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Midaq Alley (Paperback)

by Naguib Mahfouz (Author) "Many things combine to show that Midaq Alley is one of the gems of times gone by and that it once shone forth like a..." (more)
Key Phrases: alley people, old barber, green wheat, Uncle Kamil, Umm Hamida, Radwan Hussainy (more...)
4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
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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.

Product Description
Never has Nobel Prize-winner Naguib Mahfouz's talent for rich and luxurious storytelling been more evident than in this outstanding novel, first published in Arabic in 1947. One of his most popular books (and considered by many to be one of his best), Midaq Alley centers around the residents of one of the teeming back alleys of Cairo.

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Product Details

  • Paperback: 304 pages
  • Publisher: Anchor (December 1, 1991)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0385264763
  • ISBN-13: 978-0385264761
  • Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #69,644 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category: (What's this?)

    #9 in  Books > Literature & Fiction > World Literature > Middle Eastern > Arabic

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Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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First Sentence:
Many things combine to show that Midaq Alley is one of the gems of times gone by and that it once shone forth like a flashing star in the history of Cairo. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
alley people, old barber, green wheat
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Uncle Kamil, Umm Hamida, Radwan Hussainy, Salim Alwan, Midaq Alley, Sheikh Darwish, Hussain Kirsha, Saniya Afify, Ibrahim Faraj, Azhar Street, Sanadiqiya Street, British Army, New Street, Lord Hussain, Darasa Street, Ibrahim Farhat, Mousky Street, Queen Farida Square, Abbas Hilu, Almighty God, Prime Minister, Sharif Pasha Street, Sheikh Dar-wish
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Customer Reviews

21 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (21 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Midaq Alley, a must read., March 29, 2000
By A Customer
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.
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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A soap opera? Only on the surface..., March 26, 2004
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.

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7 of 7 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
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)      
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.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Alley of the World
Made In Hero: The War for Soap

MIDAQ ALLEY is a masterpiece of existentialist satire. It has enough greed, lust, envy and delusion to match Jean Paul Sartre's NO EXIT... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Betty

4.0 out of 5 stars cool
for something written in the early 1900s, its a charming novel. it gives a great insight on how women can be manipulative, confused, desperate, and yet charming.
Published 12 months ago by Ayeda Khalid

5.0 out of 5 stars Midaq Alley
Naguib Mahfouz's Midaq Alley is a fictional novel which focuses on the lives of the inhabitants of a neighborhood alley in the heart of Cairo during World War II. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Walid Irbed

5.0 out of 5 stars Quiet desperation, Egyptian style
Thoreau said that "most men lead lives of quiet desperation." This wonderful novel, set in Cairo, Egypt, during WWII, beautifully illustrates that point. Read more
Published 19 months ago by William J. Fickling

5.0 out of 5 stars Social Entrapment
Readers will sense the "darkness" that is "enclosed like a trap" as they turn the pages of Midaq Alley. Mahfouz exploits his characters through vivid descriptions. Read more
Published on May 29, 2007 by Pamela B. Diiulio

5.0 out of 5 stars A moving novel
In this novel, Mr Mahfouz chose to show simple characters living in an area similar to that of his own birth. Read more
Published on February 1, 2007 by Philippe Horak

3.0 out of 5 stars See the movie
This weekend I saw an adaptation of this book in a movie starring Salma Hayek. From the reviews I have read here, it is very similar, but takes place in Mexico. Read more
Published on July 25, 2005 by EnglishTeacher

5.0 out of 5 stars Great fiction from Egypt
Regardless of the poor translation (the one I read by Trevor Le Gassick) this was still immensely enjoyable, the characters shone through and the scene descriptions are so rich I... Read more
Published on September 9, 2004 by Gail Moore

5.0 out of 5 stars You'll become a resident of this little street
This book was an excellent and not-too-difficult read. I say not too difficult because I read the entire thing on my morning and evening commute over two weeks. Read more
Published on June 8, 2004 by V. Wicker

3.0 out of 5 stars Chronicle of midaq alley
In a dank back alley of Cairo in the middle of World War II, Uncle Kamil, the bloated and always semi-catatonic sweet-seller pretends to swat flies from his face before he drifts... Read more
Published on March 13, 2004

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