Midaq Alley

كيف ﻧﻀﺠﺮ ﻭﻟﻠﺴﻤﺎﺀ ﻫﺬﻩ ﺍﻟﺰﺭﻗﺔ ، ﻭﻟﻸﺭﺽ ﻫﺬﻩ ﺍﻟﺨﻀﺮﺓ ، ﻭﻟﻠﻮﺭﺩ ﻫﺬﺍ ﺍﻟﺸﺬﺍ ، ﻭﻟﻠﻘﻠﺐ ﻫﺬﻩ ﺍﻟﻘﺪﺭﺓ ﺍﻟﻌﺠﻴﺒﺔ ﻋﻠﻲ ﺍﻟﺤﺐ ، ﻭﻟﻠﺮﻭﺡ ﻫﺬﻩ ﺍﻟﻄﺎﻗﺔ ﺍﻟﻼﻧﻬﺎﺋﻴﺔ ﻋﻠﻲ ﺍﻹﻳﻤﺎﻥ ، ﻛﻴﻒ ﻧﻀﺠﺮ ﻭﻓﻲ ﻫﺬﻩ ﺍﻟﺪﻧﻴﺎ ﻣﻦ ﻧﺤﺒﻬﻢ ، ﻭﻣﻦ ﻧﻌﺠﺐ ﺑﻬﻢ ، ﻭﻣﻦ ﻳﺤﺒﻮﻧﺎ ، ﻭﻣﻦ ﻳﻌﺠﺒﻮﻥ ﺑﻨﺎ .. !!

"معذرة يا سادة فإني أحب الحياة، بل أحب نفسي، لا كذات تتعلق بي، ولكن كفلذة من قلب البشرية، ونبض من الحياة، وخلق للصانع الأجل، وتجربة للحكمة الإلهية، وأحب الناس جميعًا حتى المجرمين الشائهين. أليسوا يرمزون إلى عناء الحياة الممض في سبيل الكمال؟ .. أليسوا ظلمة تلقي عتمتها على بهاء الخير ضياء".

{نجيب محفوظ 1947}

يبدو أنني تأخرت للغاية في قراءة نجيب محفوظ

رواية ذكيّة

عالم متكامل يلخص الكثير عن النفس البشرية.

Midaq Alley is complimented as being one of Mahfouz's finest and most popular works, but I have to politely disagree. It's not that the magic of his writing doesn't shine through and he was unable to bring out the thriving life in the city with extreme vividness, which is his trademark. He did this, and more. He literally brought a mediocre street in Cairo in the 1940s to life. In that sense, Midaq Alley is a huge success.

But I couldn't abide the characters and the excessive melodrama. In giving certain characteristics to each person, Mahfouz has been way too liberal. If someone was pious, piety was his sole characteristic. If someone was greedy, greed was the only thing defining him. Among such a large bunch of people living in Midaq Alley, only one or two characters really appeared even close to realistic. The rest were mere caricatures. I am just going to talk about three characters who pissed me off the most. Spoilers ahead.

Zaita - Zaita was a 'cripple maker'. People who wanted to be beggars came to him and got their limbs twisted. He got paid a percentage by them through their earnings. Now, I am quite well aware that begging can be more organised and voluntary than one would think. But, I honestly doubt anyone would cut off their own limbs to become a 'successful' beggar! This was a bizarre section of the story, and Zaita was even more so. He was utterly filthy and hated to take baths and smelled to the high heavens. Why shouldn't the man even have one redeeming characteristic at all? I couldn't buy him at all.

Radwan Hussainy - This man was pious. That's literally about it. He went about spouting random stuff about God, looked happy all the time in spite of having lost two kids, and never says a cross word to anyone. Yuck! I genuinely hated this character since the moment he showed up. How about grieving a bit for your kids and supporting your wife a little, you asshole? Everyone looked up to him and he goes on and on preaching nonsense. This man isn't human. He doesn't exist. I couldn't believe in him. Also, he was annoying, sexist and homophobic.

Hamida - Hamida is the main character in a way. She wants to be rich and escape from Midaq Alley. And who can blame her, with Radwan Hussainy preaching all the time? Her only way of escaping is a marriage to a rich man. As far as this goes, this character is actually believable and acceptable. However, Hamida's behaviour is plainly weird. She would scream abuses one moment and then talk about love the very next. She kept shouting at her 'lover' in the nastiest way possible, all the while thinking how much she loves him. It didn't make any sense at all, unless this was all about some bipolar disorder she was hiding. But we never touched on the subject of any mental illness from which she was obviously suffering. She is also shown to be dumb as a brick because she simply runs away with some man and doesn't even suspect that he is a pimp when he takes her to a brothel with naked women practising dancing! I mean, what do you have to do to get the point across, doh!

I think the main reason I couldn't get into the book was due to these unrealistic and weird characters but also due to the melodrama. Everyone started screaming and being abusive at the drop of a hat. Every one. Except, of course Hussainy, who couldn't scream if you paid him. I get that the point was to show dysfunctional families and relationships, but you don't have to be an utter bastard to be in a dysfunctional friendship or relationship. The entire street was crazy bonkers.

I also have to point out that a woman, even in the 40s in Egypt, had more options than slaving for a husband and popping out children, and becoming a prostitute. Totally disliked this angle. I found stretches of text to be extremely boring and dragging, but that's a by-product of reading Mahfouz. However, he has and can bring characters to life, which he didn't manage in this book.

دائما كان الأدب هو المرآه الصادقة لأى مجتمع
تأريخ لعادات المجتمع وتقاليده وظروف معيشته التى قد تنتهى بتغير الازمنه المختلفة
عادات وظروف لا يضمن لها البقاء الا كتابات عظماء عنها
وهنا يبرز دور العظماء امثال محفوظ الذين استخدموا قلمهم ككاميرا فوتوغرافيه لتسجيل الاحداث والظروف المختلفه

كعادة روايات نجيب تعيش مع أبطالها كأنهم جزء من عائلتك
ذكرتني هذه الرواية بالثلاثية
أحسست بذات الأجواء التي عشتها مع الثلاثة
تحكي لنا الرواية عن زقاق المدق و ساكنيه
نرى عباس الحلو بدكان حلاقته كأنه أمامنا حقيقة
نتابع حميدة و هي تطل من شرفتها و لا ننسى أن نذهب معها بنزهتها اليومية
وقهوة المعلم كرشه و اجتماع باقي سكان المدق بها
والكثير من الشخصيات التي عشت معها و من الصعب نسيانها
وزاد الرواية جمالاً لغة مجيب الرائعة
أنصح بكل روايات نجيب

سبحان الذي وهب له القدرة على هذا الابداع في الكتابة و النسج الروائي المثالي .
رواية تنبض بكل وقائع الحياة و مآسيها .
استغرب جدا كيف استطاع رسم كل هذه الشخصيات المختلفة الطباع و وصفها داخليا و خارجيا ببراعة فائقة تأسر الالباب و بلغة شعرية ساحرة .
لا اتخيل ابدا الأدب العربي بدون نجيب .
"إن الإنسان ليُجَنُّ إذا انتُزع ظفره، فكيف يكون إذا انتُزعت روحه وحياته؟! ولا يدري إلا المُحتضر نفسه حقيقة هذا الألم، فما تستطيع أن تلمس غير آثار الاحتضار الظاهرة، أمَّا صداها في الروح ورجْعُها في الجسد، فسِرُّ الميت الذي ينطوي عليه صدره، ويُقْبَر معه في جدثه، وآخِر يتٍ أن ينطق عن عذاب احتضاره لما نعم إنسان بساعة صفوٍ واحدة في الحياة، ولمات الناس ذعرًا قبل أن تُدركهم النهاية"