IT is good to know that there still are such Shops around,in this CLICK MAD age,i consider such venues as a Heritage /treasure caves, even though Time/Age begins to wear out papers;;colours ink get faded...but they never take away the precious value of every page of this or that vintage magazine or book... because it is history written /printed by combined 4 colours printing INKS mixed with SWEAT/BLOOD/TEARS..but most of all Human effort motivated by TIME/PATIENCE/ENDURANCE /and least but not last..INTEGRITY!!////Like ANTIQUES .. they add up their values year after year...people whom edited them,and others that worked on every single issue..even to the person whom STAPLED EACH ISSUE,Week after week ,some may not be around ..but their SPIRITS never wears out or fades with every remaining paper/magazine or book you or i or anyone adds them to his home-library. but enriches your environment too.. my Late MOTHER used to tell me this> IF ONE DENIES HIS HERITAGE,HE WILL END UP POORER THAN A BEGGER ,EVEN IF HE S GOT MILLIONS in his/her BANK account??...regards from I.B./London
Dear ZEINOBIA / after sending my humble comment about old magazines shop-s-, and while going to my bed to sleep i just remembered ,when i was a child , they read to me at least one bed-time story from those days Fairy-tale books?? such as Alice in wonderland/Hansel& Gretel & Ali Baba & the 40 thieves, in my Armenian tongue of course!!...and when i started to recognise the Armenian/Latin/Arabic Alphabet letters and began to read Words/phrases.. i begun to buy Arabic weekly children magazines such as SAMIR/..SINDIBAD../..Arabic MICKEY<<>>from Egypt , also DUNIA AL AHDASS/..ZARZOUR..BISSAT EL REEH/..AL MOUGHAMER<<<from Lebanon in mid 1950 s!..then as a Teen Ager i begun reading Cinema weeklies such as AL ETHNAIN WAL DUNIA/AL KAWAKEB/AL GEEL/AL MUSSAWAR/ AKHER SAA/Image/ AL HILAL MONTHLY/ even ALI& MUSTAPHA AMIN twins new mag. HE-YA + HOU-WA ...in the early 1960 s?? Lebanese AL SHABAKA/AL ARROUSSA/CINEMA WAL AGA-EB/AL LAYALI/AL MAW-ED/AL SAROUKH...because i was fond of Arab & World cinemas in those good old days,all my school pocket money, followed by my weekly working wages went on such papers,following stories/romances/adventures & latest news about this celebrity or that...was i wasting my money & time ??(Remains to be seen)!!, i don t know, but at that period it was like a daily ritual to follow every step they took , film+Culture stars of Egypt/Lebanon & Hollywood, as in 1959 TV invaded the Arab world..too! so all this became a commodity and a must...Now days ,and after most of those Giant Arab + Western STARS of sight/sound/literature ..vanished Unfortunately from our Skies ,but their sweet memories remain/stay put in our Minds & Hearts!! Even though their untold tales/secrets/events/ goings on, revealed and exposed,now & then, on the Internet/YOU TUBE..etc..etc, i came to this conclusion that 80% of all what we read /heard/ read in times gone by were some kind of NEW AGE fairy tales, and behind all the smiles..celebrations..parties..there were HEARTACHES /TEARS/MISFORTUNES/UNFAIRNESSES/ and some kind of conspiracies & Hypocrisies,, most of it was a make believe stories ,tales and false statements... and truths were swept under the carpets of the large/luxurious salons and film studios of the time, we have shown the full bright Moon ,but now shown the dark side of the same Moon?? or THE REAL THING!... so maybe reading an 1954/5...issue of Al KAWAKEB or Al SHABAKA.. might become an alternative to stories , tales that began with: Once upon a time this prince married that princess, and ended with,.. And they lived Happily ever after???? Really??....Regards from I.Barsoumian/London
I want ,to take this opportunity & and VIA /Egyptian Chronicles/..the website that TELLS THE TRUTH,AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH..i am 200, even300% certain and sure, and as an ALTAR for anyone wants to express Opinions/Ideas/Memoirs/or Critics,that s why i want to tell all WHAT WERE WE DOING ,in the years ..Gone???...and to send through this wonderful Blog my gratitude and thanks to that small sized BOOK SHOP/but MIGHTY in its influence .over, my generation , of that era1959-1976,as difficult times poured in Lebanon,then??our street s little library called MAKTABAT AL TAA-WON or Co Op Library owned by our good neighbour Mr. NAZMI A-LA. /..A<< as in the French alphabet?! Almost 8x4 Meters in size,but contained over 10.ooo Arabic books even more /OLD/NEW , Used/Second hand Sale/Rent and from all over the neighbouring countries* publishers such as ,DAR EL MAA-REF/DAR EL HILLAL and others in Beloved Egypt... Maktabat DAR ELHAYAT/DAR EL BAYAN/ZOUHEIR BAALBAKI publishing House ,From SYRIA/IRAQ/JORDAN/SAUDI ARABIAN Pub.Houses..and the latest on the market in Seductive prices,that enables any humble/meek waged individual..own a private Home Library of his own,as i once..DID!! Thanks to Mr.A-LA/Ramadhan couples and their hard working children brothers Mohamed/Fou-ad/Khaled/Walid and good daughters NAJWA/SABAH/SAN-AA, All together helped their parents in delivery/sell etc..etc.. and lived in a small bedsit..but they spread Knowledge and literature all around the capital city.but all over Lebanon towns as a wholesaler//TOO?? ..THANKS TO THIS Little Library situated at downtown Beirut/SAAD Street/in Khandaq el Ghamiq District/AL BASTA -Bashoura...we all read and knew who Great authors such as Mr.EHSSAN ABDEL QADDUS/YOUSSEF EL SEBA-II/MAHMOUD TAYMOUR/ABBASS AL AKKAD/TAHA HUSSEIN/TOUFIK EL HAKEEM/MOUST.MANFALOTI/YOUSSEF EDRISSWere,sorry if i failed the REST?? Also Writer as MAXIM Gorki/VLADIMIR Nabokov/Victor Hugo/Albert Camus/J.P Sartre/Jean Cocteau/MOLLIER/ then<<< W.Shakespeare/Oscar Wilde/Tennyson/...we all are much obliged and really grateful to them all selling/lending US such Great Men and their Classics ,Translated masterpieces into Arabic, and much of our appreciation and credit is given to that Small sized but great in its impact for being introduced to all those immortal authors ..i wish if any Lebanese. this blog follower tell us all if that GIANT Library>>> AL TAA-WON/SAAD Street/Khandaq el Ghamiq/BEIRUT..STILL acting as a LIGHTHOUSE OF illumination for today s generation, as did to mine??.. By the way they were the pioneers of street-market book sellers on<>>WHEELS <<< as if Mobile grocery vendor . but this FED the MINDS & the SPIRITS of those hungry to learn..MORE /...GOD bless Them ALL at MAKTABAT AL TAA-WON!!....... Regards from London/Is-Hak Barsoumian.
Collector s ITEM,is called every product,that comes out rarely in the shops/stores & on special occasions like L.P Records/Videos/C.D s/D.V.D S...so the situation is also was with books/periodicals from 1955--1975 in Beirut(Thats what my humble self..witnessed for those 20 years)..as it was in Egypt too..I assume??!For both nations being cultural hub or an Oasis in the ArabCosmopolitan cultures...,Magazines//books//in any language were available.,also people had time to buy and read those books,things were calmer..and life was taken a bit easier than today?? We had Sundays and other Holi-days we called ,street markets,most vendors used the pavement-s>>AL RASSIF<<..or the thresholds of the closed shops..or Super Markets* entrances to display their goods for sale..i was & do modestly confirm,a very good customer for it,my pocket money i saved,all were spent on purchasing lots of Arabic & foreign magazines/books with the quarter value of its original price? for instance ,AL KAWAKEB or(Planets/stars)Egyptian cinema-weekly magazine which used to be priced 60 Lebanese piasters or KOUROuSH in 1966,...after a week it was sold for 10 Leb.Piasters ...some were unsold return backs others were individuals read and gave it to them, freely?...Now when i see all such rare publications sold on the WEB with unbelievable high prices,as Collector s Item/i get Amazed & shocked ...and want to get kicked for losing my old time collections of rare magazines,some are not around Now-days..considered as ANTIQUITY,but then i don t blame my self at al for losing /dispersing them,I do blame the circumstances ..such as wars..moving around from place to place in Beirut in those,, war years...things got torn/worn out and turned into bits & pieces ..i do not regret for the savings i spent for having them..ONCE,& A VERY LONG TIME AGO....I do envy those who still got their collections, intact and do enjoy their archives,such as Mr.MAGAZINE MAN aka Mr.Samir HUSNI/Ph.D/?who lives in the U.S.A.and lectures about Press!! ..i had One & ONLY dream in my youth to had a vast gallery/museum/ARCHIVE for every single magazine/daily Newspaper published since the year i was born which was 1947!! to the year i arrived in London by Nov,1979...as we say in ARABIC>>>AHH-YA-NAN TASSIROU AL REEYAHOU BIMA LA TASH-TAHEE-HOU EL-SOUFON meaning>>>>Sometimes,The Winds Blow At The Wrong Direction Of The Sailing Boats,or in nutshell,,better luck,Next time?? which will never come for ME and too late too ,but when i witness ,NOW days, the closure of so many publications all over the globe ,as we acknowledge the ON LINE publications THRIVING & replacing the >>paper substance<> AL ASSDIKAA<<(The Friends), only #1&2 for my school mates to read,only! A modest attempt by me, also an IDEA or(FEEKRA)+an INSPIRATION i have got it from Mr.ALI -wa-(&) Mr. MUSTAPHA AMIN twins* both their youth experiences in press,(may they R.I.P)The Egyptian Press* GIANTS of 1930/40/50/60/70/80/to the near end in,1997/April/13 aged83,with the sad departure of late/great Mr.MUSTAPHA AMIN..whom Founded with His brother.. ALI,(Sadly passed away in 1976)and Mr.Mustapha/their GIANT Dreams became a>>>Reality-ACHIEVEMENT<>>BLOOD-s and freedom-s..to free others.ALL THESE will never be forgotten for generations to come...I DO PRAY AND SINCERELY HOPE SO!!!....Best wishes from Is-Hak Barsoumian/London/
Thank You for your comment Please keep it civilized here, racist and hateful comments are not accepted The Comments in this blog with exclusion of the blog's owner does not represent the views of the blog's owner.
IT is good to know that there still are such Shops around,in this CLICK MAD age,i consider such venues as a Heritage /treasure caves, even though Time/Age begins to wear out papers;;colours ink get faded...but they never take away the precious value of every page of this or that vintage magazine or book... because it is history written /printed by combined 4 colours
ReplyDeleteprinting INKS mixed with SWEAT/BLOOD/TEARS..but most of all Human effort motivated by TIME/PATIENCE/ENDURANCE /and least but not last..INTEGRITY!!////Like ANTIQUES ..
they add up their values year after year...people whom edited them,and others that worked on every single issue..even to the person whom STAPLED EACH ISSUE,Week after week ,some may not be around ..but their SPIRITS never wears out or fades with every remaining paper/magazine or book you or i or anyone adds them to his home-library. but enriches your environment too.. my Late MOTHER used to tell me this> IF ONE DENIES HIS HERITAGE,HE WILL END UP POORER THAN A BEGGER ,EVEN IF HE S GOT MILLIONS in his/her BANK account??...regards from I.B./London
Dear ZEINOBIA / after sending my humble comment about old magazines shop-s-, and while going to my bed to sleep i just remembered ,when i was a child , they read to me at least one bed-time story from those days Fairy-tale books?? such as Alice in wonderland/Hansel& Gretel & Ali Baba & the 40 thieves, in my Armenian tongue of course!!...and when i started to recognise the Armenian/Latin/Arabic Alphabet letters and began to read Words/phrases.. i begun to buy Arabic weekly children magazines such as SAMIR/..SINDIBAD../..Arabic MICKEY<<>>from Egypt , also DUNIA AL AHDASS/..ZARZOUR..BISSAT EL REEH/..AL MOUGHAMER<<<from Lebanon in mid 1950 s!..then as a Teen Ager i begun reading Cinema weeklies such as AL ETHNAIN WAL DUNIA/AL KAWAKEB/AL GEEL/AL MUSSAWAR/ AKHER SAA/Image/ AL HILAL MONTHLY/ even ALI& MUSTAPHA AMIN twins new mag. HE-YA + HOU-WA ...in the early 1960 s?? Lebanese AL SHABAKA/AL ARROUSSA/CINEMA WAL AGA-EB/AL LAYALI/AL MAW-ED/AL SAROUKH...because i was fond of Arab & World cinemas in those good old days,all my school pocket money, followed by my weekly working wages went on such papers,following stories/romances/adventures & latest news about this celebrity or that...was i wasting my money & time ??(Remains to be seen)!!, i don t know, but at that period it was like a daily ritual to follow every step they took , film+Culture stars of Egypt/Lebanon & Hollywood, as in 1959 TV invaded the Arab world..too! so all this became a commodity and a must...Now days ,and after most of those Giant Arab + Western STARS of sight/sound/literature ..vanished Unfortunately from our Skies ,but their sweet memories remain/stay put in our Minds & Hearts!! Even though their untold tales/secrets/events/ goings on, revealed and exposed,now & then, on the Internet/YOU TUBE..etc..etc, i came to this conclusion that 80% of all what we read /heard/ read in times gone by were some kind of NEW AGE fairy tales, and behind all the smiles..celebrations..parties..there were HEARTACHES /TEARS/MISFORTUNES/UNFAIRNESSES/ and some kind of conspiracies & Hypocrisies,, most of it was a make believe stories ,tales and false statements... and truths were swept under the carpets of the large/luxurious salons and film studios of the time, we have shown the full bright Moon ,but now shown the dark side of the same Moon?? or THE REAL THING!... so maybe reading an 1954/5...issue of Al KAWAKEB or Al SHABAKA.. might become an alternative to stories , tales that began with: Once upon a time this prince married that princess, and ended with,.. And they lived Happily ever after???? Really??....Regards from I.Barsoumian/London
ReplyDeleteI want ,to take this opportunity & and VIA /Egyptian Chronicles/..the website that TELLS THE TRUTH,AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH..i am 200, even300% certain and sure, and as an ALTAR for anyone wants to express Opinions/Ideas/Memoirs/or Critics,that s why i want to tell all WHAT WERE WE DOING ,in the years ..Gone???...and to send through this wonderful Blog my gratitude and thanks to that small sized BOOK SHOP/but MIGHTY in its influence .over, my generation , of that era1959-1976,as difficult times poured in Lebanon,then??our street s little library called MAKTABAT AL TAA-WON or Co Op Library owned by our good neighbour Mr. NAZMI A-LA. /..A<< as in the French alphabet?! Almost 8x4 Meters in size,but contained over 10.ooo Arabic books even more /OLD/NEW , Used/Second hand Sale/Rent and from all over the neighbouring countries* publishers such as ,DAR EL MAA-REF/DAR EL HILLAL and others in Beloved Egypt... Maktabat DAR ELHAYAT/DAR EL BAYAN/ZOUHEIR BAALBAKI publishing House ,From SYRIA/IRAQ/JORDAN/SAUDI ARABIAN Pub.Houses..and the latest on the market in Seductive prices,that enables any humble/meek waged individual..own a private Home Library of his own,as i once..DID!! Thanks to Mr.A-LA/Ramadhan couples and their hard working children brothers Mohamed/Fou-ad/Khaled/Walid and good daughters NAJWA/SABAH/SAN-AA, All together helped their parents in delivery/sell etc..etc.. and lived in a small bedsit..but they spread Knowledge and literature all around the capital city.but all over Lebanon towns as a wholesaler//TOO?? ..THANKS TO THIS Little Library situated at downtown Beirut/SAAD Street/in Khandaq el Ghamiq District/AL BASTA -Bashoura...we all read and knew who Great authors such as Mr.EHSSAN ABDEL QADDUS/YOUSSEF EL SEBA-II/MAHMOUD TAYMOUR/ABBASS AL AKKAD/TAHA HUSSEIN/TOUFIK EL HAKEEM/MOUST.MANFALOTI/YOUSSEF EDRISSWere,sorry if i failed the REST?? Also Writer as MAXIM Gorki/VLADIMIR Nabokov/Victor Hugo/Albert Camus/J.P Sartre/Jean Cocteau/MOLLIER/ then<<< W.Shakespeare/Oscar Wilde/Tennyson/...we all are much obliged and really grateful to them all selling/lending US such Great Men and their Classics ,Translated masterpieces into Arabic, and much of our appreciation and credit is given to that Small sized but great in its impact for being introduced to all those immortal authors ..i wish if any Lebanese. this blog follower tell us all if that GIANT Library>>> AL TAA-WON/SAAD Street/Khandaq el Ghamiq/BEIRUT..STILL acting as a LIGHTHOUSE OF illumination for today s generation, as did to mine??.. By the way they were the pioneers of street-market book sellers on<>>WHEELS <<< as if Mobile grocery vendor . but this FED the MINDS & the SPIRITS of those hungry to learn..MORE /...GOD bless Them ALL at MAKTABAT AL TAA-WON!!....... Regards from London/Is-Hak Barsoumian.
ReplyDeleteCollector s ITEM,is called every product,that comes out rarely in the shops/stores & on special occasions like L.P Records/Videos/C.D s/D.V.D S...so the situation is also was with books/periodicals from 1955--1975 in Beirut(Thats what my humble self..witnessed for those 20 years)..as it was in Egypt too..I assume??!For both nations being cultural hub or an Oasis in the ArabCosmopolitan cultures...,Magazines//books//in any language were available.,also people had time to buy and read those books,things were calmer..and life was taken a bit easier than today?? We had Sundays and other Holi-days we called ,street markets,most vendors used the pavement-s>>AL RASSIF<<..or the thresholds of the closed shops..or Super Markets* entrances to display their goods for sale..i was & do modestly confirm,a very good customer for it,my pocket money i saved,all were spent on purchasing lots of Arabic & foreign magazines/books with the quarter value of its original price? for instance ,AL KAWAKEB or(Planets/stars)Egyptian cinema-weekly magazine which used to be priced 60 Lebanese piasters or KOUROuSH in 1966,...after a week it was sold for 10 Leb.Piasters ...some were unsold return backs others were individuals read and gave it to them, freely?...Now when i see all such rare publications sold on the WEB with unbelievable high prices,as Collector s Item/i get Amazed & shocked ...and want to get kicked for losing my old time collections of rare magazines,some are not around Now-days..considered as ANTIQUITY,but then i don t blame my self at al for losing /dispersing them,I do blame the circumstances ..such as wars..moving around from place to place in Beirut in those,, war years...things got torn/worn out and turned into bits & pieces ..i do not regret for the savings i spent for having them..ONCE,& A VERY LONG TIME AGO....I do envy those who still got their collections, intact and do enjoy their archives,such as Mr.MAGAZINE MAN aka Mr.Samir HUSNI/Ph.D/?who lives in the U.S.A.and lectures about Press!! ..i had One & ONLY dream in my youth to had a vast gallery/museum/ARCHIVE for every single magazine/daily Newspaper published since the year i was born which was 1947!! to the year i arrived in London by Nov,1979...as we say in ARABIC>>>AHH-YA-NAN TASSIROU AL REEYAHOU BIMA LA TASH-TAHEE-HOU EL-SOUFON meaning>>>>Sometimes,The Winds Blow At The Wrong Direction Of The Sailing Boats,or in nutshell,,better luck,Next time?? which will never come for ME and too late too ,but when i witness ,NOW days, the closure of so many publications all over the globe ,as we acknowledge the ON LINE publications THRIVING & replacing the >>paper substance<> AL ASSDIKAA<<(The Friends), only #1&2 for my school mates to read,only! A modest attempt by me, also an IDEA or(FEEKRA)+an INSPIRATION i have got it from Mr.ALI -wa-(&) Mr. MUSTAPHA AMIN twins* both their youth experiences in press,(may they R.I.P)The Egyptian Press* GIANTS of 1930/40/50/60/70/80/to the near end in,1997/April/13 aged83,with the sad departure of late/great Mr.MUSTAPHA AMIN..whom Founded with His brother.. ALI,(Sadly passed away in 1976)and Mr.Mustapha/their GIANT Dreams became a>>>Reality-ACHIEVEMENT<>>BLOOD-s and freedom-s..to free others.ALL THESE will never be forgotten for generations to come...I DO PRAY AND SINCERELY HOPE SO!!!....Best wishes from Is-Hak Barsoumian/London/
ReplyDelete