An astounding book.
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This has to be one of the best books that I've read in a very long time. I am only about half-way through (at 1,300 pages, it's not for the weak-hearted), but this is a beautiful book. Unlike almost every other book I have ever read, the core of these novels are not the individuals passing through time, but the family as a whole, with its power relationships and ups and downs. There is a death at the end of the first book (Palace Walk), and I was left breathless with admiration for the way it was written. I am no literary scholar, but nothing I've read for a long time comes close. The psychological insight revealed through a clever use of internal monologue makes the workings of the minds of the well-drawn characters immediate in a fresh and challenging way. I love this book, and am only sad that I have to spend my days at work and consequently am limited to my daily commute for the sights and smells of inter-war Cairo.
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Mahfouz, or' Emile Zola of Cairo'.
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The Cairo trilogy is an essential read for anyone curious about Egyptian history or arab culture. The story is about an Egyptian family from the first world war to the independance of Egypt, but it is also about the importance of traditions in a changing world. Time, as the author himself puts it, is the main character.
Mahfouz's superb narrative and poetic style brought him the Nobel prize of Literature and after reading the three books comprised in the trilogy you will, no doubt, agree that the prize was well deserved. Nicknamed the 'Emile zola of cairo', Naguib Mahfouz managed to create a highly entertaining narrative, while giving a true account of the history of his nation. You will grow page after page more attached to the members of the Abd-el-Gawwad family, so much so that turning the last page, you wish you had still a fourth book to read.Mahfouz draws a portrait of his society without judging the traditions that hold it together.
A true masterpiece fo arab literature, that you will want to read again and again.
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A tale of affection, humour and sensitivity
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The first volume in Mr Mahfouz's trilogy - Bayn al-quasrayn is its original title in Arabic - is set in Cairo a few months before the beginning of the revolution that ultimately lead to the independence of Egypt from the British Rule on April 7, 1919 (incidentally the year Mr Mahfouz was born). This magnificent tale tells the story of the Abd al-Jawad family who live in Palace Walk. Ahmed Abd al-Jawad and his wife Amina have two daughters, Khadija and Aisha, and three sons: Yasin is a secretary at al-Nashin school and the son of his father's previous marriage to Haniya, Fahmy is a law student and Kamal, a 10 year old boy.
As the reader follows the joys, sorrows and temptations of each member of the Abd al-Jawad family, he discovers what life used to be like in Cairo at the beginning of the last century. Mr Mahfouz's prose is full of psychological insight, both cultural and social observations and the tale is told with great affection, humour and sensitivity. It is also worth praising William Maynard Hutchinsons's achievement as a translator in this edition.
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A view into Cairo life from a unique viewpoint: Inside.
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This trilogy takes you through the history of Cairo/ Egypt at the start of the 20th century and in fact also leads you through three generations of the same family undergoing, shaping and living the events of that time. The tone is frank - it boosted by understading and appreciation for the culture involved.
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