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The Buried: An Archaeology of the Egyptian Revolution
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From the acclaimed author of River Town and Oracle Bones, an intimate excavation of life in one of the world's oldest civilizations at a time of convulsive change
Drawn by a fascination with Egypt's rich history and culture, Peter Hessler moved with his wife and twin daughters to Cairo in 2011. He wanted to learn Arabic, explore Cairo's neighborhoods, and visit the ...more
Drawn by a fascination with Egypt's rich history and culture, Peter Hessler moved with his wife and twin daughters to Cairo in 2011. He wanted to learn Arabic, explore Cairo's neighborhoods, and visit the ...more
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Hardcover, 480 pages
Published
May 7th 2019
by Penguin Press
(first published 2019)
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May 01, 2019
Book of the Month
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Why I love it
by Siobhan Jones
One dusty afternoon in Austin, Texas, in the back of a friends car, I had one of those reading experiences that was so vivid, Ill remember it forever. In some tattered back issue of The New Yorker, a magazine I rarely peruse, I encountered a writer whose storytelling ability was so dazzling that I immediately tracked down one of his travel memoirs (a genre I rarely dip into) and devoured it in a few days. That writer was Peter Hessler, and from then on, I was a ...more
by Siobhan Jones
One dusty afternoon in Austin, Texas, in the back of a friends car, I had one of those reading experiences that was so vivid, Ill remember it forever. In some tattered back issue of The New Yorker, a magazine I rarely peruse, I encountered a writer whose storytelling ability was so dazzling that I immediately tracked down one of his travel memoirs (a genre I rarely dip into) and devoured it in a few days. That writer was Peter Hessler, and from then on, I was a ...more
Peter Hessler is a marvelous story teller. The Buried is about Egyptian revolution, archeology, and politics, but it is even more about people and their stories.
All of Hesslers previous books had been about China. He relished the idea of an adventure in another country, learning another language. In 2011 he and his wife moved to Cairo with twin daughters just over a year old. He had no book contract, and no assignment. He wanted to delve into the ancient culture. Like China, Egypt has a deep and ...more
All of Hesslers previous books had been about China. He relished the idea of an adventure in another country, learning another language. In 2011 he and his wife moved to Cairo with twin daughters just over a year old. He had no book contract, and no assignment. He wanted to delve into the ancient culture. Like China, Egypt has a deep and ...more
My thanks to Penguin Press for an advance copy of this book.
Hessler made his mark with several books about China, where he lived in the late 90s as an English teacher, and then from 2000-2007 as a correspondent. They're getting to be a bit dated now, but they're still some of the best books out there about modern China. He moved to Egypt shortly after the 2011 revolution there, and lived there for 5 years, with this book as the result.
The same qualities which made his China books excellent are ...more
Hessler made his mark with several books about China, where he lived in the late 90s as an English teacher, and then from 2000-2007 as a correspondent. They're getting to be a bit dated now, but they're still some of the best books out there about modern China. He moved to Egypt shortly after the 2011 revolution there, and lived there for 5 years, with this book as the result.
The same qualities which made his China books excellent are ...more
After sampling a few pages, I was more enticed by this BOTM choice than the other four available options. Peter writes in a way that is easy to read, the text flows smoothly through the pages, always inviting the reader to stay along, as typically happens with writers of The New Yorker. By sharing his personal experiences, Peter helped me understand what Egypt is in a day-to-day life and what the country was going through in Arab Spring.
The only downside of the book was that it was too long for ...more
The only downside of the book was that it was too long for ...more
Adroitly combining the color and pacing of travel writing and investigative journalism with the tools and insight of anthropological fieldwork and political theory, this stakes a strong claim to being the definitive book to emerge from the Egyptian revolution.
Publishers Weekly
This is writing at its best and highly recommended for anyone interested in Egypt, modern or ancient.
Library Journal (starred review)
The Buried is wonderfully impressive, not a conventional travel book at all, but the ...more
Publishers Weekly
This is writing at its best and highly recommended for anyone interested in Egypt, modern or ancient.
Library Journal (starred review)
The Buried is wonderfully impressive, not a conventional travel book at all, but the ...more
A great book that taught me much about modern Egypt through Hesslers engaging mix of reporting & personal stories. Sayyid the garbage collector a favourite (the friendship, & the intricacies of his job). I love his curiosity & open-mindedness - its a pleasure to travel vicariously with him. Post- Arab Spring, the politics are interesting then bleak.
The people have great imagination, politeness and warmth. But the country is poorly governed with harmful traditions (for example, 40% ...more
The people have great imagination, politeness and warmth. But the country is poorly governed with harmful traditions (for example, 40% ...more
This felt like a 3 for 1 deal and I mean that as a compliment. The book was a fascinating look into the history of Egypt, going between Ancient Egypt, the Arab Spring, and the personal lives of citizens who live currently in Egypt and are dealing with the changes on a personal level.
This is one of the most brilliant books I've ever read. It's so rich, it's difficult to fully explain the scope and ambition on display.
Peter Hessler's account combines ancient Egypt, the history of excavation, the Arab Spring and multiple revolutions throughout the past 10 years in Egypt, Egyptian language, education, and culture, along with a host of personal stories about not just the people he met living in the country with his family, but also Chinese entrepreneurs and a Jewish family ...more
Peter Hessler's account combines ancient Egypt, the history of excavation, the Arab Spring and multiple revolutions throughout the past 10 years in Egypt, Egyptian language, education, and culture, along with a host of personal stories about not just the people he met living in the country with his family, but also Chinese entrepreneurs and a Jewish family ...more
I loved "River Town" and "Oracle Bones" and I occasionally loved this book too. But I also liked it and found it tedious at other times. Much like the books about China, "The Buried" is a mix of ancient history, current history and stories of average citizens fused together to provide a mirror on the past and present. Hessler is a talented writer with an analytical mind and a keen eye for funny details. I don't know why this book turned out to be so deeply disappointing to me. I read and
...more
I learned so much about Egypt from this amazing book.
In 2011, the political and social climate in Egypt was ripe for a revolution. Known as the Egyptian Arab Spring, the movement was characterized by youth participation, social media, and emphasis on democratic systems, ultimately resulting in the upheaval of the ruling regime and an increasingly chaotic political situation. Peter Hessler recounts hi and his family's experiences living in Egypt during this time of change. With a "bottom-up" approach emphasizing people and not just politics,
...more
The first thing to say is by way of warning. If you think that you need to be a native of a place in order to tell its story, then it wouldn't make sense for you to read this book. Hessler, who spent over a decade in China, first as a Peace Corps volunteer and later as a journalist, is a traveler. He is naturally curious, and his entire writing career has been about telling stories that he sees and hears through his own eyes. This book is set within the Arab Spring, which is when he and his
...more
Before I picked this up, I knew two things: First, that Hessler is a New Yorker staff writer and, second, that people describe him as a great storyteller. SOLD. The Buried is like a 450 page New Yorker article -- interesting, thoughtful, compassionate. As an article, it would be like spending a semester abroad in Cairo. As a book, it's like moving there for 5 years, which is, in fact, what Hessler and his wife (and daughters) did. Think about how much more you find out about a place by living
...more
Remarkable experiences for a young American family living in Egypt for a period of five years. The digest covers government, culture, beliefs, struggles and moments of joy unburied.
Really enjoyed the tying together of ancient history, political analysis related to modern events in Egypt, and travelogue to make trenchant points about Egypts past, present, and future.
I'm normally not a nonfiction person but I thoroughly enjoyed this book about the Egyptian Revolution. It was a book full of commentary on Egyptian culture, stories about the people but also interesting thoughts and insights into the politics.
I'm not sure what this book was supposed to be and I'm not sure the author was sure, either. I mean, was it an archaeology of Egypt? Maybe. It did have some of that in there. Was it a history of the Egyptian revolution? It had a bit of that too. Was it a memoir of this guy's time in Egypt? It certainly had that. Was it a story about a gay man living in an Islamic society? Probably not but that was the most interesting subplot it had. Was it an anthropology textbook? Maybe, There were certainly
...more
4.5 stars.Fascinating, informative, and yet easy to read. One of those books that Im glad Book of the Month brought to my attention. I never felt bogged down by the onslaught of information, even when Hessler switched his focus to the topic of Egyptology and archaeological digs.
I particularly appreciated the way Hessler kept connecting the bigger events to the lives of Manu, Sayyid, and his Arabic teacher. Their lives and their varying levels of interest in politics helps to explain why the ...more
I particularly appreciated the way Hessler kept connecting the bigger events to the lives of Manu, Sayyid, and his Arabic teacher. Their lives and their varying levels of interest in politics helps to explain why the ...more
In his usual bottom-up approach, Peter Hessler stitches together a foreign life touched by many other lives, this time on the Nile. Don't be intimidated by the title "An Archaeology of the Egyptian Revolution," the stories are very accessible, the characters come alive on the pages, the language is simple and moving, and the author's humor is always a good company. He contrasts the ordinary with the profound, personal vs. historical, Neheh (time of cycles) vs. Djet (time of eternity), China vs.
...more
Ever since I read his River Town before first studying abroad in China, I've loved Peter Hessler's writing. This book is no different except this book is basically three books combined:
- basic background on ancient Egypt with an interwoven explanation of two complementary concepts of time from those times: one is about permanence, the time of the gods. the other is cyclical time reflected in the annual seasons of the Nile.
- his personal memoir with stories of the people he meets. Each person's ...more
- basic background on ancient Egypt with an interwoven explanation of two complementary concepts of time from those times: one is about permanence, the time of the gods. the other is cyclical time reflected in the annual seasons of the Nile.
- his personal memoir with stories of the people he meets. Each person's ...more
Its hard to categorize this book, but I enjoyed it, whatever it was. I think the view of Egypt through the eyes of Hesslers closest Egyptian acquaintances was interesting, especially his relationship with the garbage man. In the end, it wasnt the Egyptian politics or history that fascinated me most, it was Hessler and his wife. The idea of a pair of journalists who lived in China for years and then chose to move to Egypt with their one-year-old twin girls for their next adventure together
...more
Peter Hessler provided a fascinating look into contemporary Egyptian culture. After serving as a journalist in China, he and his family decided to relocate to Egypt to follow an interest in archaeology. However he landed in Egypt just as the Arab Spring was erupting. The book centers on his experiences and the people he meets as he is understanding the political context, learning Arabic, and attempting to live day-to-day life in Cairo. He brings to the book vivid portrayals of the people who
...more
I think I appreciate a really well nonfiction book more than a fiction one. It takes an excellent writer to tell about actual events and real people in a way that makes it read like a novel, while still maintaining the trust of the reader. I loved this bookit now ranks as one of my top 10 non fiction readsprobably even top 5 or maybe even top 3. Ive never actually made a list so I dont have a ranking exactly in my head but this would be near the top!
From this book Ive learned so much about the ...more
From this book Ive learned so much about the ...more
I spent a lot of time in Egypt between 2009 and 2012, and still have many friends (mostly Palestinian, traveling to and from Gaza) who travel through it. So reading this book was sort of personal. It's an odd mix of the political, historical and social. Sometimes the transition between those various aspects seemed random. But this also made the book varied and interesting. In particular, I loved the insights into the everyday, ordinary people.
This book is wonderful. It is so sprawling it's hard to summarize-- it covers the author's life in Egypt for 5 years, the revolution during that time both in Cairo and the rural areas, ancient Egyptian history, the study of language, the history of architecture in that area, and class issues. That's just a fraction of ther interesting things discussed here. I can't wait to read his whole backlist plus I'm curious as to his wife's writings.
This book is sophisticated, smart, and well observed. There were many moments where I was reminded, laughing, of David Sedariss diaries. The book is long but Hessler sweeps you along by following the larger than life characters of Sayyid and Wahiba, Manu, and Rifaat, and by interpolating themes of eternal/cyclical time, structure/chaos, and repression/resignation and humor. I freakin loved it and cannot wait to press it into the hands of friends.
...more
This imbalanced and culturally insensitive book about Egypt, Egyptians, and the Egyptian revolution reads like the author is looking down on the people and the nation he spent five years getting to know, all while knowingly nudging his American readers and gravely intoning, "Yep, it's that bad."
I learned a lot from this book and it was really interesting! The writing is very smooth, despite jumping all over Egyptian history. Normally books like this are a slow read and a bit of a bore, but this book drew me in the whole time.
When Hessler states that he moved his young familiy to Egypt about the time of the revolution, my first thought was that my mother would've killed me if I'd taken her grandchildren there.
Once I recovered from those mental images, I enjoyed this book. It's a fascinating glimpse of life in Cairo, and Egypt is literally the only place left on my Bucket List. This isn't a particularly light read, but it's a good way to familiarize yourself with the revolution, current events, and how they affected ...more
Once I recovered from those mental images, I enjoyed this book. It's a fascinating glimpse of life in Cairo, and Egypt is literally the only place left on my Bucket List. This isn't a particularly light read, but it's a good way to familiarize yourself with the revolution, current events, and how they affected ...more
Peter Hessler works his magic on Egypt (instead of China, for a change). Brilliant!
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Peter Hessler is a staff writer at The New Yorker, where he served as Beijing correspondent from 2000-2007, and is also a contributing writer for National Geographic. He is the author of River Town, which won the Kiriyama Book Prize, and Oracle Bones, which was a finalist for the National Book Award. He won the 2008 National Magazine Award for excellence in reporting.
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“Rasha had been employed by two different Chinese shops, and she said that after this experience she would never work for an Egyptian. She described the Chinese as direct and honest, and she appreciated their distance from local gossip networks. “They keep their secrets,” she said.”
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“Akhenaten’s kingship provides an unintended caricature of all modern leaders who indulge in the trappings of charismatic display.”
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