In the late 1960's a group of friends meet night after night on a house-boat moored along the banks of the Nile to escape the seriousness overtakin...
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Mar 28, 2011
Marieke
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What?! I didn't write my review yet? Sorry about that, folks. Luckily I scribbled some notes down in a notebook while I read it so I think I might be able pull together a few reflections. This book is a little odd, and not being a Naguib Mahfouz aficionado (yet), I'm not sure how it compares to his other books. It is a slim volume and a fast read. I enjoyed the prose immensely and did not feel like I was reading a translation (someday I will read it in Arabic! Someday, where are you?? Why are yo
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Mar 28, 2011
إسراء
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في البداية
ترددت كثيراً في ترك الرواية لما ظهر منها من ملل مميت و ثرثرة لا اجد فيها اي فائدة !
لم يبدأ اندماجي مع الرواية و ابطالها الا منذ بدء الحادثة على طريق و صوت الضمير تارة يظهر في سمارة و اخيراً ظهر في انيس
جدال عن الحق و الضمير
جريمة قتل تظهر الجوانب الخفية في كل شخصية من ابطالها
احمد نصر المدعي بانه مازال محافظاً على اخلاقه !
بالرغم من انه آثر الهروب على إنقاذ الضحية و لم يفق صوت الضمير بداخله ابداً
اما سمارة المدعية بانه More...
ترددت كثيراً في ترك الرواية لما ظهر منها من ملل مميت و ثرثرة لا اجد فيها اي فائدة !
لم يبدأ اندماجي مع الرواية و ابطالها الا منذ بدء الحادثة على طريق و صوت الضمير تارة يظهر في سمارة و اخيراً ظهر في انيس
جدال عن الحق و الضمير
جريمة قتل تظهر الجوانب الخفية في كل شخصية من ابطالها
احمد نصر المدعي بانه مازال محافظاً على اخلاقه !
بالرغم من انه آثر الهروب على إنقاذ الضحية و لم يفق صوت الضمير بداخله ابداً
اما سمارة المدعية بانه More...
Mar 28, 2011
Leon
rated it:
This book is my first venture or introduction to writings from the middle east, specifically Egypt. So I approached it with some prejudice, inevitably because so far I’ve only read fiction from the West and a couple from the East, most from Japan.
After successfully reading past the first chapter, I was surprised to actually begin to like this book. The absurdist element Naguib Mahfouz introduced very early on in the story sold me entirely, lock, stock and barrel. I was amused by An More...
After successfully reading past the first chapter, I was surprised to actually begin to like this book. The absurdist element Naguib Mahfouz introduced very early on in the story sold me entirely, lock, stock and barrel. I was amused by An More...
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Mar 28, 2011
Sean
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I was told to read this because it was supposed to be “the perfect treatment of life under Nasser”. It’s the story of a group of pseudo intellectuals and broken men who meet on a house boat every night to get high, until a tragic event befalls them leading at least one of them to kinda sorta reexamine his life. I guess it is supposed to be an indictment of educated classes, wasting away their lives while Rome burned, but I don’t know. I’m not really very good at this allegorical stuff.
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Mar 28, 2011
Philking
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Should be read as a companion piece to Camus' 'The Fall.' Divides the world's attitudes into a dichotomy of 'Seriousness'-which ignores the inherent meaningless of reality, and 'Absurd'- which is truer but unsatisfying. Finds some solace in opiates, women, and friends, but ultimately implies existence is a solitary quest (and possibly unanswerable).
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Mar 28, 2011
A-ron
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This book - the second or third by Mahfouz that I got my hands on - revealed to me just how diverse his talents are. This book is a trip. You can really feel the heady aroma of the drugged air... the lazy heat... negligent irresponsibility leading you disastrously toward... conclusion.
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Jun 21, 2011
Nick
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Egypt in the 1960's -- Cairo and it's climate of intelligentsia -- brings us this existentialist story that skirts the borders of feminism and anti-establishment. The thesis in this virtually plotless work is that men have the luxury of being absurdist heroes in their own lives, but women, because of the seriousness of their position as human nurturers, do not. Thus the men in the story are all absurd, that is they recognize the absurdity of existence. The women who try to do the same are brande
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(2 people liked it)
Mar 28, 2011
Stven
rated it: 
When Mahfouz won the Nobel Prize, I was interested in reading his work, and for some reason this was the book I chose from those few on the library shelf. The nicest thing I can say about it is that the prose was good enough that I read the whole thing and it made a lasting impression. Unfortunately the impression it made was negative, discouraging me from ever reading Mahfouz again.
I suppose that when a writer is prolific, some of his stories may be little backwaters where nothing More...
I suppose that when a writer is prolific, some of his stories may be little backwaters where nothing More...
Jun 14, 2011
Ksenia
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Essential if one wishes to understand the complexity of modern Egypt. Totally Cairene novel, deep and human, just as Nile river is
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Jul 12, 2011
Richie
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One of my favorites, the ending brings tears to my eyes. Love the story, the characterization, the language.
Jul 05, 2011
Alexander
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Didn't enjoy it nearly as much as the Cairo Trilogy, but still a solid work.
Mar 28, 2011
Brian
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The most interesting element of this novella is the shifts in focalization. Sometimes the narrator is omniscient, others he's addressing the protagonist in the second person, others he's assumed the consciousness of the protagonist and speaks in the second person to everyone else. These moments occur when the protagonist is stoned, which happens rather frequently.
Mar 28, 2011
Adam
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An interesting book. Very much of a time and a place but with some universal themes about how we participate in society. It's almost a play - nearly all the chapters take place in one location on different nights. I probably should re-read it to fully understand some of the more subtle notions.
Mar 28, 2011
Sebina
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... a spontaneous philosophical life described by different narrow set of educated & non educated cairo's people. who want to imagine a certain pro arab thinking with nargille and scent of nile....just find a good atmosphere and of course the book...enjoy!
Mar 28, 2011
Alex
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Never realized this was such a stoner novel. Much more existentialist even than the third volume of the Cairo Trilogy ([i]Sugar Street[/i]), [i]Adrift on the Nile[/i] deserves a place alongside the novels of Walker Percy and other "existentialist" novelists.
Mar 28, 2011
I didn't find this book as interesting or entertaining as "The Mystic Masseur." There is a lot of dry conversation and little action until the end. It does make you question your own beliefs and life.
Mar 28, 2011
Katie
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this book is all about getting high. this book won a nobel prize. but really, it's quite good. lovely, even.
Mar 28, 2011
Judy
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Excellent book on the question "What is morality?" Good character study. Winner of The Nobel Prize.
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