Fiction based in Egypt

The Literary Corner is a place to discuss your favourite books and authors and to add your own poems and stories.

Moderators: 4u Network, DJKeefy

Post Reply
User avatar
Hepzibah
Junior Member
Junior Member
Posts: 47
Joined: Fri Sep 19, 2008 5:48 pm
Location: Hants. UK
Contact:

Fiction based in Egypt

Post by Hepzibah »

[face=Comic Sans MS]What Egyptian based fiction would you recommend?

Having had it suggested to me by a number of people, I've just read The Yacoubian Building by Alaa Al Aswany. I found it very interesting and on one level enjoyed it but on another level was very saddened by it. Telling the story of a number of inhabitants of the Yacoubian Building in Cairo, a once grand place but now a fading gem, the author almost charicatures his subjects yet treats them with sympathy and humour. I can understand why the book caused some discomfort amongst many Egyptians as it really does, in the use of this building and the people in it, paint Egypt 'warts and all'![/face]

Product Description - from Amazon
The Yacoubian Building by Alaa Al Aswany

An international bestseller, 'The Yacoubian Building' is a mesmerising and controversial novel that is at once an impasssioned celebration and a ruthless dissection of a society dominated by bribery and corruption. The Yacoubian Building -- once grand, but now dilapidated -- stands on one of Cairo's main boulevards. Taha, the doorman's son, has aspirations beyond the slum in the skies, and dreams of one day becoming a policeman. He studies hard, and passes all the exams, but when he is rejected because his family is neither rich nor influential, the bitterness sets in. His girlfriend, Busayna, finds herself unable to earn a living without also providing sexual services for the men who hire her. When Taha seeks solace in a student Islamic organisation, the pressure mounts, and he is drawn to actions with devastating consequences. 'The Yacoubian Building' follows Taha's trajectory from innocence to tragedy. The people whose lives orbit his -- the inhabitants of the building -- are also facing their own difficult choices. From those living in squalid and cramped conditions on the rooftops, to the homosexual editor of Le Caire newspaper and a womanising aristocrat, all of the contradictions in Egyptian society are here. Religious feelings live side by side with promiscuity; bribery and exploitation alternate with moments of joy and elation; modernity clashes with the vision of a more ancient society. Alaa Al Aswany's mesmerising novel caused an unprecedented stir when it was published in Egypt. It is at once an impassioned celebration and a ruthless dissection of a society dominated by bribery and corruption.


Post Reply
  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post