Imagine witnessing a gripping saga of three generations of a single family in a story that unfolds during a time you never thought you'd live to witness. I've never felt so present politically, culturally, and socially like I did reading this novel.

This novel gives you detailed descriptions of each of the complex characters. One gets the impression that not much is happening and yet there is a lot going on in the rich psychological depth and description of culture. His style is unique and really funny at times.

My heart can't bare the idea that this book is done. I want more :(
My jealousy is reigning over those who haven't read it yet, it's a masterpiece.

I LOVE NAGUIB MAHFOUZ!

WHAT EVERY EDUCATED CITIZEN OF THE WORLD NEEDS TO KNOW IN THE 21ST CENTURY: INTRODUCTION TO AFRICAN LITERATURE---CHINUA ACHEBE'S "THINGS FALL APART." WOLE SOYINKA'S "DEATH AND THE KING'S HORSEMAN," J.M. COETZEE, LEOPOLD SENGHOR, NADINE GORDIMER & NAGUIB MAFOUZ ----FROM THE WORLD LITERATURE FORUM RECOMMENDED CLASSICS AND MASTERPIECES SERIES VIA GOODREADS—-ROBERT SHEPPARD, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF



When we think of African Literature that has universal impact and importance for all people inside and outside of Africa such as to constitute part of World Literature, there are many instantly recognizable “names” in the global public imagination, including of course the Nobel Prize winners such as Wole Soyinka of Nigeria, author of "Death and the King's Horseman," Nadine Gordimer and J.M. Coetzee of South Africa, and the North African-Arabic contingent such as Naguib Mahfouz and perhaps Camus, as well as many African writers who have attained considerable global currency such as the late Chinua Achebe, the author of "Things Fall Apart," Alan Paton, Ben Okri, Leopold Senghor, and many, many others.



WHAT IS AFRICAN LITERATURE?



When we go beyong these obvious "greats" and seek to identify the greater context and canon, we have a difficult threshold question to answer: "What is African Literature?" Presumably, we would want the most inclusive definition possible, but this is not easy. First of all, it is inescapable to recognize that Africa in an incredibly diverse continent, with thousands of tribes and languages, each with their own culture and history, not to speak of the many modern nation-states, with somewhat the heritage of European colonialism superimposed upon them. Here we get into the complexities that bedevil African literature as a concept that are not so problematic to many European literatures, focusing on more compact peoples united in language, geographical territory and political or ethnic unity, though even there we often encounter many of the same problems if we scratch but a little beneath the surface.


Should we include or exclude, for instance, white or colonial writers writing in or about Africa?---Arabic writers?---Writers of African hereditary, racial, and cultural origin, but displaced to other geographical regions such as Derek Walcott or Toni Morrison?----African Writers in English or French or other non-African languages? Non-African writers writing of or about Africa---such as Conrad in the "Heart of Darkness" or Rider Hagard, or Isaak Dinisen? Afrikaans writers such as Ernst van Heerden? All these are threshold problems of large proportions.


At the base of these questions lies a deeper question: What is “Africa?” It is a large chunk of land, of course, a continent—but is “Africa” also a particular people, a particular race or a particular culture, one or more “civilization?” or a “world,”------or is it a chaos of disconnected tribes—a primordial wilderness jungle of human and pre-human heritage---an absence of civilization as some might imagine in derogation?---does it have any particular source of indigenous cohesion exclusive of its external influences from other civilizations? Is the unity of Africa only an alien illusion imposed upon it by alien cartographers looking at it from the outside, or is it a psychic unity somehow present in all its inhabitants ready to be rediscovered for the looking? Is Africa black? ---or is it also white, and Khoisan, and Pygmy and Arab?---and going back to its roots from the ‘Out of Africa Theory” did Africa include all the races in their origins, even to include the whites and Asians, some remaining in part and others departing in part, some returning but all of the same mother?


But if we assume that Mother Africa would not disown any of her children that sought her, and seek for a definition that would be most inclusive we might find African Literature would include at least four broad divisions:

1) The Westerner or other non-African writer who utilizes the subject matter of Africa in a language not native to the African continent----E.g. Conrad, Greene; and Castro Soromenho.

2) The African writer, black or white, who utilizes the subject matter of Africa, or other subject matter, in a language native to the African continent—Eg. Mofolo and Thiong’o;

3) The African writer who utilizes the subject matter of Africa, but who writes in a non-African language that has, by custom, become part of the African means of communication----English, French, Arabic----Achebe, Soyinka, Mahfouz, Senghor, Ba, Gordimer;

4) The Non-African writer of significant African heritage writing in any language incorporating major elements of that heritage or the subject matter of Africa---Walcott, Morrison, Aimee Cesaire, etc.



AFRICAN LITERATURE AND AFRICAN ORATURE



In addition to these categorical problems, we also have the complication of the interface and relationship of the signal forms of language itself---namely the relationship of written Literature to, what we might term Oral Literature or, for want of a better term, “Orature.” For here the special problem of Africa, really a universal problem rather than a merely African problem, however, raises its head------namely, how can we take account of “Literature” amoung the thousands of African languages which had no writing or system of writing prior to colonization, and if, as we assume, their cultural genius and wisdom in the absence of a written language was transmitted by oral forms in an oral cultural tradition, then how do we integrate that reality into our concept of “World Literature,” whatever that brave new concept might prove to be? We might think of this as a special African problem, but it is really a universal one, since, by anthropological conjecture, all branches of the human family were without writing during most of their evolution and history, minimally for at least sixty-four or five of the last seventy-thousand years, and almost assuredly such works as the Iliad and Odyssey, the Chinese Book of Songs and parts of the Bible began as oral compositions before being recorded in written form in later centuries.




EAST AND CENTRAL AFRICAN LITERATURE




But if we set aside those deeper questions for a short moment, and just take a panoramic tour-de-horizon around the continent of the recent era to get a broad overview of some of the strong writers who, either now or in the oncoming generation may rise to the level of global interest then we could say, first, in the broad area of East and Central African Literature we have strong candidates in Ngugi wa Thiong’o of Kenya, novelist, short-story and essayist---author of such works as "Weep Not, Child," and "A Grain of Wheat;" then we could include Nuruddin Farah of Somalia, Okot p’Bitek of Uganda, Shaaban Robert of Tanzania,and Tchicaya u Tam’si of the Congo.



SOUTHERN AFRICAN LITERATURE



Then if we survey Southern African Literature, we would need to include Thomas Mofolo of Basutoland, novelist and author of "Chaka the Zulu," and of course the greats Nadine Gordimer and J.M. Coetzee, plus many others such as Alan Paton, Peter Abrahams, Solomon T Plaatze, Ezekiel Mphahlele. Other important South African writers are A.C. Jordan, H.I.E. Dhlomo, B.W. Vilakazi, Alex la Guma, Bloke Modisane, Lewis Nkosi and Noni Jabavu---a woman writer of the Xhosha people, as well as Dennis Brutus and Alfred Hutchinson.



WEST AFRICAN LITERATURE



If we then turn to West African Literature, we have a rich offering led off by the Nigerian greats Wole Soyinka, author of "Death and the King’s Horseman," "The Swamp Dwellers" and "Mandela’s Earth," and Chinua Achebe with "Things Fall Apart." We are also blessed with a host of near-great and to-be-great such as Amos Tutola of Nigeria, Cyprian Ekwensi, Flora Nwapa, Elechi Amadi, Buchi Emecheta, and Ben Okri and some of the younger writers: Okigbo, Aig-Imoukhuede, Ekwere, and Echeruo.

Outside Nigeria there would also be Lenrie Peters of Gambia, George Awoonor-Willians, Efua Theodora Sutherland, Kweel Brew and Ellis Ayftey Komey, William Conton, Syl-Cheney Coker of Sierra Leone, Kofi Anyidoho of Ghana, and Mariama Ba, Ousame Sembene and Cheik Allou Ndao of Senegal.



NORTH AFRICAN LITERATURE



Stramgely enough, North African Literature is, by one of those inexplicable sleights of hand of the historical human misimagination, not considered to be "African," but is usually included under the head of "Arabic & Islamic Literature," just as "Europe" is somewhat artificially segregated into a separate "continent" apart from the Eurasia. Were it to reclaim its rightful place in Africa, this literature would undoubtedly include such great writers as Naguib Mafouz, the Nobel Prize laureate from Egypt, as well as his fellow Nobel laureate Albert Camus, of Algerian origin, amoungst many others.



SCOPE AND DEVELOPMENT OF AFRICAN LITERATURE



In the widest definition, African Literature would include works in the most diverse languages: in English---Achebe, Soyinka, etc; French—Birago Diop, Gide, Kessel, Malonga, Oyono; in German—Kurt Heuser; in Danish---Buchholz and Dinesen; multiple African native languages---Mofolo and Thiong’o; in the English of South Africans---Gordimer, Paton; and in Afrikaans---Nuthall Fula and Ernst van Heerden.

Looking back historically, we have also the rediscovery of some of the oral epics dating back over the last thousand years, such as the Mali "Legend of Sundiata," "The Ozidi" and "The Mwindo." The oral tradition has been strongly present in modern literature---as in the Kikuyu songs incorporated in the Kenyan plays of Ngugi wa Thiong’o, the Acholi oral poem structure incorporated in the "Song of Iowino," by p’Bitek and in the speech and oral proverbs present in Achebe’s great novel, "Things Fall Apart."


After decolonization, the growth of African national literatures, as well as a Pan-African literature began to take shape, led by figures such as Soyinka, Achebe, Sembene, Okri, Thiong’o, p’Bitek, and Jacques Rabemannanjara. Important contributions were made by such writers as Duro Lapido, Yambo Oulougem with "Le Devoir de Violence," and Ayi Kwie. They were largely writing in the global colonial languages and on themes such as the clash of the colonial and indigenous cultures, condemnation of racialism and imperial subjugation, pride in African heritage and hope for the future under independence and social transformation.

In the apartheid era, a strong literature reflected the trials and contradictions of life under that regime with the rise of writers such as Gordimer, Coetzee, Paton, Brutus, Bessie Head and Miriam Tlali, all addressing, along with universal themes, the problems of life across the racial divide.


CHINUA ACHEBE AND "THINGS FALL APART"


The late Chinua Achebe (1930-2013) Nigerian poet, novelist and professor, was perhaps the first African writer to win global recognition and acclaim, particularly through his novel "Things Fall Apart," published in 1958,recognized as one of the first substantial novels to present the world of traditional African tribal society to the world through African eyes and sensibilities. It is the tragic story of a Nigerian yam farmer and tribal leader Okonkwo, who, ashamed of his weak and unsuccessful father sets out to prove himself strong, successful and respected in his tribe. Several disasters, however, undo his acheivement. First, out of fear of showing weakness, he participates in the ritual murder of a captive boy whom he had raised as a son, a misdeed that causes his banishment for several years. Next, upon his return to his villiage he finds the white men and their religion Christianity have made inroads into the ancient tribal traditions and he acts rashly with inflexible reactionary excess, killing an official of the white government to defend tribal tradition. Having don so, he calls for all-out war against the intruders, buts finds that the people have changed their mindset and are not willing to fight. After his arrest he kills himself, an act which tragically erases all the honor he has strived for. "Things Fall Apart" thus depicts the collision of colonial and Christian culture and traditional tribal culture. Implicitly, in significant part it is the inflexible rigidity of Okonkwo and the tribal tradition and their inability to adapt to change dooms them to tragedy.

Achebe later would serve as a professor in newly independent Nigeria until being caught up in the Nigerian-Biafran civil war in which his own tribe, the Igbo, suffered defeat in their attempt to secede. He then alternated between periods of exile due to his criticism of the corruption of the Nigerian government, and periods of return to Nigeria until his death this year.




WOLE SOYINKA, AFRICA'S FIRST NOBEL LAUREATE AND AUTHOR OF "DEATH AND THE KING'S HORSEMAN"



Wole Soyinka (born 1934) is a Nigerian writer and poet, notable especially as a playwright and the author of the play "Death and the King's Horseman." He was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature, the first person in Africa to be so honoured. Soyinka has strongly criticised many Nigerian military dictators, especially late General Sanni Abacha, as well as other political tyrannies, including the Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe. Much of his writing has been concerned with "the oppressive boot and the irrelevance of the colour of the foot that wears it." He criticised Leopold Senghor's Négritude movement as a nostalgic and indiscriminate glorification of the black African past that ignores the potential benefits of modernisation. "A tiger does not shout its tigritude," he declared, "it acts."


Evading a death sentence proclaimed by the dictator Abacha and living abroad, mainly in the United States, he was a professor first at Cornell,then at Emory. With civilian rule restored to Nigeria in 1999, Soyinka returned to his nation. He has also taught at the universities of Oxford, Harvard and Yale.


"Death and The King's Horseman" builds upon a true story to focus on the character of Elesin, the King's Horseman of the title. According to a Yoruba tradition, the death of a chief must be followed by the ritual suicide of the chief's horseman, because the horseman's spirit is essential to helping the chief's spirit ascend to the afterlife. Otherwise, the chief's spirit will wander the earth and bring harm to the Yoruba people.

The first half of the play documents the process of this ritual, with the potent, life-loving figure Elesin living out his final day in celebration before the ritual process begins. At the last minute the local British colonial ruler, Simon Pilkings, intervenes, the suicide being viewed as barbaric and illegal by the British authorities. The result for the community is catastrophic, as the breaking of the ritual means the disruption of the cosmic order of the universe and thus the well-being and future of the collectivity is in doubt. As the action unfolds, the community blames Elesin as much as Pilkings, accusing him of being too attached to the earth to fulfill his spiritual obligations.

Events lead to tragedy when Elesin's son, Olunde, who has returned to Nigeria from studying medicine in Europe, takes on the responsibility of his father and commits ritual suicide in his place so as to restore the honour of his family and the order of the universe. Consequently, Elesin kills himself, condemning his soul to a degraded existence in the next world. In addition, the dialogue of the natives suggests that this may have been insufficient and that the world is now "adrift in the void".



J.M. COETZEE---2003 SOUTH AFRICAN NOBEL PRIZE WINNER



J. M. Coetzee (b.1940) is a South African-Afrikaaner novelist, essayist, linguist, translator and recipient of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature in which the Swedish Academy stated that Coetzee "in innumerable guises portrays the surprising involvement of the outsider. Coetzee has been described as "inarguably the most celebrated and decorated" living writer in the Anglosphere, and was an active anti-apartheid spokesman. His most famous works include "Waiting for the Barbarians" and "In the Heart of the Country.



NADINE GORDIMER---SOUTH AFRICAN NOBEL PRIZE WINNER



Nadine Gordimer (b.1923) is a South African writer, political activist and recipient of the 1991 Nobel Prize in Literature, for which she was cited as a woman "who through her magnificent epic writing has – in the words of Alfred Nobel – been of very great benefit to humanity".
Gordimer's writing has long dealt with moral and racial issues, particularly apartheid in South Africa. Under apartheid, works such as "July's People" were banned. She was active in the anti-apartheid movement, joining the African National Congress during the days when the organization was banned, and in HIV/AIDS causes.


NAGUIB MAFOUZ---EGYPTIAN NOBEL PRIZE WINNER

Naguib Mahfouz (1911-2006) was the celebrated Egyptian writer who won the 1988 Nobel Prize for Literature. He is regarded as one of the foremost contemporary writers of Arabic and African literature, to explore themes of existentialism. He published 34 novels, over 350 short stories, dozens of movie scripts, and five plays over a 70-year career, many of which have been made into Egyptian and foreign films.

Like many Egyptian writers and intellectuals, Mahfouz was on an Islamic fundamentalist "death list." He defended Salman Rushdie after Ayatollah Khomeini's fatwah condemned Rushdie to death in 1989, supporting his freedom of expression but also criticizing his "Satanic Verses" as "insulting" to Islam. His most celebrated work is "The Cairo Trilogy" of the 1950's consisting of "Palace Walk," "Palace of Desire," and "Sugar Street," set the parts of Cairo where he grew up,depicting the life of the patriarch el-Sayyed Ahmed Abdel Gawad and his family over three generations.


SPIRITUS MUNDI AND AFRICAN LITERATURE


My own work, "Spiritus Mundi" the contemporary epic of social activism depicting the lives and loves of global activists for a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly for global democracy, draws heavily on themes and sources from African Literature. In Book II, the Yoruba mythical hero Ogun is one of those, along with protagonist Sartorius, Goethe and the Chinese Monkey King, to embark on a mythic Quest to avert WWIII and avoid destrution of the planet in nuclear Aramegeddon. A fictional African writer Wole Obatala discourses on the nature of African Literature and several chapters focus on the honeymoon trip of Sartorius and his wife Eva from Kenya to Johannisburg. The protagonists travel to Midrand, South Africa to advocate creation of the United Nations Parliamentary Assembly before the Pan-African Parliament, which in real life has endorsed the program.



World Literature Forum invites you to check out the great African masterpieces of World Literature, and also the contemporary epic novel Spiritus Mundi, by Robert Sheppard. For a fuller discussion of the concept of World Literature you are invited to look into the extended discussion in the new book Spiritus Mundi, by Robert Sheppard, one of the principal themes of which is the emergence and evolution of World Literature:


For Discussions on World Literature and n Literary Criticism in Spiritus Mundi: http://worldliteratureandliterarycrit...


Robert Sheppard


Editor-in-Chief
World Literature Forum
Author, Spiritus Mundi Novel
Author’s Blog: http://robertalexandersheppard.wordpr...
Spiritus Mundi on Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17...
Spiritus Mundi on Amazon, Book I: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CIGJFGO
Spiritus Mundi, Book II: The Romance http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CGM8BZG


Copyright Robert Sheppard 2013 All Rights Reserved

رائعة و كاشفة لفترة تاريخية تمتد على مدار القرن العشرين في الفترة بين ثورة 19 و ثورة 52 لتصور لنا حال مصر اجتماعيا و سياسيا و تاريخيا أيضا
الرواية مشهورة و تم عرضها سينمائيا و تلفزيونيا و كتبت عنها مئات المقالات و عشرات الكتب التي تغنى عن التعليق و التقييم

تصدرت المرتبة الأولى لقائمة أفضل رواية عربية على الإطلاق، حسب تصنيف اتحاد الكتاب العرب لأفضل مئة رواية عربية
بين القصرين تنتهى بثورة 19
قصر الشوق و جيل الأبناء كمال و ياسين و خديجة و عائشة و تنتهى بوفاة سعد زغلول
السكرية عن حياة ما بعد الثورة و عن تسرب الوهن في عائلة السيد أحمد عبدالجواد

يقول نجيب سرور عن صراع الأجيال هذا

والرواية بعد هذا تصوير لعقلية ثلاثة أجيال متعاقبة: جيل الآباء الذين عاشوا في ظل النفوذ الاستعماري، معتدين بماضيهم واثقين من نفوسهم، لا يشعرون بأي مركب إزاء الأجنبي، راكنين إلى أسلافهم وعقيدتهم، وإن عصوا واستهتروا.
وجيل الأبناء الذين تعلموا في المدارس الجديدة واتصلوا بثقافة الغرب ومذاهبه الفلسفية والاجتماعية، فخرجوا شاكين حيارى لا يستطيعون أن يجدوا لأنفسهم نقطة ارتكاز أخرى يتخذون منها دعامة معنوية وروحية، فهم في ملتقى عالمين متنافرين، يبحثون ويفكرون ويعيشون في أثناء ذلك ولا يبقى بين يديهم من صحيح إلا هاته الملذات العابرة التي تهبها الحياة.
وجيل ثالث نشأ في ظل الحياة العصرية وبين أصداء الوعي الجديد والفكر الحائر، فكان عليه أن يتجاوز المتناقضات وأن يختار وأن يؤمن بما يختاره، فهو إذن جيل الاختيار والاقتناعات والمواقف الصريحة التي ينغمر فيها الشخص انغمارا لا رجوع فيه ويتحدى مصيره، فهو جيل يضم الأخ المسلم الذي لا يرى في غير الإسلام حلا لمشاكل المجتمع والعالم، والشيوعي الذي يقاوم مخلفات الماضي ويسعى لإنشاء مجتمع جديد، والانتهازي الذي لا يؤمن إلا بنفسه وبما تتوصل إليه يداه.

يرى محفوظ أن الثلاثية بها خط سير معين للأحداث يمكن تلخيصه في كلمتين - بأنه الصراع بين تقاليد ضخمة ثقيلة وبين الحرية في مختلف أشكالها السياسية والفكرية
تجد مراجعاتى للأجزاء الثلاثة هنا
بين القصرين
قصر الشوق
السكرية

The sum is certainly greater than its parts ... I have always been skeptical of the basis for Mahfouz's Nobel Prize, but this trilogy, while a little clumsier (and, let's be honest, the ebb and flow of Egypt's independence movement does not in any way match the Napoleonic wars for drama), holds its own with War and Peace. Very well-observed characters; their progression over time is completely believable. On the other hand, this progression makes for a pretty sprawling and amorphous tale. Various themes run through it, but at the end of all of the marriages and divorces and births and deaths, there's no feeling that you really have explored and understand life - or anything else of significance - in any significantly greater depth. It's basically a very well-crafted soap opera.

*spoilers*

I’m embarrassed that I only recently heard of Naguib Mahfouz. I have no excuse, and my missing him until now is only further proof that there are too many books waiting to be discovered in this world. Whatever the case, I am thankful to have discovered another fantastic novelist, who opens up for me new cultural and historical vistas and perspectives. As I’ve been learning more about the Arab world recently, reading Mahfouz is a very pleasant way of tying together some of the details I’m learning, within a fictional framework.

The Everyman’s Library all-in-one edition of The Cairo Trilogy is a beautiful book. It’s large, but sits well in the hand while reading. The pages and type are designed well, I like the ribbon bookmark, and there’s a helpful introduction and timeline in the beginning of the book.

I read the three volumes, with some time in between each one, over several months, and I wrote reviews for each book as I read it:

Palace Walk

Like many of my favorite novels (Middlemarch especially, but also beloved novels by Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, and others), Palace Walk introduces what seems like too many characters to keep track of. What adds to my difficulty is that I have no framework for placing Arabic names, so at first even just figuring out who’s who within the family is a little bit challenging. But also like other of my favorite novelists, Mahfouz is gifted in drawing out the distinctive characteristics of each person, so that within a very short time I feel like I’ve known and lived with these characters forever.

What I love about this novel is how it reflects aspects of my own life and character—usually painfully! In each member of the family I see aspects of my own struggles, internal things I’m ashamed of, frivolity that is just silly. This both draws me into the story and makes it hard to gaze at it. I want to know myself better through these characters, but I’m also scared to contemplate my faults and shortcomings so precisely.

The narrative is primarily internal and character-driven, rather than focused on action—but the story does include a number of spectacular actions. In the family, we first see an introduction to each character, and then weddings start coming fast and furious; and then a series of crises. For Egypt as a whole—which plays a role as an overarching character, looming over all of the smaller events—we see the Armistice of World War I, the hopes for independence from the British, and the 1919 Revolution: student demonstrations, uneasy intercultural relations, and tragedy.

Palace Walk is an incredibly emotional, gripping novel, and I loved every minute of it. It’s over a third the length of the trilogy as a whole, yet it feels like merely the setup for an ongoing, tremendous story. I look forward to diving into the second book of the series, Palace of Desire, after a short break.

Palace of Desire

This was a challenging book to read! I often felt that I was being beat up by one depressing event after another. In the same way that Thomas Hardy was criticized for “deriving an almost sadistic pleasure from Tess’s suffering” in Tess of the d’Urbervilles, Mahfouz is walking a very fine line between crafting a gripping, character-driven story, and wallowing in the worst of humanity. There were times when I wondered if Mahfouz was merely trying his hardest to show Yasin, especially, making the worst choices possible.

All throughout this second book of the trilogy, Mahfouz is taking each of his characters apart, piece by piece (in Yasin’s case, more than one piece at a time!). The death at the end of the first volume continues to resonate in the life of each of the surviving family members, and it’s hard to imagine these people finding a true, wise equilibrium. What’s left by the last 80 pages or so is only the foundations, and even those are in question. But those last pages of the novel are powerful, and I think they justify the awful behavior that led up to the conclusion.

I found most of Palace of Desire very gripping, but there were a few disappointments. One is that the actual historical events didn’t seem as directly connected to the story as in the first volume. This story is much more ambiguous, less rooted in the political events of the time (though they are still discussed by the characters, occasionally).

I was also disappointed in Khadija. She is just really difficult in this story, and every time the narrative shifted to her for a few chapters, I would sigh inwardly, “Oh please, not a chapter about Khadija!” I hope she may find some maturity and redemption in the final volume.

In this book, Kamal becomes the primary protagonist—which is no surprise, since I assume he is meant to stand for Mahfouz himself. Kamal’s main motivation—Aïda, the beloved—becomes a bit tiresome, especially as it is perfectly clear from the start how it’s going to end up. I am most curious to see Kamal’s continuing development in the third book.

I enjoyed the discussion of the early career of Umm Kalthoum. That was a nice historical touch. And I also love Mahfouz’s style of beginning a chapter in such a way that you’re not quite sure which character’s mind you’re in until you’ve read a few paragraphs. The way he constructs scenes of dialogue, with characters’ internal dialogue coming before what they actually speak aloud, is brilliant.

Sugar Street

Ok, so I’m fine with a book that presents the frequent despair in the human condition. I don’t mind characters who doubt the foundations of their lives, and a bit of tragedy happening in a novel is acceptable and necessary. But the extent to which Mahfouz refuses his characters the briefest glimmer of hope and joy becomes wearying by the third book. For me, the pinnacle was when Aisha’s daughter dies in childbirth. I just could hardly believe that Mahfouz would subject that poor woman to yet more tragedy. What is it that Mahfouz wants to show us through this incessant despair?

One key may be a line that ends a chapter about people taking shelter during a nighttime air raid: “In this brief moment of darkness, life had reminded careless people of its incomparable value” (1174). Perhaps Mahfouz has crafted this extended “moment of darkness” simply to remind the reader of life in all of its joys and sorrows. In following the members of this family through the streets of Cairo over decades, we see the depths of human nature—lustfulness, lack of self-control (or misplaced, excessive discipline), paralyzing doubt, seemingly pointless political maneuvering, along with uncontrollable tragedy. It’s an uncomfortable mirror held up for us to look into, that we can contemplate our own weaknesses, and the sorrows that come upon us, unlooked for and unexpected. After taking this journey with Mahfouz, hopefully we have eyes so desperate to see light in the world around us that we will seek it out in ways that we might not have before—and seek to be that light for other people.

Reflecting on the trilogy as a whole, a couple of things stand out to me. One is the suffocating nature of the Cairo setting. Not that Cairo itself is presented in an uncomplimentary way—but there seems to be no escape. The family members hear news (increasingly, especially in the third volume, which speeds through the years) from the world outside of Egypt, and they have acquaintances who set off for other parts of the world (Kamal’s friends, in particular, seem freer to leave their homeland than any other characters do). Yet there is an intense gravity that keeps them rooted to the same place, giving the story an almost claustrophobic feeling. It’s as though Mahfouz is relentlessly forcing us to stay with these characters, denying them the life changes that would naturally happen if they could just get out of Cairo for a while (though it doesn’t seem that fleeing Egypt is healthy for many of the characters who do have the opportunity)—like, a change of scenery would be a false way of distracting them from their real, internal struggles. It’s an interesting, infuriating technique for a novel—especially a series of novels that runs to as many pages as this one does.

The other recurring theme that affected me was the way that there is no foundation for stability for these characters. These are characters who at least pass through phases of devout religious faith, yet that faith always seems a little distant. It’s more of a magic talisman than a present help for real-life trauma and struggle. It’s a constant, nagging presence in the story, but it’s always ambiguous. Is Amina right to cling to her hopes as she visits the shrine every day? I think so—and I think Mahfouz thinks so—but this novel is never going to admit outright that it’s a worthy activity that does any good in the world. Kamal’s constant doubt and questioning never resolves itself; Yasin remains devout and yet absurd; other characters have varying perspectives on belief, but nothing that brings lasting, tangible joy to their lives.

The other typically solid foundation in life is family—which is by far one of the dominant themes of these books. Yet here again, family doesn’t offer much worthwhile guidance for life. The sons follow in their father’s footsteps—even unknowingly, at first—but there is no possibility of open communication, by which the father might impart some wisdom before they squander their lives on the same lusts. When Kamal’s heart is broken by Aïda, there’s no one to come alongside him and assure him that such young crushes are perfectly normal, or show him how to move on in life. Instead, he falls into sensual lusts and drinking, blind to the fact that it’s these very behaviors that keep him from seeing the world, and his own life, truthfully. None of al-Sayyid Ahmad’s children try to replicate the kind of household they were subjected to, yet none of them seems to know quite how to establish a household at all. Much of the novel—especially from the second volume onward—finds the entire family in a liminal state (modeled externally by Aisha and internally by Kamal). They’re not quite what they started out as, but they haven’t yet become anything else distinct. They walk through life, wondering what happened to them, but they find no answers. At the conclusion of the story, it’s hard to imagine that that family will still be a cohesive unit after another generation or two. (And if Yasin is the one who transmits the family lore, then the next generations won’t even know what really happened. “What is truth?”)

The Cairo Trilogy is a fascinating, depressing, challenging story. I’m glad to have spent some months working my way through it, though I’m also glad to look at my own life and see joy and hope and light.

I love anything that this author writes!

The Cairo Trilogy is a three-part family saga, centred around al-Sayyid Ahmad Abd al-Jawad and his family - wife, children and eventually grandchildren.

The story of the family closely mirrors what was happening in Egypt between 1917 and 1944. The family, like Egypt is controlled by a strong hand and by blind religious belief. The struggle for independence and the attempt to chart a future for the nation mirrors the children's struggles in the Jawad households; from conservativism to liberalism, socialism and fundamentalism.

I didn't want the story to end; I wanted to know what happened into the 50's and 60's thru today.

I was surprised to find the English translation was edited by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. I liked the first novel best.

n  (في نقد ثلاثية القاهرة)n

(ملحوظة: لا تقرأ هذا النقد قبل الانتهاء من الثلاثية بأكملها (أي بين القصرين وقصر الشوق والسكرية

اخترت في شهر سبتمبر أن أقصر قراءاتي علي أعمال الأديب (نجيب محفوظ)، خاصة مع تزامن ذكري وفاته مع بداية هذا الشهر. أول الأعمال التي بدأت بها كان (كفاح شعب طيبة) وقد ندمت كثيرًا علي قراءته. إلا أني صممت ألا يمر سبتمبر بدون إنهاء ثلاثية نجيب أو ثلاثية القاهرة.

بداية:هذا النقد موّجه للأجزاء الثلاثة معاً كعمل أدبي واحد طويل جاوزت صفحاته الألف صفحة.
ثانياً: لم أشاهد أي من الأعمال الدرامية المرئية أو المسموعة المستوحاة من تلك الثلاثية (وقد اكتشفت أن هذا من حسن حظي)

ننتقل الآن للرواية وما بها وما عليها:

قد لوحظ تطور طفيف في أسلوب الكتابة بين الجزء الأول (بين القصرين) والثاني (قصر الشوق) وقد واصل هذا التطور صعوده في الجزء الثالث (السكرية). وبالتأكيد لست أنا من يحتكم إلى أسلوب الكتابة للحكم علي جودة العمل الأدبي، بيد أنالأسلوب السردي ل(نجيب محفوظ) وفّر الكثير من المجهود ووضع (حسن الإمام) أو أي مخرج آخر سيفكر في تبني العمل في حرج بالغ.

وبالنسبة للمكان والزمان فهما أحياء وسط القاهرة القديمة - بين الحسين والسكرية و غيرهما- والزمان هو من أبرز عناصر الرواية .فتدور أحداث الرواية في فترة ما بين الحربين العالميتين وحتي نهاية الحرب الثانية. وبين كل جزء و الآخر حوالي سبعة أو ثمانية أعوام. وتم استغلال الأوضاع السياسية الناجمة عن الحرب بأفضل شكل ممكن لتطوير وتحريك الأحداث دون أن تصبح تلك الأوضاع هي المحور الأساسي للرواية. فالحرب هنل تستخدم لتبرير تغيرات اقتصادية واجتماعية وخلافات أسرية .دون تعمق زائد في نتائجها أو أسبابها، وهو الأمر الذي حافظ على القالب الاجتماعي للرواية ويمكن استخدامه لتفسير سر جاذبية ونجاح الرواية بالمقارنة بأعمال مصرية وعربية أخرى تناولت نفس الموضوع (الشوارع الخلفية – مثلاً – لعبد الرحمن الشرقاوي)
بالانتقال للشخصيات نجد ثلاثة أجيال من نفس سلسال (السيد أحمد عبد الجواد). وهو الشخصية الأبرز في الرواية،ولسخرية القدر هو الشخصية الأكثر تعرضاً للظلم أو التحريف في ذهن العامة. فبسبب ثلاثية (حسن الأمام) السينمائية، أصبح (السيد أحمد عبد الجواد) المثال المصري الصارخ في السيطرة والإحكام علي قبضة الأسره. وهو ما يتنافى بنسبة كبيرة مع كوامن الشخصية التي قام (نجيب محفوظ) ببناءها وعرضها في أجزاء الرواية الثلاثة.

يبدأ الجزء الأول بعرض حياة (السيد أحمد) مع زوجته الست (أمينة) وأبنائهم الأربعة (خديجة)و(فهمي) و(عائشة) و(كمال)، بالإضافة إلى أخيهم الأكبر الغير شقيق (ياسين).ويسيطر هذا الأب علي أسرته بإحكام شديد (خوفاً عليهم أكثر من كونه حباً في السيطرة(. و تقدم الرواية شخصيات أخرى فرعية مثل (زنوبة) و(أم حنفي) و(مريم) و(زينب) و(محمد عفت) و(جليلة) و(زبيدة) وغيرهم.

تتمحور أحداث الجزء الأول حول زواج الفتاتين ومدي رغبة (السيد أحمد) في تزويج (خديجة) قبل (عائشة). حيرة (كمال) الطفولية، رغبات (ياسين) في الانحراف و صراعه الداخلي بسبب الفروقات بين أمه وأبيه. بالإضافة للشهيد (فهمي) - الشاب الواعد المجاهد المشارك في كفاح الطلبة والشعب المصري عامي 1918 و1919.

و بين هؤلاء جميعاً ظهرت (أمينة) كشخصية محبوبة تجمع كل الأسرة، لكن ببعض القراءة المتأنية ستجد أنها سبب رئيسي في السيطرة الزائدة التي يقوم بها (سي السيد). فهي أضعفهم قلباً وإرادة، كما أن مبرراتها العقلية والدرامية تبدو محدودة للغايى إذا ما قورنت ب(سي السيد) والذي ستشعر بانسانيته وقد تتفهم وتتسامح مع تناقضاته المقبولة نسبياً ... بل قد تجد نفسك في خلال الجزئين الأول والثاني متلبساً بحب شخصيته على عكس من (أمينة) السلبية والمذعورة بدون مبرر؛ فهي من ارتضت الهوان.

وفي الجزء الثاني،كثر التشويق: بأستشهاد (فهمي) ونضج (كمال) وإنجاب (خديجة) و(عائشة)، ثم طلاق (ياسين) وزواجة وطلاقه وزواجه. وشعور (سي السيد) بانسحاب بساط الثقة والسيطرة من بين يديه. في حين اقتصر دور (أمينة) علي شعور الأم الثكلى ! كما تحول (كمال) الطفل لشخصية الرواية الرئيسية بنجاحه وحبه واخفاقه وانهزامه ثم إلحاده. و ينتهي الجزء بوفاة زوج (عائشة) وولديها الأثنين بالتيفود.

وحينما أتت (السكرية)، أتت سكرة و لذه الثلاثية، هنا نرى ثلاثة أجيال، سطرها (محفوظ) بإبداع رائع. فسترى في الجزء الثالث مرحلة هرم أو شيخوخة (السيد) و)أمينة( وذبول (عائشة) بعد أن فقدت كل بهجتها، إنهماك (كمال) في فلسفته العدمية، نضج (ياسين) النسبي وحياته المستقرة مع (زنوبة) التي تحولت لسيدة وأم حقيقة بعد حياة العوالم والرقص التي عاشتها.نهاية ب(خديجة) القوية التي تصطدم بوقائع انفصال أبنائها عنها.
كما ينضم لهم (رضوان ابن ياسين) ،وعبد المنعم وأحمد (ابنا خديجة( وكريمة (ابنة ياسين من زنوبة) ونعيمة(آخر من تبقي لعائشة).ويبدو هذا الجيل الجديد، كأعظم تركيبة درامية بالرواية .فنرى(رضوان) المثلي ذو النفوذ وبداخله حيرته القاتلة. و(أحمد) الاشتراكي الصحفي التقدمي والذي يتزوج من (سوسن) التي تكبره ويلقي بأحكام المجتمع وراء ظهره. و(عبد المنعم) الأخواني الإسلامي أو التوأم المضاد لأخيه والذي يتزوج من (نعيمة) ،ثم يترمل ليتزوج من (كريمة).

وخلال تلك الفترة نرى مصر تمر بتغيرات مشابهة لتلك التي شهدناها بالجزء الأول من غارات و هجمات للمحور، ثم فساد السياسة الداخلية والصراع بين أعضاء حزب الوفد. وكما تنتهي الملحمة كل مرة بوفاة شخصية ما، فنجد الجزء الأول ينتهي بوفاة (فهمي) والثاني بوفاة (أبناء عائشة). فتختم أحداث الجزء الأخير والرواية بوفاة (أمينة) وهي في طريقها للحسين.

لست هنا فقط للتأكيد على عظمة وجمال الرواية أوالثلاثية! فالرواية ليست مثالية مائة بمائة، بل احتوت علي بعض علامات التعجب وا��استفهام. أبرزها نهاية شخصية (رضوان) المفتوحة، وهو نفس مصير بعض الشخصيات الفرعية الهامة مثل (مريم) و(بدور) واختفائهم المفاجىء من الأحداث – وكأن الكاتب قد نسى أنه خلق تلك الشخصيات-

كما أنني اتعجب بشدة من كيفية قيام (السيد أحمد عبد الجواد) و(زنوبة) بدفن الماضي وتجاوزه كأن لم يكن. فتخيل معي لو تورط رجل وامرأة في علاقة ثم هجرها وابتعد عنها ليقوم أبنه بالزواج منها رغم رفض الأب الشديد. هل من المنطقي أن يتعاملا معاً كحمو وزوجة أبن وكأن شيئاً لم يكن!! اعتقد أن الكاتب كان بحاجة لتوضيح بعض التفاصيل في هذا الشأن.

ختامًا، فإن الملحمة بالتأكيد متميزة ،و لعل أهم تعديل أو خاتمة لها كان ليكون أن تختتم الرواية بوفاة (السيد أحمد) بدلاً من وفاة (أمينة)، بحيث تبدأ الأحداث عنده وتنتهي عنده.وقد اخترت (خديجة) و(السيد أحمد) ليكونا الشخصيتين المفضلتين عندي في هذا العنل من وجهة نظري.

عامة، بعد انتهائي من الرواية، تترأى لي بعض الملحوظات والأسئلة التالية:


1.tشخصيات (سوسن) و(أحمد)، أو الزوجين الاشتراكيين - مع إعجابي بهما - لكن حديث و(سوسن) بالذات و لغة حوارها ليسا واقعيين أو مناسبين للشخصية وبنائها. فأرى إن الحوار هنا ككل أقرب لأمنيات محفوظ الشخصية منها لطبيعة مصر والمصريين وثقافتهم وقتها

2.tكيف كتب (محفوظ) بهذه الحرفية عن شخصية (رضوان)،وابتعد بها عن الابتذال السائد فترتها و الصورة النمطية الموجودة عن المثلية؟! (أعلم أن البعض قد يعترض قائلاً أنه – أي نجيب محفوظ – قد جعل رضوان شخصية فاسدة، لكنه فساد نسبي محدود مثل الشوائب الموجودة بأي شخصيةفي الرواية.

3.t (نجيب محفوظ) في هذه الثلاثية المكتوبة في خمسينات القرن العشرين، تطرق لعدة قضايا انفجرت فيما بعد (مثل الهوية المصرية و حقوق الأقليات و الغلاء والشيوعية والأخوان ... إلخ)
كيف قام بهذا بمنتهي البراعة!!

It took me around 9 months to finish the whole Cairo Trilogy. It's too thick and heavy to take it with me anywhere, so every time I needed to travel, I would switch to reading something else. Of course this didn't help me get into it too much, but at some point I actually realized that coming back to this novel was becoming kind of a chore. Palace Walk was the best, as it focused on Al-Sayyid Ahmad Abd al-Jawad and his way of life, his hypocritical nature and the tyrannical way he treats his family. I was less interested in the political and philosophical parts of the story so I was really struggling with Sugar Street, especially when it came to Kamal and three grandsons of Al-Sayyid. There were some great chapters and some that I would have gladly skipped. Perhaps they would be less boring if I could remember everything that I read about half a year before… All in all – The Cairo Trilogy wasn't one of these books that you just can't put down. The first two parts deserve a higher rating but as a whole the experience did not blow my mind.

الحقيقة أن أول أسباب عظمة الثلاثية كلها تكمن في عدم تسطيح أي شخصية من شخصياتها ولا حدث من أحداثها... كل الشخصيات مركبة تحمل الخير والشر على حد سواء وكل الأحداث لها معنى مترابط ومتشابك، لتنقلب رواية واقعية إلى أقصى حد، الشخصيات يشبهون الناس جميعهم في كل العصور.
ثاني أسباب العظمة هو الجو العام، تعيش الأحداث السياسية والاجتماعية وتتخيل منظر البيوت والشوارع وأحوال الناس وملابسهم... تعيش معهم حرفيا

لم يترك نجيب محفوظ أي شخصية في الرواية غير معلومة المصير، حتى أكثرها هامشية: الضابط صديق فهمي، مريم، الفوال، الشربتلي... حتى وإن طالت السنون.. سيقول لك محفوظ ماذا فعلت تلك الشخصية بحياتها قبل أن ينهي ثلاثيته.

تستطيع أن تعرف الشخصيات والأحداث السياسية من 1917 تقريبا إلى 1940 ملخصة في الثلاثية

في رأيي:
الجزء الأول (بين القصرين): هي قصة أحمد عبدالجواد بامتياز
الجزء الثاني (قصر الشوق): هي قصة ياسين رغم سيطرة كمال على دور الراوي في الكثير من أحداثها
الجزء الثالث (السكرية): قصة كمال وصراعاته ومصيره

أعجبني الخيط الذي انتهت إليه الأمور في نهاية الثلاثية، وكأنها الدنيا. مشهد أحمد عبدالجواد وهو يجلس في المشربية لينتظر أمينة تعود إلى المنزل بعد مرضه وتصفية تجارته وبعد أن سمح لأمينة منذ وفاة ولدها بالخروج لزيارة "الحسين"، الأمر الذي استحقت عليه الطرد من منزلها منذ عدة أعوام. أصبحت أمينة هي التي تخرج وتعود وهو ينتظرها في المشربية، وهو المشهد نفسه الذي بدأت عنده الرواية حيث كانت تنتظره أمينة الممنوعة من الخروج في المشربية حتى ياتي من سهرته مع أصدقائه.
كمال، في أول الرواية لا يجرؤ أن ينظر في عيني أبيه أو يطلب منه طلبا مشروعا، أصبح في أخر الرواية بعد أن أصبح المعلم والرجل الوحيد بعد أبيه في البيت الكبير صديقة الوحيد وجليسه الأوحد بعد وفاة أصدقائه جميعا.

ما يميز الرواية عامة هي واقعيتها المفرطة، تمثيلها لأحوال الدنيا في صورة عائلة مختلفة الشخصيات والظروف

في زمن الأحفاد، حكاية أحمد ابن خديجة وحبه ورغبته في الزواج من زميلته البرجوازية تشابه إلى حد كبير حكاية خاله "كمال" لكن بنتيجة مختلفة، وفي رأيي اختلفت النتيجة مع تشابه الأشخاص باختلاف الزمن، من زمن رومانسي أفلاطوني لزمن أكثر عملية فبالتالي أكمل أحمد حياته بسبب عمليته وتوقفت حياة خاله كمال بسبب تطرفه (ليس الديني ولكن الرومانسي)
كمال لم يكن ضحية الظروف، أضاع من يديه بدور كما أضاع أختها... برومانسيته وخياله وعدم واقعيته. كمال يحب دور الضحية ويحب السرحان في الأوهام وحتى إذا جاءه الواقع في اقرب نقطة، يشيح بوجهه عنه بدعوى الحيرة والرغبة في التأكد ثم يتحسر على فقدانه إذا ضاع.

السيد أحمد عبدالجواد: الشخصية الجدلية التي اختصرها التليفزيون في الرجل الذي يسكر خارج المنزل ويصاحب الغواني ويشدد على أهل بيته ويستعبدهم، وهو ما لا يتعدى الجانب الواحد من شخصيته. أحمد عبدالجواد يمثل مراحل حياة رجل عادي يحمل كثيرا من الصفات السيئة وبعض الصفات الحسنة. رجل يحب النساء ويحلل لنفسه ذلك بأن غواني اليوم هم "ملك يمين" امس ليتوافق مع شخصيته المتدينة صباحا الفاسدة مساء. يصلي ويدعو ويحرص على إطعام الفقراء ودعم الثورة (ثورة 19) ويصادق الغانيات ويشرب الخمر ويعلم أن الوقت سيأتي ليتوب. يدعم الثوار بالمال ويتعاطف معهم بقلبه ويتبادل أخبار سعد زغلول مع أصدقائه، لكن يحذر ابنه من الاشتراك بها، فيفقده.

الست أمينة: تصورناها رمزا للخضوع والضعف، عاشت في جنتها الخاصة، لم تكن تستطع الخروج من بيتها إلا مرة كل عام أو عامين ثم ستعطى تلك الحرية بعد خسارة كبيرة في حياتها في الجزء الثاني. زرعت نباتاتها المفضلة وجمعت أولادها وياسين كل يوم في "جلسة القهوة"، فاضت عليهم حنانا وتفهمتهم وعلمتهم قدر استطاعتها وتعلمت منهم، لم تستح أن تتعلم من أصغر أبناءها "كمال" ما يتعلمه في المدرسة. تقبلت شخصيات أولادها وبناتها كل على حدة. لم تنمطهم أو تقولبهم بل تقبلتهم بفطرتها. افتقرت للشجاعة أمام زوجها في معظم أحداث الجزء الأول ثم إذا دعتها الحاجة ولم تجد مفر من عصيانه، فعلت. خبأت عندها أحد الثوار دون علم زوجها وعندما عاتبها قالت "أنا أم" فغلبت أمومتها وإحساسها بواجب ذلك الدور على خوفها.

كمال: من طفل صغير بدور شبه هامشي في الجزء الأول للمتحكم في عقل القارئ في الجزء الثالث. الشخصية التي حولتها مثاليتها الزائدة ورومانسيتها المتطرفة إلى النقيض من كل شيء. من مؤمن ومتدين إلى ملحد ثم إلى متشكك في كل شيء. من عاشق لشخص لا يحب ولا يريد أن يتمسك بمن يراه مناسبا. حتى من فيلسوف بعد الصدمة إلى متشكك في آراء حتى من يقرأ لهم من فلاسفة.

خديجة وعائشة: الفتاتان اللتان وصلتا في نهاية القصة إلى عكس ما بدأت به حياتهما بسبب الظروف والأحداث، مثال حي أن الدنيا لا تبقي ولا تذر. كيف تغير الظروف والأحداث شخصياتنا من النقيض إلى النقيض أحيانا وكيف تظل هناك بعض الصفات لا تؤثر بها أي أحداث، قد تخفت وقد تقل وقد يتغير شكلها.. لكنها تبقى وتظل.

ياسين: النسخة المصغرة من أبيه، في عشق النساء وحياة الفساد، المختلف عن أبيه في التصالح مع النفس أمام العالم. لم يحب يوما أن يهابه أولاده كما كان يهاب أباه. لم ينكر شخصيته وأفعاله بل كان متصالحا معها وعالما بأخطائه. ظل ياسين يصارع عقدة حياته (أمه) لسنوات، لم يستطع أن يتجوزها حتى لو سامح. صورة أمه التي رآها في طفولته ربت عنده عقدة نقص ستظل عنده إلى أن يموت.

فهمي: القشة التي قصمت ظهر العائلة كلها، تأثيره كان كبير في مجريات أحداث العائلة كلها رغم موته في أول جزء. الشخصية المثالية المؤمنة بالقيم والأخلاق العليا فكان خليقا بها أن تموت من أجلها وتستمر الحياة بعدها كأن شيئا لم يكن ولا يبقى أثر موتها إلا في قلب أسرتها.

After reading this book I'm not in love with Cairo, I'm in love with the prose of life.