Naguib Mahfouz

[Stewart]

Naguib Mahfouz (December 11, 1911 – August 30, 2006) was an Egyptian novelist who won the 1988 Nobel Prize for Literature and who managed to modernize Arabic literature. He is regarded as one of the first writers of Arabic literature, along with Tawfiq el-Hakim, to explore themes of existentialism.


BIBLIOGRAPHY

• Old Egypt (1932) مصر القديمة
• Whisper of Madness (1938)همس الجنون
• Mockery of the Fates (1939) عبث الأقدار
• Rhadopis of Nubia (1943) رادوبيس
• The Struggle of Tyba (1944) كفاح طيبة
• Modern Cairo (1945) القاهرة الجديدة
• Khan El-Khalili (1945) خان الخليلى
• Midaq Alley (1947) زقاق المدق
• The Mirage (1948) السراب
• The Beginning and The End (1950) بداية ونهاية
• Palace Walk (1956) بين القصرين
• Palace of Desire (1957) قصر الشوق
• Sugar Street (1957) السكرية
• Children of Gebelawi (1959) أولاد حارتنا
• The Thief and the Dogs (1961) اللص والكلاب
• Quail and Autumn (1962) السمان والخريف
• God's World (1962) دنيا الله
• Zaabalawi (1963)
• The Search (1964) الطريق
• The Beggar (1965) الشحاذ
• Adrift on the Nile (1966) ثرثرة فوق النيل
• Miramar (1967) ميرامار
• The Pub of the Black Cat (1969) خمارة القط الأسود
• A story without a beginning or an ending (1971)حكاية بلا بداية ولا نهاية
• The Honeymoon (1971) شهر العسل
• Mirrors (1972) المرايا
• Love under the rain (1973) الحب تحت المطر
• The Crime (1973) الجريمة
• al-Karnak (1974) الكرنك
• Respected Sir (1975) حضرة المحترم
• The Harafish (1977) ملحمة الحرافيش
• Love above the Pyramid Plateau (1979) الحب فوق هضبة الهرم
• The Devil Preaches (1979) الشيطان يعظ
• Love and the Veil (1980) عصر الحب
• Arabian Nights and Days (1981) ليالى ألف ليلة
• Wedding Song (1981) أفراح القبة
• One hour remains (1982) الباقي من الزمن ساعة
• The Journey of Ibn Fattouma (1983) رحلة إبن فطومة
• Akhenaten, Dweller in Truth (1985) العائش فى الحقيقة
• The Day the Leader was Killed (1985) يوم مقتل الزعيم
• Fountain and Tomb (1988)
• Echoes of an Autobiography (1994)
• Dreams of the Rehabilitation Period (2004) أحلام فترة النقاهة
• The Seventh Heaven (2005)

RELATED LINKS

• Naguib Mahfouz on Wikipedia
• Paris Review Interview with Mahouz
• Mahfouz article on Nobel site
• Obituary from Islamica magazine

[Stewart]

Has anyone read any of Mahfouz's work? I have Midaq Alley sitting on my shelves, which I bought along with Alaa Al Aswany's The Yacoubian Building, partly because of what I deemed similarities taken from their synopsis, being a study of different peoples' ways of life with an enclosed environment. Alas, I've not actually touched either of the books.

Mahfouz's Cairo Trilogy (Palace Walk, Palace Of Desire, Sugar Street) carries an air of temptation, but I think I'd rather read some of his standalone work before committing myself to a larger multi-volume work.

[Heteronym]

I've had the pleasure of reading two novels by Naguib Mahfouz, on opposite ends of a literary career that has spanned seven decades: the naturalist Midaq Alley, about the lives of a handful of Egyptian people living in the same street in Cairo; and the magical Arabian Nights and Days, which corroborates my belief that the most realistic writers also write the best fantasy.

As is custom with good writers, Mahfouz has become more popular in Portugal ever since he passed away. Two parts of the Cairo Trilogy have been translated recently.

[pontalba]

I have Cairo Trilogy in my TBR stack, I've only skimmed the beginning, but it certainly has an interesting beginning, and seems to have great promise.

I have been reading The Yacoubian Building and I don't know whether it is a slice of real Cairo life, but it is certainly a slice of life where everything is for sale and has its price, and where muscle will prevail if scheming won't. The back cover says it "caused an immediate scandal due to its sexual frankness when it was first published in Egypt." It has been translated into nine languages and made into a film. How could it not be?

[Stewart]

Originally Posted by Dabbler

I have been reading The Yacoubian Building....

In the interests of the forum, I've taken the above post and started a new The Yacoubian Building thread with it.

[heidiadonis]

I have read Three Novels of Ancient Egypt: Khufu's Wisdom, Rhadopis of Nubia, Thebes at War by Mahfouz. The first one is about power, the second about love, and the third about war. He seems to write mostly about the glorious ancient Egypt, while Alaa Al Aswany's Chicago tells of the modern Egypt. Strangely I am more familiar with the ancient Egypt than the present Egypt, which is why I appreciated Chicago better.

Chicago is a story of Egyptian medical students in Chicago doing study abroad, some of who decided to settle in the states and so well-integrated into life in America while others adhered to Egyptian ways of life even abroad. I was mostly shocked, though expected, how minority Coptic Christians are treated differently among the affluent majority Muslims who hold the power and take control of the country including the educational institutions. It is as informative as Kite Runner, maybe not as impressive.

Rhadopis is a high courtesan with a striking beauty compared with that of Pandora's, with whom the young handsome Pharaoh, who is also as beautiful as Adonis or Narcissus, falls madly in love. Let me stop here so as not to spoil anymore. I enjoyed reading the conversations of philosophers, high ranking government officers, artists, poets in the court of Rhadopis.

I look forward to reading The Yacoubian Building.

[liehtzu]

I'll second Arabian Days and Nights: brief, beautiful, and crackin' good.

[Heteronym]

Originally Posted by heidiadonis

He seems to write mostly about the glorious ancient Egypt, while Alaa Al Aswany's Chicago tells of the modern Egypt. Strangely I am more familiar with the ancient Egypt than the present Egypt, which is why I appreciated Chicago better.

You can't describe Mahfouz that way. His career spanned seven decades, he wrote dozens of novels. In his career he tackled around several genres: historical novel, naturalism, fantasy, comedy.

[heidiadonis]

Excuse me for my ignorance. I did not mean to undervalue Naguib Mahfouz or his work. Would you recommend me any of his books that you think his best?

[Daniel del Real]

I would truly recommend Midaq Alley, one of his most famous novels and The Children of Gebelaawi which is my personal favorite. This one is a beautifully narrated alegory of how religions came up to change the world through different ages, and how, after all, the figure of God (the same one for Muslims, Jews and Christians) disappears from the face of earth, and never comes out again to check what is happening with his creation. At the end the message is clear: We are alone, fighting for a God that is all but the same.
A masterful piece of art this novel is.

[Richard Sheehan]

I've got the Everyman edition of 'The Cairo Trilogy' and have skimmed it a bit, but this thread has made me resolve to at least read this and perhaps more. Thanks for the above opinions.

[waalkwriter]

Children of Gebelawi Great novel, hands down. Read that to get a sense of Mahfouz.

[Igu Soni]

Just finished Rhadopis of Nubia. Beautifully written, but not completely satisfactory. Full review here.

[Omo]

I read a collection of shorter prose by him, in some worn out edition from the 70's. I enjoyed it immensly and ever since wanted to read more by him, but so far I haven't come around to it.

[miercuri]

I would love to read Mahfouz, unfortunately his works were translated kind of randomly to Romanian, most of them are out of print and the titles differ from the English versions. I don't know exactly which to pick up.

[Igu Soni]

Originally Posted by miercuri

I would love to read Mahfouz, unfortunately his works were translated kind of randomly to Romanian, most of them are out of print and the titles differ from the English versions. I don't know exactly which to pick up.

Try the English translations. The one I read, at least, was very good.