Naguib Mahfouz’s magnificent epic trilogy of colonial Egypt appears here in one volume for the first time. The Nobel Prize&md... read full description
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Jul 25, 2011
From Powell's website: "A student of philosophy and an avid reader, [Mahfouz] has been influenced by many Western writers, including Flaubert, Balzac, Zola, Camus, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and, above all, Proust." (!)
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Jul 19, 2007
Sean
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this was my review written for the first volume in this trilogy:
The Palace Walk is the best novel I have read in years. In the translation published by the Everyman Library the Cairo Trilogy is funny, biting and tragic with precise descriptions and deeply thought out characters. Though I haven’t read much of the great western popular novelists of the 19th century (meaning, Balzac, Dickens, etc) I get the impression that Mafouz was heavily influenced by them. This book is descriptive More...
The Palace Walk is the best novel I have read in years. In the translation published by the Everyman Library the Cairo Trilogy is funny, biting and tragic with precise descriptions and deeply thought out characters. Though I haven’t read much of the great western popular novelists of the 19th century (meaning, Balzac, Dickens, etc) I get the impression that Mafouz was heavily influenced by them. This book is descriptive More...
Dec 17, 2009
Heidi
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My dad really loved this book, but I'm kind of lukewarm on it, which makes me sad. I really have a strong distaste for parts of the current arabic culture, which alternately villifies and sanctifies women, with nothing in between. Yes, this book does kind of deal with that, but I found that the very way the author writes was equally sexist. The women in this book were almost always cartoonish, described by their attractiveness, or their virtue, or perhaps their lack thereof, with little effor
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Jan 03, 2012
Alex
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Последние 3 недели одолевал книгу классика египетской литературы, нобелевского лауреата Нагиба Махфуза. Называется Palace Walk, это первая часть "Каирской трилогии". Дело происходит в 1919 году в старом квартале Каира. В центре повествования большая арабская семья, во главе с крутым папой, преде которым все трепещут. Подробно описываются отношения внутри семьи, на фоне текущих событий в Египте.
Написано несколько нудно, но тем не менее читать интересно - потому что описывается сове More...
Написано несколько нудно, но тем не менее читать интересно - потому что описывается сове More...
Mar 19, 2009
Dave
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I was in thrall to this epic trilogy all last summer. The story of a traditional Egyptian family in Cairo against the political and social upheavals of the late teens, 20s and 30s. I can't begin to summarize quickly why it's fascinating, because it is so on many levels. To pick a few: It's a view of a culture so different from mine as to seem another planet, yet I can relate to every character. Just seeing into a traditional Muslim household is fascinating: the women virtually never leave the h
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Mar 01, 2009
Kipahni
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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May 03, 2011
Chris
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Forget about the Nobel Prize for a minute. This is not stuffy pretentious Capital L Literature. It's a potboiler family saga in the grand 19th century tradition. If you have ever complained that Trollope didn't write ENOUGH, then Naguib Mahfouz is your new best friend.
Oh ... And there's poignant irony, proustian characters, profound insights into human nature, the history of modern Egypt all wrapped up into one soaringly poetic masterpiece .... Yeah. Fine. Whatever.
The main More...
Oh ... And there's poignant irony, proustian characters, profound insights into human nature, the history of modern Egypt all wrapped up into one soaringly poetic masterpiece .... Yeah. Fine. Whatever.
The main More...
Jan 07, 2012
Hanin
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Imagine witnessing a gripping saga of three generations of a single family in a story that unfolds during a time you never thought you'd live to witness. I've never felt so present politically, culturally, and socially like I did reading this novel.
This novel gives you detailed descriptions of each of the complex characters. One gets the impression that not much is happening and yet there is a lot going on in the rich psychological depth and description of culture. His style is uniqu More...
This novel gives you detailed descriptions of each of the complex characters. One gets the impression that not much is happening and yet there is a lot going on in the rich psychological depth and description of culture. His style is uniqu More...
Oct 29, 2010
Mena
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Incredible. Mahfouz is able to capture the essence of early 20th century Egypt and Cairo while exploring the smallest nuances in familial and romantic relationships and tackling wider philosophical and political questions through the story of the Ahmad family. I loved the shift in perspective from Ahmad Abd al-Jawad to Kamal as the epic unfolded, and appreciated reading about a country from the perspective of one of its own free of the distorting lens of Orientalism. The only gripe I have is tha
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Sep 28, 2011
Melissa
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While not your average page turner, this book is sticking with me. There is "that" quality to this work that seeps in slowly but makes a lasting impression. The characters are each so distinct and quietly developed, it's as if you are all at once, peering into the open backside of this family's Palace Walk doll house. Mahfouz provides a rich view into an Egyptian family saga including the complexities of hypocrisy, control, duty, and the Islamic cultural roles of gender. I found th
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Nov 17, 2011
Matthew
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A Novel About Culture; When the author's death was announced only about a month ago I was surprised he was still living at all. I think he is the only Arab so far to win the Nobel prize for literature. He is certainly a controversial figure for Egyptians who seem at the same embarrassed by his candor, but proud of his international acclaim.
I was told that Edward Said recommended this book for those who wanted to better understand Arab culture. For the past three years I read this novel on and of More...
I was told that Edward Said recommended this book for those who wanted to better understand Arab culture. For the past three years I read this novel on and of More...
Jan 02, 2012
Tony
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The Cairo trilogy covers decades of life in an exceptional nation through the story of one extended family, the Jawads. While the focus of these books is on personal life, the family is impinged by politics, war and foreign occupation - as well as traffic hazards, illness and the health and education systems. The trilogy opens during the Great War and English colonialism and closes at the end of WW2, as Egypt enters six decades of dictatorship.
Palace Walk
In an ultra-cons More...
Palace Walk
In an ultra-cons More...
Dec 03, 2010
Michael
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The trilogy concerning the Egyptian family of the patriarch, al-Sayyid Ahmad Abd al-Jawad, is one of the great family sagas of modern literature. By focusing on one family Mahfouz sums up the history of modern Egypt in the first half of the twentieth century. Consisting of Palace Walk, Palace of Desire, and Sugar Street, the story concerns the tyrannical al-Sayid Ahmad, his wife, sons, daughters, and grandchildren. He lords it over his meek, stay-at-home wife, Amina, his sons, Yasin, Fahmy, a
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Feb 01, 2011
James
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Feb 19, 2010
Phoenix
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This book is magnificent. I was not expecting, from a translation, to be pulled in so completely, but I have not been able to put it down for three days. It is the story of a Muslim family ruled by a strict father who cloisters the women. It is centered around the heart of the household- the mother - but the author carefully and lovingly brings each character to life. For me, someone who is intrigued by the mystery of this way of life, it is a "lifting of the veil" into their turbu
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Aug 23, 2011
Inert1
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The trilogy follows the lives of an Egyptian family over the course of several decades, as children grow and become adults, leading to joy and anguish. The family portrayed has unusual traits, but they exist in a fascinating world that offers a glimpse into Egyptian society, which has many features that a Western reader finds curious and exotic. The expectations and societal norms range from charming to disturbing, and some of the characters deviate far beyond the norms of Egyptian society. Neve
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Jul 27, 2011
While it requires a rather enormous investment of time and patience (after all, it's nearly a thousand pages), it vividly creates a distant place, and provides terrific insight into a vastly different culture; worthwhile even if much of that culture belongs to a vanished world--partly, the trilogy, which is a family saga that plays out over three generations, documents its vanishing.
Aug 02, 2011
Family saga set in turn of the 19th into the 20th century Cairo in a lower middle class household.
Most clearly I remember the scene where the family patriarch, upright, moral and dignified to his own family, 'marries' a prostitute and has a raucous party with his cronies. Part of this relationship is observed by his youngest son, if I remember correctly.
Most clearly I remember the scene where the family patriarch, upright, moral and dignified to his own family, 'marries' a prostitute and has a raucous party with his cronies. Part of this relationship is observed by his youngest son, if I remember correctly.
Jul 11, 2009
Jl
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My book club read Naguib Mahfouz's works for a whole year -- in fact,the year before 9/11. I am grateful to Mahfouz for introducing me through to literature into Arab and Muslim culture. The Palace Trilogy are the three most important books I've read in the past ten years. It sounds corny, but I could barely put them down.
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Feb 09, 2009
Stephen
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I read Palace Walk in 1998 and read the rest later on, borrowed them from Suzanne, who happened to have the other two volumes, but not Palace Walk! The trilogy is in one piece now, in her possession.
A charming and touching series about an urban Egyptian family, beginning around 1910(?) and ending much later.
A charming and touching series about an urban Egyptian family, beginning around 1910(?) and ending much later.
Dec 03, 2007
Jim
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The sum is certainly greater than its parts ... I have always been skeptical of the basis for Mahfouz's Nobel Prize, but this trilogy, while a little clumsier (and, let's be honest, the ebb and flow of Egypt's independence movement does not in any way match the Napoleonic wars for drama), holds its own with War and Peace. Very well-observed characters; their progression over time is completely believable. On the other hand, this progression makes for a pretty sprawling and amorphous tale. Var
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Dec 29, 2008
Anumeha
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Incredible story, incredible time in history and incredible people. I loved everything about this book, a time and place in history in a country I have never been to full of people and characters who came from all walks of life and some of whom were very familar to me.
Apr 20, 2011
Tina
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This trilogy is set in Egypt. It tells such a compelling story with so many interesting characters, while also weaving in the culture and city of Cairo. The author (who just died 3 or so years ago) did an awesome job capturing people as they really are. Highly recommended!
Feb 16, 2009
First included in Everyman's Library 2001.
Palace Walk was originally published in Arabic 1956 under the title Bayn-al-Qasrayn.
Palace of Desire was originally published in Arabic 1957 under the title Qasr al-Shawq.
Sugar Street was originally published in Arabic in 1957 under the titile al-Sukkariyya.
Palace Walk was originally published in Arabic 1956 under the title Bayn-al-Qasrayn.
Palace of Desire was originally published in Arabic 1957 under the title Qasr al-Shawq.
Sugar Street was originally published in Arabic in 1957 under the titile al-Sukkariyya.
Jan 28, 2010
Marty
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One of the best ever. Colonial Cairo....different families representing the changes taking place in Egyptian society....just brilliant. Ah yes, he also won the Nobel Prize for Literature....and well worth it.
Apr 01, 2010
Stephanie
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It was a long haul, as the trilogy runs over 1300 pages, but it was well worth it. From a prolific career, this trilogy is said to be his crowning achievement. It spans the years from 1917 to 1944, and the changes that took place in (urban) Egyptian society in that time. He uses the framework of a family saga to explore the changes in political, cultural, and gendered arenas.
I was glad that I left off reading the introduction until after I had read the novel. I found that it ma More...
I was glad that I left off reading the introduction until after I had read the novel. I found that it ma More...
Jul 29, 2011
Delightful. The first book takes place almost entirely inside the walls of one house, and in the minds of the occupants. He is a master of portraying the mental life of his characters.
May 14, 2011
liz
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This is a good book, but you have to be very engaged. This is not one that you can start, put down, and then go back a few days (or months) later. I tried, ended up starting over.
Jun 29, 2009
Michele
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A fascinating chronicle of an Egyptian family in the 1920s and 30s - sometimes feels let down by its stilted translation, but still a great trilogy. The characters really stick with you.
