Good read, but didnt drive me to re-read.

I only disliked that these were short stories and not full fledged books of their own. I loved the imagery, and all the differing styles, as well as all the possible views of what the afterlife holds.

This is a fantastic (in both senses of the word) collection of thirteen stories written between 1973 and 1999 by one of my favorite fiction writers, Naguib Mahfouz. All involve strange events, and several involve death or the afterlife.

The title story, which accounts for about a third of the book and is undoubtedly the best, begins with one of the two main characters, named Raouf, coming out of a strange "cloud" to realize that he has been killed by his friend Anous as a result of a love rivalry. He arrives in the afterlife, and we are treated to brief statements about the afterdeath fates of a number of historical figures, from Gandhi and Lenin to Hitler and Stalin, although most of those named were from recent Egyptian history and I did not know who some of them were. This part is similar in a way to Dante, although the afterlife described is certainly not Christian (nor is it Islamic or ancient Egyptian); it is the product of Mahfouz' own imagination. Later, Anous is also killed, and the two return to Earth as spiritual guides, in the process changing names and roles. The theme is that what matters is not "virtue" or even belief in God but truth and resistance to evil in the form of oppression of the weak by the powerful.

The other stories are much shorter (the last few being only a couple pages each) and are ambiguous both as to the endings and what has actually happened, and as to their symbolic meanings. One, "Room No. 12" was made into a movie which was popular in Egypt. The book was fun to read and as with all of Mahfouz' work provokes thought.

What a collection! Each of these stories where printed separately in a span of more than twenty years from 1973 to 1999, and handpicked by the translator, Raymond Stock, for this edition. They are all magnificent, but my favorites were ‘The Seventh Heaven’ (1979), ‘The Disturbing Occurrences’ (1979), ‘Room no. 12’ (1973), ‘Forgetfulness’ (1984), ‘Man of Awesome Power’ (1996) and ‘The Rose Garden’ (1999). Some of them, like Forgetfulness were so chilling I could not keep on reading afterwards. I was completely mesmerized. Also, “Man of Awesome Power” reminded me of Jim Carrey’s movie ‘Bruce Almighty’, but better; with no Hollywood sweet ending. If you’ve never read Mahfouz, this is a good place to start.

Mahfouz is an amazing novelist, one of the greatest ever, so my complaint is not with him but with the way this compendium has been made. The selection of stories is not the best (with the exception of the first one), and I feel like some of them don't deliver on the "supernatural" claims of the title. Read Mahfouz's novels, a better experience.

this is my second foray into mahfouz’ work, and it’s alright! his surrealist work is less nuanced than his realist stuff, but what’s here is really really interesting in concept. it’s a book all about death, it pervades just about every short story contained within, and death comes in many different forms depending on the story, which is a really unique idea, i think. every brand of surrealism is taken from the culture of the author’s place of origin, and mahfouz really digs into surrealist ideas that seem very unique to a muslim way of seeing the world.
the writing isn’t my favorite, but i’ll reduce that to the translation being a bit unfavorable to mahfouz’ writing style.

من المجموعة القصصية (الحب فوق هضبة الهرم)، من أجمل القصص القصيرة التي قرأتها في حياتي .. هكذا تكون الكتابة!

This novel captures you even when you're on your guard I was taken in by the first page. And it became one of my favorites in the 11th.
Not only this novel is full of wisdom. It's witty and makes you think (in a good way!) I have often stopped to contemplate the lines, the words and thoughts behind this masterpiece. And every time I reach va conclusion I realized that I had nothing after all.
I found it very amusing. You laugh and think while flipping this hungrily to know what comes next. It was a fun ride
The novel mixed zen teachings, Arabic heritage and melodrama. The events are so amusing. The plot was carefully written as not to make it look complicated. I could see this in a movie production... I wonder if it is.

The only reason I gave it 4 stars is because some of the other stories were a bit dull or mystifying.

Only one Nobel prize??

Awesome collection of stories. Hard to pick one personal favorite.