation is. I mean, it's a highly-readable translation, but I wonder what it is that people love about her writing in Chinese that (probably) didn't come across in English. The story I liked most was of her first arrival in the desert. It felt a bit more raw than the others. (less)
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Apr 26, 2020Isabelle rated it really liked it
A great book. Very eye opening and engaging. I was not wanting to put the book down from the second I opened it. I highly recommend this book to everyone.
Thank you to netgalley and the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this in exchange for an unbiased review.
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Aug 01, 2020Veronica rated it it was amazing
Ingenious way of telling a story through a collection of short stories. The author's love of adventure is really a love of life and is reflected in every episode. Great descriptions of the Sahara and its people. (less)
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