Naguib Mahfouz’s Cairo Trilogy Offers Insight into Egypt’s Current Political Tensions
Naguib Mahfouz’s The Cairo Trilogy, made up of the novels Palace Walk, Sugar Street and Palace of Desire, tells the story of life after the 1919 Egyptian revolt.
In an article for The Daily Beast, Joel Whitney talks about the issues that Mahfouz addresses in his fiction and their relation to the Egypt of today:
If you’re wondering what the future holds for Egypt, you might want to step back in time.
The country’s most celebrated novelist, Naguib Mahfouz, documented life after revolution in The Cairo Trilogy, published more than 55 years ago. The series, set against a backdrop of Egypt’s 1919 revolt against the British occupation, was recently reissued—and proves to be quite prescient, almost like a literary companion to the recent uprising.
The trilogy tells the story of postwar Cairo through the eyes of Al-Sayyid Ahmad, an upper-middle-class merchant who rules with authoritarian ease over his household. A staunch traditionalist at home, Ahmad is also a liberal in politics and a nighttime philanderer. Although he refuses to let his wife, Amina, or daughters be seen outside the house, he spends his evenings out on the town with friends, drinking copious amounts of wine and watching bawdy women sing popular songs in slinky costumes.
Book details
- Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz
EAN: 9780552995801
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- Sugar Street by Naguib Mahfouz
EAN: 9780385264709
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- Palace of Desire by Naguib Mahfouz
EAN: 9780552995818
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