Autumn Grocer Quail [Paperback]

Naguib Mahfouz (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Intl Book Centre (January 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0866851623
• ISBN-13: 978-0866851626
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,422,916 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Another one of those Non-Ending Stories, April 24, 2003

By 

Khalifa Alhazaa "a_mathematician" (Doha, Qatar) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Autumn Grocer Quail (Paperback)

Here, again, Mahfouz continues in the direction he started to assume in "The Thief and The Dogs." This one I can say had a better plot, even though I did not think so when I was reading it.

In this story, we have a social worker who lost his work after revolution. He was successful in his job, was about to marry the woman of his dreams, and was in the verge of being a first class citizen. Things change, however, and he becomes jobless. He takes a big vacation to Alexandria and so many things take place from there on.

Here, Mahfouz, who got used to writing in this new style, explores all possible things occurring to this man, and he even makes him suffer in war. He uses his simple sophisticated language to explain all the events.

The ending was a bit shaky to my taste. There was, in fact, no ending, for all I care. It is one of those "and life goes on" where you do not know what comes of the heroes.

All in all, the book is worth reading, it might even give you some delightful time, but still I like the old Mahfouz's style.

4.0 out of 5 stars THE TITLE EXPLAINS THE END, September 13, 2000

By 

Robert (Buenos Aires, Capital Federal Argentina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Autumn Grocer Quail (Paperback)

In this novel dated from his "Symbolist"-period (or 3rd phase of Mahfouz recognized career), Mahzfouz presents the life of an ex-Wafdist, who formerly was a ruthless officer of the deposed party: Egypt is now ruled by Nasser's regime; but Isa, the main character, is still living in an out-dated time, refreshing his memory with past events and refusing to see the present changes. The way of introducing the manners and thoughts of Isa is brillantly convincent, upto the point of letting the reader to get a deep insight of his innermost motivations and feelings. Isa is an "historical outsider", he lives out of his times, and all this leads him to an actual "psychological eclipse".The span of time covered by the novel is lengther than in other writings of his, from the same years: occurrences happen in a longer period, happenings become in a slower pace. Isa's past is told through flashbacks and mind-flowing thoughts. What is a surprise is the end: the abrupt conclusion has left many critics hanging on; I think that this book deals with the "autumn" of a man, but that Life always give a chance to "find oneself again", such as the "grocer" return once and again to the same place after it has migrated God knows where. A nice and human-touching book.