Echoes of an Autobiography [Hardcover]

Naguib Mahfouz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1996

From the Foreword by Nadine Gordimer: "These pieces are meditations which echo that which was, has been, and is the writer Mahfouz. They are--in the words of the title of one of the prose pieces--'The Dialogue of the Late Afternoon' of his life. I don't believe any autobiography, with its inevitable implication of self-presentation, could have matched what we have here."

With more than 500,000 copies of his books in print, Naguib Mahfouz has established a following of readers for whom Echoes of an Autobiography provides a unique opportunity to catch an intimate glimpse into the life and mind of this magnificent storyteller.  Here, in his first work of nonfiction ever to be published in the United States, Mahfouz considers the myriad perplexities of existence, including preoccupations with old age, death, and life's transitory nature.  A surprising and delightful departure from his bestselling and much-loved fiction, this unusual and thoughtful book is breathtaking evidence of the fact that Naguib Mahfouz is not only a "storyteller of the first order" (Vanity Fair), but also a profound  thinker of the first order.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Mahfouz's first nonfiction book to be published in English, this mosaic of autobiographical vignettes, reflections, allegories, childhood memories, dream visions and Sufi-like spiritual maxims and paradoxes is a deep pool of wisdom that confirms his stature as a writer of universal appeal. These short forms seem to come naturally to the Nobel Prize-winning Egyptian novelist, a master of chiseled prose, pithy observations and devastating asides. As the title suggests, this compilation echoes his recurring themes: the common humanity of rich and poor, the redemptive power of love, the transitoriness of happiness, the yearning of salvation, and how our inevitable destiny, death, unconsciously molds our strivings and search for meaning. In her introductory essay, Gordimer defends Mahfouz against feminists who attack his depiction of women characters, arguing that he accurately portrays the oppression of women in his society. By contrast, the women in these parables and sketches, though often impersonally observed, are symbols of spiritual release, radiant joy, beauty and freedom. There are scattered, veiled political echoes, too, as in the first-person portrait of an elementary school pupil who secretly longs for anarchy and revolution.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

"Do you deny that you had your share of the warmth of the world and its fragrance?" one interloper asks the elderly, often weary narrator in one of the series of allegorical reflections that frame the life of the Egyptian Nobel laureate (e.g., Children of the Alley, LJ 12/95). Mahfouz transcends the traditional autobiography here, offering instead distillations of an impossibly full and eventful career. The brief anecdotes recall the narrator's youth, a time "pure and unsullied"; temptation and longing to return to the embrace of family; dreams; fears of lost esteem and fallen glory; and sensuous epiphanies. A particular light, aroma, or tune will recall for the narrator, now in old age and hounded by death, snatches of a time he despairs of repossessing. Mahfouz surrenders the last quarter of this slim volume to the pithy parables of the sheikhs?as if to signal the end ("What I endured from desire made my life a yearning concealed in nostalgia"). Mahfouz's language carries the gravity of religious truth and the lyrical clarity of poetry. An enigmatic work that will please his growing numbers of American readers.?Amy Boaz, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday (December 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385485557
• ISBN-13: 978-0385485555
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,917,399 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Autobiography of the imagination, May 8, 2001

By 

Pipistrel (Oxford United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Echoes of an Autobiography (Paperback)

Despite its title, this is definitely not an autobiography of Mahfouz. Four things prove this: the narrator has three sons (Mahfouz had two daughters); he is sent to prison (Mahfouz never was); he works for a period outside Cairo (Mahfouz never did); he joins a Sufi order (Mahfouz assured me most emphatically that he never did). This was the last book that Mahfouz wrote. In fact he did not write it; it was put together out of pieces that he had dictated, and it is not clear how far it represents the complete work that he had in mind. I believe it should be regarded as a work of fiction, though it may be a fantasy of a life he would like to have lived. It is nevertheless a moving work, and it helps to enlarge our understanding of the author.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Words That Sing, March 7, 2007

By 

M. Fellenstein Hale "MarieFH" (Kamuela, HI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Echoes of an Autobiography (Paperback)

If you want a break from other types of books, this book is a lovely change of pace.

It consists of very short prose pieces, perfect to pick up for a few minutes or to read before bed. If words could sing, this would be quite a fascinating composition--light, happy notes; deep, melancholy tones; charming melodies.

For me, I immediately wanted to share certain passages with others. I will keep this book on my shelf to refer back to from time to time, when I want to remember how beautifully words can convey images.

I also found myself amazed that a translator (Denys Johnson-Davies) could do such a fine job. Often translated works have an awkwardness, but these pieces each flow and stand on their own as individual works.

We read this book for our book club and it was wonderful because we could each choose several pieces and read them aloud and enjoy them together.