Customer Reviews

The Journey of Ibn Fattouma

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Mahfouz's book The Journey of Ibn Fattouma is an incredible, poetic work which follows Qindil, Ibn Fattouma, from 'The Land of Islam' on a life-long quest to find Gebel, the land of perfection.

The only detractions I could make are that the translation, while flawless in its mechanics, is not as poetic as I imagine the original Arabic text to be (based on what I have read about the Arabic.) This comes with translation, however, and the work of turning it to English remains highly poetic, beautiful, and was clearly the work of a master in both languages. The other detraction is a stylistic one. Mahfouz's chapters all follow the same basic formula: Qindil arrives in a new place; Qindil's guide gives him a brief rundown of it; Qindil explores the city; Qindil meets with a religious leader; Quindil gets in trouble because of a woman; Qindil leaves.

If you get past that, which seems not to be an insurmountable request, the work is an incredibly well crafted piece which explores the depth behind religion, religious freedom, hedonism, tolerance, perfection, and humanity.

If you like John Steinbeck or Toni Morrison, you're likely to enjoy Mahfouz as well. Clearly, he is a writer who puts considerable thought into the meaning, the higher purpose, of his work.

Ibn Fattouna flees around the world, living in all sorts of political systems, but all systems fail because of war.
This book is a magnificent political parable, exemplified by the tragic destiny of one man and his household.
A masterpiece.

This book is nowhere near as rich as the Cairo Trilogy. It doesn't have the same level of depth of thought and is too short to give you that panoramic of Middle Eastern mentality that he does in the Trilogy.

That said its a quick read. It has a few interesting thoughts on man's search for the perfect way of life. It often seems like a scant political commentary, but Mahfouz's book doesn't have to be limited to politics. It goes beyond, somewhat reminiscent of Siddhartha to pursuing something very individual.

However, I wonder if the translation is really giving me the full picture. Compared to other translated works I've read by Mahfouz, this one seems overly simplified. Like reading a children's book at times.

Mahfouz is a very talented writer. The literature is very rich and the devices he uses contribute to the fascination of the reader with the character of Ibn Fattouma. At times even, readers will become vicariously sullen or extatic because of the skillful characterization. The concepts in this book about post-modern religion and the role of an intellectual are great fodder for discussion and will keep people who love to think engaged for a while, but the plot is not as strong as the writing or interpretative aspects. The debacles that Fattouma faces on his journey are not very engaging always and at times deviate from realism (deviation from conceptual implications). When reading the book, I imagine that most people will be waiting anxiously for the next glimpse into Fattouma's psychology and analysis of the world around him and few will pay attention to the actual plot and sideplots.

After reading three previous book by Naguib Mahfouz, I figured I hadn't read anything impressive so why read any more. However, I came across a couple of his books at a library sale so I picked them up cheap. I must admit, I found "The Journey of Ibn Fattouma" an enjoyable and interesting book. It was a bit simplistic (all of the four books I've read by Mahfouz qualify as novellas). In it, we follow the title character as he searches for the land of perfection. Along the way, he visits 5 different States each unique in one or more aspects. Ibn Fattouma discovers that each unique aspect of each State has its' appeal but is ultimately a destructive trait that challenges his Islamic faith.

I won't go into details since the book is easily read and understood. However, I will say that I appreciated how his brief observations and experiences gave a clear and impressive understanding of the world through the eyes of a Muslim. At least, not being a Muslim, that's what I felt. The ending at first had me confused until I grasped that Ibn Fattouma had already found what he needed to know about his paradise by realizing what it wasn't.

Ibn Fattouma, or Quindil as his father called him, is about to depart for the quest of the land of Gebel, a place considered by many to be a miracle of countries, perfection itself, because the world seems to him loathsomely jaundiced and not to be born or lived in.
Quindil's long journey to Gebel will take him to different countries: the land of Mashriq, land of Haira, land of Halba, land of Aman and land of Ghuroub. Each of these countries shows social and political institutions similar to the ones we know, be it a kingdom, a democracy or a totalitarian regime and with much humour Mr Mahfouz depicts in a fairytale like prose the absurdities of each system.
The last chapter is called The Beginning because after visiting five lands, Gebel finally comes into view far in the distance on top of the Green Mountain and Quindil is about to ascend its winding path.

I am a fan of Naguib Mafouz, and I eagerly picked this novel up, hoping that it would be as transporting as Arabian Nights and Days. The journey of Ibn Fattouma disappoints: it has nowhere near the lyricism of Arabian Nights and Days or the sophisticated interweaving of fable, magic and reality.

Readers who enjoyed the Cairo Trilogy, a series of three realistic novels, and who want to sample Mafouz' more iridescent writing should not start with this book. That written, The Journey of Ibn Fattouma does have things to offer those interested in political science, false utopias, or even fledgling democracies.

Others reviews on the page have eloquently captured the different societies that Ibn Fattouma visits on his journey to Gebel. I wondered throughout the book if this was a parable for the Tower of Babel, a story found in the Christian Old Testament, the Hebrew Talmud and the Muslim Koran. In the story as I know it, God punished the Summerians for building a tower to heaven because they were trying to become God, or at least outshine him. The Tower becomes a symbol for perfection, and like many perfections, an unobtainable one. Thus, it was interesting to me that after Ibn Fattouma visits all these supposedly perfect societies Haira, Halba, Aman ('hope' in Arabic), he finally reaches Gebel, situated on a mountain.

It is a wonderful masterpiece as 1984. Great comparison of cultures! You get more than what you pay for it.

"The son of fatouma" leaves his home, which he descries as a middle ages cairo (when cairo was a beacon of civilisation in an ignorant world), but the lands he sees are belief systems the author contrives: take mashreq or "eastern land" the first, with it's nudism, paganism and tribal culture, africa? then the hayra or "confused or frustrated land" where everything from the customs office to the work system is highly suggestive of East block communism. Finally is the libertine (like mashreq) yet ordered (like hayra) hilba ( an egyptian sweet made up of many mixed ingredients, a melting pot if you will) where the muslims drink wine, suggestive of america. Ibn Fatouma choses none of these in the end, and goes on to utopia (gebel or mountain), stopping on the way to "cleanse" himself at the land of the tree, a suggestively bhuddist like area, before :heaven? what will? what should?

A young Muslim undertakes this allegorical journey to to reach the Utopian land so often described in the books he has
read. As he travels from one land to another, he is exposed to values, beliefs, and cultures so alien from his own, he is
forced to reconsider his beliefs and ideals which he holds so dearly. Slowly he begins to undertand the power of
interpreting a situation in its real context, rather than a percieved one tainted with dogmatic beiefs of the world from
which he has arrived.