Midaq Alley [Hardcover]

Naguib Mahfouz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 31, 2002

Considered by many to be Mahfouz's best novel,  Midaq Alley centers around the  residents of one of the hustling, teeming back alleys  of Cairo. No other novel so vividly evokes the  sights and sounds of the city. The universality and  timelessness of this book cannot be denied.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Written in the 1940s, this novel by the Egyptian Nobel laureate Mahfouz deals with the plight of impoverished classes in an old quarter of Cairo. The lives and situations depicted create an atmosphere of sadness and tragic realism. Indeed, few of the characters are happy or successful. Protagonist Hamida, an orphan raised by a foster mother, is drawn into prostitution. Kirsha, the owner of a cafe in the alley, is a drug addict and a lustful homosexual. Zaita makes a living by disfiguring people so that they can become successful beggars. Transcending time and place, the social issues treated here are relevant to many Arab countries today. With this satisfying tale, Mahfouz, often called the Charles Dickens of Arabic literature, achieves a high level of excellence as a novelist and storyteller. Highly recommended.
- Ali Houissa, Cornell Univ., Ithaca, N.Y.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Language Notes

Text: English
Original Language: Arabic --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Peter Smith Pub Inc (January 31, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0844672254
• ISBN-13: 978-0844672250
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,587,319 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Naguib Mahfouz was born in Cairo in 1911 and began writing when he was seventeen. A student of philosophy and an avid reader, he has been influenced by many Western writers, including Flaubert, Balzac, Zola, Camus, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and, above all, Proust. He has more than thirty novels to his credit, ranging from his earliest historical romances to his most recent experimental novels. In 1988, Mr Mahfouz was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. He lives in the Cairo suburb of Agouza with his wife and two daughters.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A soap opera? Only on the surface..., March 26, 2004

By 

D. Cloyce Smith (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Midaq Alley (Paperback)

Focusing on the lives of the inhabitants of a humble--but not wholly destitute--neighborhood, Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz's 1947 novel could be (unfairly) dismissed as "Melrose Place" in Cairo. Yet this is no Grace Metalious soap opera; Western readers will instead find that "Midaq Alley" calls to mind the style of Christopher Isherwood, the plotting of Armistead Maupin, and the characters of Rohinton Mistry. And Trevor La Gassick's superb translation make this a surprisingly fluent, elegant, and humorous yarn.

Although filmed in 1995 as "El Callejón de los milagros," a critically acclaimed Mexican film starring Selma Hayek, this novel has never quite reached the audience it deserves. Like "Tales of the City," "Midaq Alley" follows the interlinking stories of several characters who share little more than aspirations to affluence, romantic entanglements--and an address. The reader is introduced to more than a dozen characters, but the novel spotlights three: the cafe owner Kirsha, a married man who flirts with young men in front of discomfited patrons, neighbors, and friends (not to mention his incensed wife); the fickle, young, beautiful Hamida, who flits from man to man in search of wealth and comfort; and Abbas, who joins the British armed forces to earn enough money to win over Hamida.

Yet other eccentrics from the alley are just as memorable: the horrid Zaita, who serves as tyrant over the local beggars he has "fashioned" by unusual means (and whose demeanor and methods are astonishingly similar to Mr. Beggarmaster from Mistry's "A Fine Balance," written 50 years later); Mrs. Saniya Afifi, a widow who undergoes cut-rate cosmetic dentistry to win over a new husband--and then is horrified by the hush-hush source of her new dentures; and the suave, slick, duplicitous Ibrahim Faraj, a stranger to the alley who spirits Hamida away from her home into a world of extravagance and debauchery she never imagined possible.

In the background is World War II, which ironically presents inhabitants of the alleys with the prospect of advancement in the "outside" world--an opportunity that proves both short-lived and elusive. Scratch below the surface, and you'll find a morality tale about the ultimate displeasure that materialism brings to those who worship it. Yet Mahfouz avoids didacticism when presenting his themes, opting instead for a light-hearted objectivity that brings the residents of Midaq Alley to life.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Midaq Alley, a must read., March 29, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Midaq Alley (Paperback)

As a Senior in High School I have read my fair share of novels. The beginning of the novel was a little confusing, but after the first few chapters it became a captivating book based on many people's lives in an alley in Cairo. I have never before read a novel that was written like this one was. It jumps from story to story of the diffent characters, where at first they seem to have nothing to do with any other, but when you reach the end you understand how the stories intertwine. Once I started reading this book, I couldn't put it down. I was fascinated by the streets of Cairo from Mahfouz's writing style and descriptions. It makes me want to read more of Mahfouz's works. Also I want to learn more about Cairo's "alleys". It is a great and fascinating book to read.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An intimate perspective, October 15, 2002

By 

Luan Gaines "luansos" (Dana Point, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Midaq Alley (Paperback)

This novel is the perfect distillation of Mafouz' brilliance as a writer. A slice-of-life in Midaq Alley, the characters are carefully wrought and distinct, complete with idiosyncrasies. From Uum Hamida, who brokers a marriage for the well-heeled Mrs. Saniya Afify, to Zaitas the cripple-maker, each has a role in the tapestry of life as lived in the alley.

Like the Cairo Trilogy, Mafouz creates his own rhythm and style while adapting the novel format, one not commonly found in Arabic literature when he began writing novels. His plot revolves around the denizens of Midaq Alley and their every day yearnings for happiness, love and prosperity. Whether you are familiar with this author, or this is your first Mafouz novel, it is an excellent example of the unique talent that allows the reader an intimate view of the characters common to this man's vast insight into humanity.