1988: Naguib Mahfouz
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Mahfouz, Naguib "Midaq Alley"

1957



(Arabic title: زقاق المدق/Zuqaq El Midaq) - 1947



This is my fifth book by Nobel Prize winning Egyptian author Naguib Mahfouz. And every one of them seems to be even better than the last one. But that's probably just because it's the most recent one. They are all brilliant. He was just such a fantastic writer. You get to know the people living in Midaq Alley as if you've lived among them for most of your life.

A war rages in Europe and makes its waves into Egypt, as well, though not the way we might think.

The alley lies in the poorer part of Cairo with its inhabitants belonging to the poorer population, the lower end of the middle class probably. They all have their dreams of a better life, getting out of the street even though most of them know that this is where they belong and that they might not be able to live anywhere else.

It's almost like living in a village. If someone coughs at one end of the street, people on the other side have you dead within five minutes. Everyone knows everyone else's business. That has its advantages and disadvantages, of course.

So, this story could have taken place elsewhere, maybe even on your doorstep but the author tells us the lives of his compatriots. If you haven't read anything by this author, try him.

From the back cover:

"Never has Nobel Prize-winner Naguib Mahfouz's talent for rich and luxurious storytelling been more evident than in Midaq Alley, in his portrait of one small street as a microcosm of the world on the threshold of modernity. It centers around the residents of one of the hustling, teeming back alleys of Cairo. From Zaita the cripple-maker to Kirsha the café owner with a taste for young boys and drugs, to Abbas the barber who mistakes greed for love, to Hamida who sells her soul to escape the alley, from waiters and widows to politicians, pimps, and poets, the inhabitants of Midaq Alley vividly evoke the sights, sounds and smells of Cairo, Egypt's largest city as it teeters on the brink of change. Long after one finishes reading, the smell of fresh bread lingers, as does the image of the men gathering at the café for their nightly ritual. The universality and timelessness of this book cannot be denied."

Naguib Mahfouz "who, through works rich in nuance - now clear-sightedly realistic, now evocatively ambiguous - has formed an Arabian narrative art that applies to all mankind" received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1988.

Read my other reviews of the Nobel Prize winners for Literature.

Original Post on Let's Read.

Mahfouz, Naguib "Children of Gebelawi" (aka Children of our Alley)

(Arabic title: اولاد حارتنا Awlād ḥāritnā) - 1959


Reviewed by Marianne
from Let's Read



An interesting book. First I thought it was the Bible retold. But then I realized it was all our monotheistic religions retold, the beginnings of them, at least.

It's so easy at the beginning, There is Gabalawi (God) who first throws Idris (Satan) and then Adham (Adam) out of his house, then there is Gabal (Moses), Rifa (Jesus) and Qasim (Muhammad), all three of them wanting to bring peace to their alley (the world) and creating their own religions. At the end we have Arafa who stands for the modern world or science.

Naguib Mahfouz tries to weigh theses characters up against each other. What a rich and powerful story, full of symbolism, allegories, parables, comparable to the Bible, really. And probably the Quran, as well. I am not surprised the author received the Nobel Prize for Literature and will certainly read more of him.

Apparently, not everyone in our book club agreed with me. These are some of the comments from the meeting:

"Obtaining the book had not been easy and likewise the reading of it. The first chapter set the stage with actions that would be repeated anew in each historical era. In the midst of abject misery and poverty a prophet comes with a message of hope which the people eagerly embrace.  This ushers in a time of peace and harmony but before many generations human discord, discontent, greed, and hatred arise leading to another cycle of misery. In their misery people call for help which comes again in the form of a new prophet ... repeat cycle. Basically a religious history of mankind from the Garden of Eden via Moses, Christ, and Mohammad to the rise of science. Mahfouz survived an attempt on his life as his writing angered the Islamic world."


From the back cover:

The tumultuous 'alley' of this rich and intricate novel (first published in Arabic in 1959) tells the story of a delightful Egyptian family, but also reveals a second, hidden, and daring narrative: the spiritual history of humankind. From the supreme feudal lord who disowns one son for diabolical pride and puts another to the test, to the savior of a succeeding generation who frees his people from bondage, we find the men and women of a modern Cairo neighborhood unwittingly reenacting the lives of their holy ancestors: the 'children of the alley' This powerful, self-contained novel confirms again the richness and variety of Mahfouz's storytelling and his status as 'the single most important writer in modern Arabic literature.'"

We discussed this in our book club in June 2013.

Naguib Mahfouz "who, through works rich in nuance - now clear-sightedly realistic, now evocatively ambiguous - has formed an Arabian narrative art that applies to all mankind" received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1988.


Read my other reviews of the Nobel Prize winners for Literature.  

Original Post on "Let's Read".

Sugar Street by Naguib Mahfouz


(Cairo Trilogy 3) 
(Arabic Title: السكرية/Al-Sukkariyya) - 1957

Reviewed by Marianne
from Let's Read

Seldom was I so sad than when finishing this novel. Not because of its contents although they were not all happy events but because this is the end of the story about the family Abd al-Jawad. I would have loved to carry on following their lives and that of their descendants even into the present day.

After reading "Palace Walk" and "Palace of Desire", the first two novels in this trilogy about the author's home town Cairo, I couldn't wait to read the next one.

Same as in the two previous books, we don't just meet the family but also learn about the Egyptian history. This book takes us through the years 1935 to 1944. We can tell the difference in society between the beginning of the saga in 1917 and the (almost) end of WWII. There is quite a difference between how women are treated, what they are allowed to do, even though there are still some people who live in the previous century. Same as today, I guess.

I would love to read more about Egypt later on. There is another Egyptian author that I really like, Ahdaf Soueif, I have read her novel "The Map of Love" and a collection of short stories "Aisha", and I am sure I will find other good Egyptian authors that will continue this story. If anyone has a suggestion, I am always happy to receive recommendations.

From the back cover:
"Sugar Street is the final novel in Nobel Prize-winner Naguib Mahfouz’s magnificent Cairo Trilogy, an epic family saga of colonial Egypt that is considered his masterwork.
The novels of the Cairo Trilogy trace three generations of the family of tyrannical patriarch al-Sayyid Ahmad Abd al-Jawad, who rules his household with a strict hand while living a secret life of self-indulgence. Sugar Street brings Mahfouz’s vivid tapestry of an evolving Egypt to a dramatic climax as the aging patriarch sees one grandson become a Communist, one a Muslim fundamentalist, and one the lover of a powerful politician. Filled with compelling drama, earthy humor, and remarkable insight, Mahfouz’s Cairo Trilogy is the achievement of a master storyteller."

Naguib Mahfouz "who, through works rich in nuance - now clear-sightedly realistic, now evocatively ambiguous - has formed an Arabian narrative art that applies to all mankind" received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1988.

Find other books by Naguib Mahfouz that I read here.

Read my other reviews of the Nobel Prize winners for Literature.  

Original Post on "Let's Read".

Palace of Desire by Naguib Mahfouz


 (Cairo Trilogy 3) 
 (Arabic Title: قصر الشوق/Qasr el-Shōq) - 1957

Reviewed by Marianne
from Let's Read

"Palace of Desire", Part 2 of the Cairo Trilogy, starts in 1924, five years after "Palace Walk" ends. The children have grown up, even the youngest son and the family moves on after several backdrops. al-Sayyid Ahmad Abd al-Jawad, the Patriarch, still tries to control his children but he is less successful than in the first book.

Again, we meet all the friends and neighbours of the family, the sons-in-law, the girls pursued by the sons - and the father. A story that really deserves the title "saga".

We also learn again about the Egyptians' view of the British occupation and can totally understand them. Why should one country rule over another?

I know I mentioned I love big books but what I love even more is a continuation of a big book that makes it even bigger. This is one of those cases. I also really enjoyed the third part, "Sugar Street".

From the back cover:
"The sensual and provocative second volume in the Cairo Trilogy, Palace Of Desire follows the Al Jawad family into the awakening world of the 1920's and the sometimes violent clash between Islamic ideals, personal dreams and modern realities.

Having given up his vices after his son's death, ageing patriarch Al-Sayyid Ahmad pursues an arousing lute-player - only to find she has married his eldest son. His rebellious children struggle to move beyond his domination as they test the loosening reins of societal and parental control. And Ahmad's youngest son, in an unforgettable portrayal of unrequited love, ardently courts the sophisticated daughter of a rich Europeanised family."

Naguib Mahfouz "who, through works rich in nuance - now clear-sightedly realistic, now evocatively ambiguous - has formed an Arabian narrative art that applies to all mankind" received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1988.

Find other books by Naguib Mahfouz that I read here.

Read my other reviews of the Nobel Prize winners for Literature.  

Original Post on "Let's Read".

Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz

(Kairo Trilogy 1)
(Arabic Title: بين القصرين/Bayn al-qasrayn) - 1956 

Reviewed by Marianne
from Let's Read 


Part 1 of the Cairo Trilogy. I love big books, I love family sagas, I love historical fiction, I love books by Nobel Prize winners, so this should definitely the book for me.

And it is. The story of an Egyptian family between 1917 to 1919. We get to know al-Sayyid Ahmad Abd al-Jawad who rules his family like a tyrant, his wife, his daughters and his sons, they all have to obey him without question. He is by far not a perfect person himself but expects this from everyone around him. Given the time, everyone accepts this as a God-given law.

Brilliantly told, Naguib Mahfouz is a fantastic observer, he mentions so many things, describes people's feelings in a way that is unique and highly commendable. We can imagine being a fly on the wall who notices everything that is going on. I would love to read a book Mahfouz would write now about the same family, well, their progeny. The author managed to create a family that seems so real, so alive. We can well imagine meeting them somewhere. A very realistic story.

I also read the follow-up "Palace of Desire" and the last part "Sugar Street" and they are both just as great.

From the back cover:

 "Palace Walk is the first novel in Nobel Prize-winner Naguib Mahfouz’s magnificent Cairo Trilogy, an epic family saga of colonial Egypt that is considered his masterwork.
The novels of the Cairo Trilogy trace three generations of the family of tyrannical patriarch al-Sayyid Ahmad Abd al-Jawad, who rules his household with a strict hand while living a secret life of self-indulgence. Palace Walk introduces us to his gentle, oppressed wife, Amina, his cloistered daughters, Aisha and Khadija, and his three sons - the tragic and idealistic Fahmy, the dissolute hedonist Yasin, and the soul-searching intellectual Kamal. The family’s trials mirror those of their turbulent country during the years spanning the two world wars, as change comes to a society that has resisted it for centuries."


Naguib Mahfouz "who, through works rich in nuance - now clear-sightedly realistic, now evocatively ambiguous - has formed an Arabian narrative art that applies to all mankind" received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1988.

Find other books by Naguib Mahfouz that I read here.

Read my other reviews of the Nobel Prize winners for Literature.  

Original Post on "Let's Read".

The Harafish by Naguib Mahfouz

Originally reviewed on Guiltless Reading.
The epicness of rabble.

About The Harafish by Naguib Mahfouz: In this captivating novel, Mahfouz chronicles he dramatic history of the al-Nagi family - a family that moves, over many generations, from the heights of power and glory to the depths of decadence and decay. The Harafish begins with the tale of Ashur al-Nagi, a man who grows from humble origins to become a great leader, a legend among the common people - the harafish of the title. Generation after generation, however, Ashur's descendants grow further from his legendary example, losing touch with their origins and squandering their large fortunes, marrying prostitutes and developing bitter and eventually fatal rivalries. And yet, a small hope always remains that one day they will produce a Nagi who can restore their name to its former glory.

My two cents

Harafish translates to "rabble" and this book chronicles the family history of in a community described as a little alleyway in Egypt (I like to imagine it to be like a crowded slum area of a large city).

This is an epic read. It reminds me of the broadness of scope of 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Marquez and the complexity of family histories (although Harafish spans not just one but two centuries!). It also reminds me of Homer's books that evoke the grandeur and exaltation of heroism. Lastly, it reminds me of the Bible because of themes that it explores, particularly of the good and bad of human nature. Specifically this reads like Ecclesiastes which questions and challenges the meaninglessness of life.

Chronicling the al-Nagi family's history over generations, this is a fascinating look at how the family pendulums from legendary greatness to folly and destitution. An interesting array of larger-than-life characters make their appearance over the centuries, from the goodness and legendary strength of Ashur; the sexual woman Zahira who is beguiling and calculated; the folly of Galal in his pursuit of immortality (oh, there is more, and I kept shaking my head at how robust and melodramatic the characters are!). Each character's story is a parable and there are nuggets of wisdom to be had from the philosophical musings emanating from their stories.

Uh-ohs

While I found the translation is beautifully simple and makes this easy reading, it may rile on your nerves a bit as at times it feel almost overly simple.

I also found myself wanting a family tree because of the sheer number of characters and the unfamiliarity of the names.

Verdict

This is my first Mahfouz book and I wasn't disappointed at the cultural richness and the universality of the themes presented in this epic chronicle of a common family's history.

Random quotes

He and Raifa each lived in hell, in a world of tedium. - p. 29
[..] was struck by the idea of a woman's weakness is her emotions, and that her relationships with men should be rational and calculated. Life is precious, with vast possibilities, limitless horizons. Love is nothing more than a blind beggar, creeping around the alleyways. - p. 236

Why do people laugh, dance in triumph, feel recklessly secure in positions of power? Why do they not remember the true place in the scheme of things and their inevitable end? - p. 272

Nobel Facts

Naguib Mahfouz is an Egyptian writer who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1988 "who, through works rich in nuance - now clear-sightedly realistic, now evocatively ambiguous - has formed an Arabian narrative art that applies to all mankind." His books are originally written in Arabic. Read more about Mahfouz on Wikipedia.  

Book Depository

Midaq Alley by Naguib Mahfouz

Reviewed by Edith LaGraziana

Here in Europe and in America knowledge about Egypt is mostly limited to history which is a pity because the country didn’t cease to exist with the death of Cleopatra in 30 B.C. In fact, Egypt is an important power in Northern Africa and the Islamic world today although she seldom makes the headlines unless in the context of terrorist attacks, wars and revolutions. Western-style literature doesn’t have a long tradition there, and yet, there are writers like Tawfiq Al-Hakim, Naguib Mahfouz, or Bahaa Taher (»»» read my review of Sunset Oasis) who are known worldwide. Today I’m reviewing the novel Midaq Alley by Naguib Mahfouz, the Egyptian laureate of the 1988 Nobel Prize in literature, which revolves around the simple residents of an old street in 1940s Cairo when the country was under British protectorate and thus involved in World War II.

Naguib Mahfouz (نجيب محفوظ) was born in Cairo, Egypt, in December 1911. He was raised in the lower middle-class and devout Muslim environment of his extended family which didn’t prevent him from growing to be first an avid reader and later a professional writer, though. He studied philosophy at King Fouad I University (today: University of Cairo) and published several short stories in literary journals. After graduation he became a civil servant like his father for a living, but continued to write. According to wikipedia he brought out 34 novels, over 350 short stories, dozens of film scripts and five plays in a career that spanned more than seven decades and that was crowned with the award of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1988. Many of the Egyptian author’s works are available in English translation, the most important among them are his Three Novels of Ancient Egypt: Khufu's Wisdom (1939: عبث الأقدار) , Rhadopis of Nubia (1943: رادوبيس) and Thebes at War (1944: كفاح طيبة), Cairo Modern (1945: القاهرة الجديدة), Midaq Alley (1947: زقاق المدق), The Cairo Trilogy: Palace Walk (1956: بين القصرين), Palace of Desire (1957: قصر الشوق) and Sugar Street (1957: السكرية), Children of the Alley (1959: اولاد حارتنا), Adrift on the Nile (1966: ثرثرة فوق النيل), Karnak Café (1974: الكرنك), Akhenaten, Dweller in Truth (1985: العائش فى الحقيقة), and The Day the Leader was Killed (1985: يوم مقتل الزعيم). Naguib Mahfouz died in Cairo, Egypt, in August 2006. 

Towards the mid-1940s World War II has been raging for years already, but air raids, blackouts and penuries of everyday goods have hardly changed Midaq Alley. It is an old stone-paved street in the Azhar quarter of Cairo, too isolated and too short to buzz with life like the rest of the big city:
“One of its sides consisted of a shop, a cafe, and a bakery, the other of another shop and an office. It ends abruptly, just as its ancient glory did, with two adjoining houses, each of three stories.” 
The men of Midaq Alley like to gather in Kirsha’s café which is the perfect place to learn and spread news. In addition, also its hashish-addicted owner often gives reason for gossip because he is known to be attracted to boys to the point of making a fool of himself to the vexation of his wife. His son Hussain dispises the petty life in the poor neighbourhood and gladly seized the opportunity to get a well-paid job in a British Army camp which allows him to enjoy a more western-style life away from the alley and the café. The barber Abbas, who is Hussain’s best friend since childhood, feels completely different about it, though:
“… Abbas had a lazy dislike for change, dreaded anything new, hated traveling, and if he were left to himself he would make no choice other than the alley. If he spent the rest of his life there, he would be quite happy. The truth was, he loved it.” 
But Abbas also is up to the ears in love with beautiful Hamida from one of the residences at the end of the street and he dreams of marrying her. Unfortunately, his little barber shop only earns him a bare living and he knows that Hamida yearns for a better life just like his friend. So in the end he makes up his mind to follow Hussain’s advice and to work for the British Army too for a while in order to save money and then start a family with his beloved. Hamida’s adoptive mother accepts Abbas’s proposal of marriage and thus officially engaged as well as convinced that nothing can now prevent their happiness, he leaves his little shop and the alley. However, not only Abbas is charmed by Hamida’s beauty. Also middle-aged and married Salim Alwan, the owner of the perfume company in the alley, is infatuated with her. And then there’s slick Ibrahim Faraj who waylays her in the streets and opens a world of beautiful clothes and jewellery to her…

According to eye witnesses and historians, everyday life as portrayed in Midaq Alley is characteristic of Cairo’s lower-class neighbourhoods in the 1940s. As shows the novel, the war had a great impact on Egyptian society, especially in the big cities, because it forced people to neglect formerly strict barriers of class, age, and sex in the figurative as well as the literal sense offering them at the same time unprecedented and most welcome opportunities of social rise... and creating strong desires. The third-person narrative from the point of view of an uninvolved observer focuses on daily life in Midaq Alley painting a colourful picture of surroundings and routines, but also of people. All characters of the novel are depicted true to life, thus multidimensional in their behaviour, convictions, dreams, virtues and vices. Desire is the author’s central theme which he skilfully shows in all its forms ranging from the simple wish for material gain and social rise to sexual desire. Most surprisingly for a novel from the 1940s and written in Arabic it also touches highly controversial topics like homosexuality and prostitution although from the biased perspective of a Muslim man it seems to me. While the café owner Kirsha appears as a hashish-addicted imbecile running after boys who just deserves being laughed at, Hamida is condemned as a “whore by instinct”. I must say that Hamida’s behaviour and reasonings were those that least convinced me because they felt unusually superficial to me. Maybe this is because the author is a man with a naturally male point of view. Maybe this is because Muslim values and traditions are too far from my own reality. Language and style are difficult, if not impossible for me to judge because I don't speak Arabic and have to rely on the translation. In any case it was a read that I enjoyed.

All things considered, Midaq Alley by Naguib Mahfouz has been a very interesting novel which allowed me a glimpse into the Egytian soul and a deeply Muslim society. Although the book first appeared almost seventy years ago, the values and ways of life it conveys may not have changed as much as might be expected. What better reason to recommend it for reading in times like ours?

Original post on Edith's Miscellany:

Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz

This was the first piece of Egyptian writing I've read, and I was attracted to it by the cover notes which explained that Mahfouz had won the Nobel Prize for Literature, but I found it disappointing. 
It begins with a compelling portrait of Amima, who lives her entire married life according to the zealous religious strictures of her husband, Ahmed Abd al-Jawad.  He imposes strict Muslim observances on all the females of his family through the power of his bullying personality, but he himself spends each night drinking and whoring.
Despite a truly awful translation, the early part of the novel succeeded in conveying the claustrophobic life the women lead.  Denied access to education, to the news, to books other than the Qur'an, Amima is depicted as gaining satisfaction from serving her husband and accepting the limitations of her life. Her subservience to this hypocritical tyrant is appalling to a modern woman!
Perhaps the laboured prose and the repetitious quotations from the Qur'an are part of the style of Egyptian literature, but the book seems overlong.  It was interesting to read the Egyptian perspective on the Australian occupation during WW1 (extremely negative) and on the postwar demonstrations to end the British Protectorate, but the bawdy flirtations and obscure dialogues of Ahmad and his women were tedious.  The scene when Yasin, Ahmad's thoroughly unpleasant younger son, rapes his wife's servant  is repellent in the extreme.  The writer treats the victim as Yasin does, of no consequence whatsoever -  and the imputation that Yasin's wife is insulted all the more because the servant is black is downright offensive.
Was all this meant to be ironic?  An expose of these hypocrises?  I couldn't tell...
I read and journalled this book on 10 January 1997. 
Cross posted at Good Reads

The Beggar by Naguib Mahfouz



Reviewed by Rose City Reader.

Published in 1965, The Beggar is, on the surface at least, the story of Omar’s midlife crisis. While less overtly political than Naguib Mahfouz’s other works, this novella takes on the biggest “political” issue of all – the meaning of life. Omar’s tale is a metaphor for the “midlife crisis” of modern Egypt, 17 years after its 1952 revolution, as both Omar and the country search for meaning after achieving worldly success.

The story reunites three childhood friends all engaged in the same struggle to find the deeper purpose of their adult lives: Othman was a bomb-throwing rebel back in their earlier days. Now, out of prison after 20 years, he is trying to adjust to an Egypt that has adopted the socialist ideals he fought for in his youth. He fights to channel his revolutionary zeal in a post-revolutionary bureaucracy.

Mustafa was an idealistic playwright who sold out and is now the host of a popular radio program sponsored by a snack food company. He embodies the discord between artistic endeavors and modern commerce.

Omar had been an aspiring poet with stars in his eyes, before he became a lawyer and real estate developer. Now, in his 40s, he is bored with his matronly wife and completely indifferent to his law practice. He cannot even get worked up over the news that the government is going to nationalize the apartment buildings he owns.

In an effort to recover from this enervating “illness, ” Omar seeks stimulation in the usual combination or wine, women, and song. His reprehensible behavior – abandoning his pregnant wife for a series of trysts with showgirls – demonstrates how the pursuit of mindless, easy entertainment can lead to ruin.

The title comes from a passage in which Mustafa questions whether Omar’s crisis is caused by “suppressed art.” Omar supposes that art may be the solution, but not the cause. Then both wonder whether they would be better off, metaphysically, if they were scientifically inclined, rather than artistically, because science would offer answers that art cannot. Mustafa concludes that they cannot find the solution to Omar’s crisis, stating, “Since there is no revelation in our age, people like you can only go begging.”

The biggest problem is not the content, but the presentation. Mahfouz’s writing style is difficult to follow. He changes verb tenses at random, he uses dialog without identifying the speakers, and he changes the point of view over and over. Often Omar is referred to as “he” and “you” and “I” all in the same passage or even paragraph. It is hard to tell if these are intentional techniques or translation problems, but they are distracting.

These technical problems aside, The Beggar is full to the rim with metaphors and moral issues. It would be a good choice for a high school English class as there is plenty to chew on for such a short book.

The Cairo Trilogy by Naguib Mahfouz

Check out a review by Arjun for The Cairo Trilogy, written by Naguib Mahfouz, the 1988 Nobel Laureate in Literature. I have requested Arjun to crosspost it here and I hope he consents.
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