Product Description

Volume I of the masterful Cairo Trilogy. A national best-seller in both hardcover and paperback, it introduces the engrossing saga of a Muslim family in Cairo during Egypt's occupation by British forces in the early 1900s.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7712 in Books
• Published on: 1990-12-01
• Released on: 1990-12-01
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 512 pages

From Publishers Weekly
This first volume in the 1988 Nobel Prize winner's Cairo Trilogy describes the disintegrating family life of a tyrannical, prosperous merchant, his timid wife and their rebellious children in post-WW I Egypt. "Mahfouz is a master at building up dramatic scenes and at portraying complex characters in depth," lauded PW.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
This extraordinary novel provides a close look into Cairo society at the end of World War I. Mahfouz's vehicle for this examination is the family of al-Sayyid Ahmad, a middle-class merchant who runs his family strictly according to the Qur'an and directs his own behavior according to his desires. Consequently, while his wife and two daughters remain cloistered at home, and his three sons live in fear of his harsh will, al-Sayyid Ahmad nightly explores the pleasures of Cairo. Written by the first Arabic writer to win the Nobel Prize, Palace Walk begins Mahfouz's highly acclaimed "Cairo Trilogy," which follows Egypt's development from 1917 to nationalism and Nasser in the 1950s. This novel's enchanting style and sweeping social tapestry ensure a large audience, one that will eagerly await the English translation of the entire trilogy. A significant addition to any collection. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 9/15/89.
- Paul E. Hutchison, Fishermans Paradise, Bellefonte, Pa.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Arabic

Customer Reviews

Sorry, too wordy for me
I am sure this is an amazing book, and I am just some kind of short attention span, shallow person. Was just too wordy for me! I loved how you got introduced into the culture and political situation, but I guess I need more action, or more passion. Every time I turned the page, they're back on their cushions, drinking coffee, exchanging pleasantries!
The other thing I wondered about: I don't think this book really represents a female angle (well, it's written by a man). These women are just too happy to marry strangers & bob around in their houses behind lattice-covered windows. No complaints? Ever? Only bowed heads & apologies? Again, maybe I'm too far removed to be able to imagine that.

Read it; it comes highly recommended - above are just my thoughts. And hey, it's a trilogy: read "Palace Walk". If you like it, you got 2 more books to look forward to! If not, put it away & know you didn't miss out on anything.

lost in translation?
Perhaps in the original Arabic this book has life---I would hope so, as Mahfouz won the Nobel prize for literature--but the translation is stiff and lifeless, an academic accomplishment perhaps, but stodgy, difficult reading!!! I challenge anyone to open the book and read any paragraph, and you'll see what I mean!!
I'll try another of his novels translated by someone other than William Maynard Hutchins to see if I can get a better idea of Mahfouz's writing!!

Egypt after WW1 through one family's eyes. A sumptuous read. I loved it!
Naguib Mahrouz won a Nobel Prize for Literature in 1988 and bears the distinction of being the only Arab writer who has ever done that. He recently passed away at the age of 94, having published 34 novels, over 350 short stories, dozens of movie scripts and five plays over a 70-year career. "Palace Walk", published in 1959, is the first of his books I've ever read. It will not be the last.

Possibly based on his own Egyptian family, the book is set in 1917, as World War 1 was just ending. Egypt was then a British protectorate but wanted its independence. Yes, this book is about the politics of the time, but mostly it is about one family. The father ruled the family, the wife and daughters never left the house, and the sons were educated in strict Islamic tradition. I particularly related to the wife, who was married to the husband at age 14, bore him four children, and not only had she never left the house in all that time, she could only look out on the street from a through latticed shutters so that, with the exception of the immediate family, no person could ever lay eyes on her. She accepts this, of course. She lived in a culture where there were no other choices. It was me, the reader, whose feminist streak was ignited. However, I soon realized that the author was only describing the culture.

In the tradition of the time, the father, who was a prosperous merchant, kept his family protected. However, he went out every single night to drink wine and hang out with his friends, telling jokes and engaging in pleasant conversation. He also had no qualms about romances with women. He, as well as his family, became very real for me. In fact, I found myself thinking about these people constantly. How did they feel? What would they do next? What conflicts did they have? Soon, I was even thinking like them. This certainly added to my deep enjoyment of this book.

It's all there - the culture of the time through the eyes of each member of the family. There is the oldest son from a previous marriage and his relationship with his real mother as well as his father's wife. There are the two marriageable daughters, one of them with blue eyes and golden hair, and the other with an unattractive ugly nose. There is the son who is completely into politics and wants to go on demonstrations against the English. And then there is the young boy, who might have been modeled on the author himself, who was born in 1911. Through this boy's eyes, the reader grasps the big wide world in which he lives.

At 498 pages the book is a slow and sumptuous read. The author uses a lot of words to describe and then re-describe the characters, their feelings, their observations, their conversations, they upsets and their pleasures. But instead of being bored with the repetition, I found my experience of the book intensifying. I was right there with each member of the family, feeling as I was living their lives.

Palace Walk is the first of a series of three books. I have purchased the other two books in the series and look forward to reading more.

I cannot say enough good things about this novel. I loved it and highly recommend it.