The world’s largest floating book fair has docked in Dubai, bringing with it a collection of more than 5,000 titles.
Logos Hope’s reputation precedes it.
The ship has been travelling the region this past year, visiting Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iraq. The turnout has been seismic. Between the reasonable prices of its books and the novelty of its buoyant address, the fair has proved immensely popular in the Middle East.
In Cairo, the ship welcomed 65,000 visitors across 10 days. When it arrived in Ras Al Khaimah on April 12, more than 500 people climbed aboard within hours.
The Logos Hope will be staying at Port Rashid until April 23, after which it will set sail to Abu Dhabi’s Cruise Terminal at Marsa Mina, where it will welcome visitors between May 17 and June 5. From there, it will go to Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and Oman.
The Logos Hope previously visited Dubai in 2011 and Abu Dhabi in 2013. Although I missed the ship’s visit to the UAE both times, this year, I wasn't going to.
The peculiarity of the experience settled in while still driving into Port Rashid.
Majestic cruise ships and cargo boats were idling along the pier, and there was that untampered view of the Gulf tucked neatly behind the horizon. I was at the docks, about to board a ship to buy a book. There was something deliciously literary about it. How many great stories have come to us from the sea? From Sindbad the Sailor to Herman Melville’s Moby Dick and Jules Verne’s 10,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
What stories would I find in Logos Hope? It was hard not to smile as I walked up the ship’s scalloped ramp, the metal ringing under my steps. The ship’s crew welcomed me beamingly, pointing towards a hall where stickered steps led the way.
One of the first things visitors encounter is a life-size simulation of what it would be like behind the ship’s wheel. The installation is fitted with three screens as well as a mock radar system to help guests navigate rendered waters.
The hallway is then decked with photographs and information about the history of GBA Ships, the organisation behind Logos Hope.
GBA Ships began in 1970 with the purchase of the first Logos ship. Seven years later, it became clear that a second ship was needed as the organisation began expanding. Since then, its ships have visited some 480 ports in 150 countries and territories. Almost 50 million people have explored the organisation’s sailing book market.
Volunteers make up the backbone of GBA Ship’s crew and staff. They hail from 60 different countries, and live and work on the organisations’ ship for at least a year.
Friendly and willing to help, they are also careful to make the rules on deck explicit to visitors. Before entering the area within the ship that has been designated as the book fair, I was asked to join the other visitors in the “lifeboat” — a screening section that has been fashioned as a large, red vessel.
“It’s a one direction system,” a volunteer announces during the presentation about the fair and what to expect. “You cannot exit where you entered from. After the lifeboat, you’ll step into the book fair, where there are 5,000 different titles to choose from.”
The presenter did a great job of building anticipation, outlining the journey ahead of us. The other visitors were also squirming in their seats, although that could have been the ship rocking with the tide.
The volunteer concludes her presentation with a touch of drama, stepping forward to pull back the curtain towards the book fair. We could see the books sprawled ahead. Our steps quickened and none of us remembered the courtesy of letting a stranger walk ahead.
The excitement tempered quickly.
The fair ticks all the boxes of genre, from cooking to fiction, non-fiction, textbooks and picture books. It has a robust children’s section, offering classic works that have been illustrated, or abridged and simplified. There are good deals on textbooks, young adult, self-help, business and management. There is also a sprawling collection of books related to Christianity, which possibly make up the largest part of the fair.
Really that is the extent of its collection. If you are looking to lose yourself through enticing spines of fiction, poetry, and non-fiction, you may be disappointed. That’s not to say you won’t find something that resonates. There are gems, such as the collection of works by Shakespeare, Charles Dickens and Mark Twain that have been illustrated in comic style.
Picking up a few of these, I made my way to the payment area. The currency on board is units, and for three comic books, I owed some 600 units, which amount to Dh60.
After paying, visitors are directed to the Journey of Life portion of the ship, which is a curling hallway depicting a cartoon based on the story of the prodigal son. Along with the graphics on the walls, the hallway is fitted with screens where the story is narrated in Arabic.
The course then leads to a theatre area and a cafe before turning back towards the exit. Walking out, the ship’s crew is as affable as they are on the way in. They ask if I had a good time, I reply that I did.
And that is the truth. The book fair’s collection may not have spoken to me, but it would certainly be a trove of some sorts to a younger audience and to parents. Nevertheless, getting on a ship and ambling in between book shelves as the floor almost imperceptibly rocks is a particular experience that doesn’t come around often. Even if you may not find your next great read at the fair, it will still give you a story.
