Naguib Mahfouz (1911–2006)

Οι σημαντικότεροι ηγέτες στην ιστορία της Αιγύπτου προσέρχονται ένας-ένας στην επιβλητική Αίθουσα της Δικαιοσύνης και απολογούνται για τα πεπραγμένα τους ενώπιον του Θεού Όσιρι και της Ίσιδας. Είναι όλοι εκεί: από τους Φαραώ Χέοπα και Ραμσή και τη Βασίλισσα Χατσεπσούτ show more μέχρι τους προέδρους Γκαμάλ Αμπντ ελ Νάσερ και Άνουαρ αλ Σαντάτ. Οι ηγέτες του παρελθόντος επικρίνουν ή εξυμνούν ο ένας τον άλλο: ο ιδρυτής της Αιγύπτου Φαραώ Μήνης κατηγορεί τον Νάσερ και το πραξικόπημά του για την παρακμή της χώρας, ενώ ο Νάσερ επιτίθεται στον Σαντάτ για την πολιτική του. Εκτός από τους πολιτικούς, στο βήμα ανεβαίνουν επαναστάτες, ποιητές και φελάχοι, διατυπώνοντας ο καθένας τη δική του κριτική άποψη για την πανάρχαια και πολύπαθη χώρα. --- Μια άκρως πρωτότυπη προσέγγιση της κοινωνικοπολιτικής ιστορίας της Αιγύπτου, ένα μοναδικό μυθιστόρημα από τον βραβευμένο με Νομπέλ Ναγκίμπ Μαχφούζ. show less

يصعب نجيب محفوظ الكتابة جدا على اللاحقين , اذا كنت مؤلف جديد فى نيتك لاضافه عمل اخر الى المكتبة العربية فانت لا تنافس فقط ابناء جيلك بل تنافس كل كتاب طبع يوما بحروف الضاد , تنافس الجميع على وقت القارئ و خياله , و وسط هؤلاء جميعا يقف نجيب محفوظ متحديا الجميع

فى عمل درامى يزيد show more بضع صفحات عن المئة يقدم محفوظ للقارئ -فى تكدس يستحق الدراسة- جرعه دسمه من الفن و الادب و الفلسفة فى قالب واحد , مع محفوظ يصعب جدا ان تأخد الجمل دون ان تضيف لها الرمزية المطلوبة

يخبرك عن قصه تبدو فى غاية البساطة عن الحفيد الذى هرب من جده بحثا عن الحرية و ان شابها الشقاء , فى رحلة مع زوجة جسدية بحته ثم زوجة فكرية بحته و من ثم الى الضياع و تمنى العوده الى راحة الجد التى فقدت الى الابد

هل قابلت بعد القارئ الذى لم يضيف للقصة ابعاد اكبر؟ و لم يرى فى ما وراء جعفر و ما وراء الراوى ...يستخدم نجيب القدر الموزون بالجرام من الرمزية فلا افراط ولا تفريط , رمزية تنجيه من الرقابة و من لسان من لا يقدرون الفن , و تصل بالمعنى كاملا للمتلقى بعد ان يعمل عقله و لو قليلا

و مع نوع من الاقتباسات ك: انى عاجز عن الكفر بالله , لقد دفنت أكثر من شخص عاشوا في جسدي متتابعين ولم يبقي مني سوي هذه الخرابة , انك شيطان فى تكييفك مع العربدة ملاك فى تكييفك مع الاستقامة

لا تملك سوى ان تعتبر العمل عبقرى على قصر طوله ...و تذكر محفوظ ينافسك
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Hmm a review of a Nobel prize winner’s work?. Nah just impressions from a lowly reader-a harafish- a commoner, rabble. A great word. The harafish are the down trodden filler people. It's not their lives that are chronicled through the generations in this book rather it is the clan chiefs, sheiks, merchants and power mongers that Mr Mahfouz follows. Noble clan leaders sow security for the harafish. But when corruption slithers into the leader’s heart the money flows to a few rather than show more benefiting all. Then the harafish harvest only suffering. The wonder of the book is that it is about ancient clan systems but gives insight to current western politics and universal family dynamics. The Nagi family’s struggles with greed, pride and dreams are not distant at all. Nor is the political dimension of how power alters intentions and commoners do or don't weld their own collective power to put just leaders in place or succumb to tyranny. show less

Wow, wow, wow is this book fantastic. It's a substantial book, and the first of a trilogy by a Nobel Prize-winning author and it certainly has the reputation as An Important Book, which put me off reading it despite having picked up a very nice copy over a decade ago. This book seemed like it would require effort and somehow I was never up for making the effort. And so when I finally pulled it down off of the shelf, I was astonished at how vibrant and fun this novel was, one of those rare show more novels where time disappeared while I was reading.

Set in Cairo, in the years before Egyptian independence from Britain, the novel centers on al-Sayyid Ahmad Abd al-Jawad and his family. In public, Sayyid is the life of the party, a fun-loving and generous man who loves nothing more than gathering with his friends, drinking and singing, and sleeping with a series of mistresses. At home, however, he is intent on having a strictly observant religious household, the women who stay home and never show their faces to anyone outside the family, and sons who obey his every order and remain free of all vice. At home, his genial personality transforms into one that is quick to rage. Each family member reacts differently to their circumstances and the novel concerns itself with domestic issues and the crises that pop up in ordinary life, until the dissatisfaction with being an occupied country is expressed in demonstrations and rebellion and the family has to adjust to these new circumstances.

Mahfouz writes so engagingly about ordinary life of a shopkeeper's family that it's impossible not to be drawn into their lives. He's clear about the restrictions placed on women and how onerous and damaging that is, while also showing how a rigid, patriarchal society harms everyone in it, even the ones in charge. He also goes into detail about what life was like in that time and place, in a way that makes me eager to jump into the second book of the trilogy. show less