On Shagaret El-Dorr Street stand two of the oldest and most prominent multilingual bookstores in Zamalek, not more than a minute’s walk apart.
Owner Ramzy Nashed Salama remembers the exact date he opened Zamalek Bookshop: May 13, 1960. At the time, recalls Salama, there were only 18 bookstores in Cairo – all owned by foreigners – that sold books in Arabic and foreign languages.
His motive for opening his store was simple: he loved books. At 27 years old, the commerce graduate already had “culture in his blood.
His favorite authors in Arabic included Youssef El-Sebae, Naguib Mahfouz and Tawfik El Hakim, and Ernest Hemingway in English language. Then, with a smile of amusement or perhaps even mild embarrassment, he confesses to having enjoyed the “007 series and the detective fiction of Agatha Christie.
Unfortunately, Salama finds himself easily fatigued by reading now. “Everything changes, he muses.
The typewriter that once induced a boom in the publishing industry is now a thing of the past, remarks Salama. Technology is what has changed the most, and the bookstores try to stay abreast.
Across the street, people at Romancia Bookshop agree that variety has increased. Romancia itself has revamped a few times, adapting to changing technology and accompanying tastes. It has also been five years since they started to offer Arabic literature.
Often mistaken as the bookstore owner, Wadie, who has seen a quarter of a century pass at the corner-shop, says he now feels part of the place. Interestingly, he shares his last name with the owner who established Romancia in 1973, Evette Tadros Hanna.
And as if the coincidence wanted to confirm itself, the other familiar face at the shop is John – full name, John Hanna – who, also incidentally, shares the year of his birth with Romancia.
“We’re like family, says Wadie, also introducing me to Romel, who has worked for them for around a year-and-a-half.
It’s a tight-knit community at the other bookstore, too. Salama’s sister, Dawla Nashed Salama, helped him run Zamalek Bookshop from 1960 until she retired in 2005. Mona Ahmed has been helping him for 25 years, learning about the book business along the way.
Located at a crossroads, the corner bookstore enjoys the quick stopovers of cars that pick up papers. And Romancia make the most of it. Books – especially those in English – are generally more expensive so they sell less, and mostly, it is foreigners that buy them. Their newspapers and magazines sales are actually better than books.
Current bestsellers are “Taxi by Khaled Khamisi, “Chicago and “Yacoubian Building by Alaa El-Aswany, and “Yhood Yahudiya, we Sahyunia (Jewish and Zionist), written by the recently deceased Abdel Wahab Messiri.
Naguib Mahfouz’s work makes an ongoing contribution to the sales, says Wadie. He compares Aswany’s work to Mahfouz, and finds them both “very local.
“Ishme’zazi, says Salama at Zamalek Bookshop about Aswany, offering a translation in three clear-cut syllables, “Disgusting.
“Egyptian society doesn’t have stuff like that, he states. Mahfouz, on the other hand, “wrote from reality.
Salama lumps the current sellers – “Taxi, “1/4 Gram and “Azmet Regaalla (Quandary of Men) into one genre: “Tafha, he says, meaning trivial.
Still, Salama will not be tricked into saying that culture has been shortchanged. It is only that there are other avenues, he says, such as those provided by TV and dish antennas – and Internet, Romancia adds.
What else has changed? Traffic, Wadie says, and taxes – both have increased.
There used to be a Russian club across from Romancia earlier – a past with connotations of gardens and greenery and space – now a luxury in Zamalek, or rather, in most of Cairo.
“People, says Salama from Zamalek Bookshop, “have changed the most. They had more respect towards other people and towards everything else.
“Even the sound was very different, he says, noting he missed silence the most.
Salama recalls when there was no building across the street from him. It was uncommon for more than two or three to drive by in a day. “Now, he says laughing, “there are cars to the right and to the left.
Competition bothers neither of the Shagaret El-Dorr residents. Salama says he shares a unique and unparalleled relationship with his customers. “Most of the customers, I’ve known since they were children, he says, “and I feel very happy when I see their children.
Plus, the basics of customer loyalty are simple – consistency. At Zamalek Bookshop, you can expect honesty, respect, quietness and punctual timings. “I do my job. I got my style, he says, and true enough, his is a walk-in bookstore quite different from the flavor offered by the say-hi-when-you-stop-by Romancia, or have-a-coffee-while-you’re-at-it Diwan. “I’m not concerned about competition. Salama says. Yes, admittedly, many other new competitors constantly emerge with the current literary boom, but he knows his market.
Romancia welcomes the presence of Diwan and Zamalek Bookshop in the neighborhood, as it brings more customers into the area. “If they don’t find something there, they come here, says John. Conversely, if the bookstore runs out of a particular title, they just get it from next door. It’s convenient.
Romancia is open seven days a week, from 8 am to 8 pm. The bookstore is located at 32, Shagaret El-Dorr St. Tel: 2735 0492.Zamalek Bookshop is located at 19, Shagaret El-Dorr, and is open daily except Sundays from 9 am to 8 pm. In Ramadan, hours are often extended until 9 pm. Tel: 2736 9197.
