Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Midaq Alley by Naguib Mahfouz


Naguib Mahfouz was a Nobel Peace Prize winner and is heralded as one of the Arab world's best writers. He was born, died, and buried - last August at the age of 94 - in Cairo, Egypt. I found this book while I was studying at AUC. It is supposed to be one of his best; the story did not disappoint.


Midaq Alley was written in 1947 and takes place during the later portion of World War II in an alley of Cairo. The basic idea behind the story is modernization - specifically the breaking of Arab tradition for Western tradition. The story follows the everyday lives of the people that live in the alley. Everything from the mundane to the taboo and unrequited love to war is experienced by the small group of Egyptians in the alley. The characters are extreme representations: the match-maker, the professional crippler/beggar, the rich land-lady, the hashish store owner, the coming of age male, and the young beautiful female that longs for a new life of her own as she has to fight off suitors.

The story is a touching blend of the character's lives, feelings, and desires. I often found myself trying to imagine the characters walking in the alleys, smoking hookah at the shops, and going about their daily lives in Cairo. It helped to have a firsthand experience as a reference point, but it's not required to become engaged by Mahfouz's writing.

My only regret is that I didn't pick up more of his works while I was at AUC. The AUC Press is holds the rights to his works and I can't buy the same artwork for the covers outside the Middle East. If you want to pick up a copy, don't fret, Amazon has copies too.

3 comments:

Escape Pirate said...

It does sound like something I would enjoy. I like those stories that really give you a sense of place. And sure, it would help to have actually been there, but I've got a good imagination. I'll have to check him out on Amazon and see what's out there. Shame about the artwork differing, though.

Midnight Sprinter said...

The cover art I am talking about is the one pictured.

Luckily, the program director from the Law in the Middle East program still likes me. I e-mailed him and he is willing to pick up a couple of copies of the AUC Press versions for me. He'll mail them to me in August, in sha'Allah!

Escape Pirate said...

I know. I was saying that I like the cover you show and that it would be a bummer if I couldn't get the same by ordering off of Amazon.

Sounds like you lucked out by staying in contact with the program director.