About this title: The first volume in Mahfouz's Cairo Trilogy looks into the lives of the family of al-Sayyid Ahmad, a merchant who forces his family to follow strict religious rules while he follows his desires, sampling the alluring nightlife of the city.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Anchor
Date Published: 1990-12-01
ISBN-13:9780385264662ISBN:0385264666
Description: Poor. Appears unread, minor shelf wear, downgraded condition because of a light smoky smell. Unconditional money back guarantee. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Anchor Books
Date Published: 1990
ISBN-13:9780385264662ISBN:0385264666
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. spine c reases and worn at edges. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 512 p. Cairo Trilogy, 1. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Anchor
Date Published: 1990
ISBN-13:9780385264662ISBN:0385264666
Description: Good. This Copy States "Copyright 1991. " 218-U Books rated "Good" may have some notes, underlining, or highlighting. These books also may contain the previous owner's name, stamp, sticker, or gift inscription, or may be library discards. read more
Description: Acceptable. Former Library book. Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. 0385264658 Condition: GOOD. (Book may have one or a combination of the following characteristics: former library book, dust jacket missing, cover wear, name written inside cover, considerable underlining/highlighting, remainder mark, binding loose, binding slants, pages tanning / curling, etc. Overall, the book is in decent shape. This is a blanket description. Please email us if you require a specific, detailed description of the book condition. We will typically respond within one week ... read more
Description: Good. 1990-Paperback----Used-Good-Hall Street Books proudly ships from Brooklyn, NY. All orders are processed and shipped within 24 hours, M-F. 100% money back No-Worry guarantee with expedited delivery and delivery confirmation available. read more
Description: Good. 1990-Paperback-Cover shows some minor shelf-wear. Pages softly tanned. ---Used-Good-Hall Street Books proudly ships from Brooklyn, NY. All orders are processed and shipped within 24 hours, M-F. 100% money back No-Worry guarantee with expedited delivery and delivery confirmation available. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Anchor
Date Published: 1990-12-01
ISBN-13:9780385264662ISBN:0385264666
Description: Good. This book has the previous owners name in it. Every heavytail order includes with a sweet! We carefully hand clean and reinspect each and every item we ship. Our quality control process ensures items to be in the condition described or better. Heavytail is determined to earn your repeat business through old fashioned customer service. We love international orders. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Anchor
Date Published: 1990-12-01
ISBN-13:9780385264662ISBN:0385264666
Description: Fair. This book has the previous owners name in it. Every heavytail order includes with a sweet! We carefully hand clean and reinspect each and every item we ship. Our quality control process ensures items to be in the condition described or better. Heavytail is determined to earn your repeat business through old fashioned customer service. We love international orders. read more
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. There is very slight wear to the top and bottom edges of this book. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 512 p. Cairo Trilogy, 1. Audience: General/trade. This book was written in 1956 and was the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. read more
"Al Sayyed Ahmad's family is Amina his wife, and his four children. Ahmad parties every night with a lover, and his fellow merchants, and beats his children during the day if they oppose his will. This novel depicts the Egyptian family on a collision course with the forces of change that bring about the 1956 independence of Egypt from Great Britain. It is hard to know of Mahfouz was attempting to create a microcosm to reflect the macrocosm of Egyptian society in this 500 page detailed account of the workings of the family. Amina the mom can't go outside, and the one time her children sneak her out fully covered, she is hit by a car, and then banned from the house for awhile. Yasim is the boorish, older brother who carouses, marries, tries to rape the family maid, and seduces his wife's maid. Aisha the blond/blue eyed daughter, risks showing herself in a window to an officer, who asks for her hand only to be rejected by the dad. Khadija, the big nosed, sarcastic, but fiercely protective daughter, takes care of all, and finally find marriage with the brother of the one who is given permission to marry Aisha. Famy, falls in love with the next door neighbor, only to be told no by his father when asks to marry, studies law, and is radicalized to overthrow the rude English who are helped by the Australian soldiers. Kamil, the young boy, is the heart of the book, loving, playful and curious, possibly the author's alter ego. I wonder why the author choose such an autocratic, abusive patriarch in Ahmad; he portrays other fathers as letting their daughters go out, or caring if their daughters are beaten by their husbands. If you can stick with the daily life detail, it grows on you and transports you into another world, but quite a bit of tedium. Themes of the book: obsessive lust, the seed of Islamic fundamentalism as a reaction to Western domination, ecstasy of music and pottery, limited scope of life to the household and the street, devotion and intimacy of son's with their mothers, fat as erotic, abuse, hatred and derision of women. Quotes about women: Pg. 81: A woman. Yes. She's nothing, but a woman. Every woman is a filthy curse. A women doesn't know what virtue is unless she's denied all opportunities for adultery. Pg. 156: You're just a woman, and no woman has a fully developed mind. Pg.202 What tempted you to disobey him after a long life of blind obedience... The safest thing to do is to be careful to obey him (mother to Amina after she is thrown out of her house for going outside)."
"The best exploration of "the alleys, the palaces,the mosques and the people who live among them " seen thru the eyes of Al-Sayyid Ahmad, his spouse Amina ,their 3 sons and 2 daughters set in Cairo in 1919. An added thrill that this was edited by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis . Naguib Mahfouz went on to win the well deserved Nobel Prize for Literature in 1998. This work first published in 1956 and translated into English in 1990 could well have been written yesterday for its insight."
"Sometimes it feels more like reading a soap opera and some might get a little bored, but I thoroughly enjoyed the story of this family and enjoyed reading the entire series. Despite being set in WWII, this book has a lot of insight into the contemporary issues that Egyptians face as well as contemporary society. Mahfouz skillfully inserts a lot of interesting critique into the story line."
"The story of an upper-middle class family living in Cairo Egypt during WWI. The story looks closely at the structure and relationships that make up the family. A really interesting look at a Muslim family at the start of the 20th century. It takes a little while for non-mMuslims to pick up on and understand all of the characters internal struggles, but by the end you can empathize with every family member."
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