Najīb Maḥfūẓ
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English
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Description
Meet the people of Cairos Gamaliya quarter. There is Nabqa, son of Adam the waterseller who can only speak truths; the beautiful and talented Tawhida who does not age with time; Ali Zaidan, the gambler, late to love; and Boss Saqr who stashes his money above the bath. A neighbourhood of demons, dancing and sweet halva, the quarter keeps quiet vigil over the secrets of all who live there. This collection by pre-eminent Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz...
25) Bayna al-qaṣrayn
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Language
Arabic
Description
The engrossing saga of a Muslim family in Cairo during Egypt's occupation by British forces in the early 1900's. Arabic title: Bayn al-Qasrayn. Winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Author
Language
English
Description
With this realistic 1949 novel, Najib Mahfouz reveals to Western readers the woes of a petit bourgeois family thrust into poverty in WW II Cairo. The Kamels' private battles, relayed here in engrossing detail, are a microcosm of the Egyptian nation's birth pangs in gaining independence. When their father dies, age-old conventions crumble--one social-climbing son reneges on a betrothal; drugs and illicit sex numb the grief of two self-hating siblings....