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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
34 of 35 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is one of my favorite books, I highly recommend it! Please do not be put off by its size! It is a trilogy of three novels, each one neatly divided into small, readable chapters. It is written in straight-forward, simple and accessible language while simultaneously managing to describe life in Egypt beautifully and with attention to detail (without losing focus of the story or going off into tedious descriptions). Naguib Mahfouz has won the Nobel Prize for Literature and this book clearly shows why he deserved it!
The three novels in the book are:
Palace Walk
Palace of Desire
Sugar Street
The story is that of three generations of a family living in Egypt;It begins with al-Sayyid Ahmad Abd al-Jawad, the household's 'paterfamilias'. He is a controlling and tyrannical man, who keeps his wife (Amina) on a short leash and dictates to his 5 children as to how they should live and comport themselves. However, once he leaves the house and meets his friends he indulges in all kinds of debauchery and breaks many of his own rules! The children, 3 boys and 2 girls have each got distinct characters and are easy to associate with and tell apart. One of the main characters is Kamal (one of the boys) and the three novels can be seen to represent the three phases of his life from childhood to youth to adulthood. I don't want to give away any of the plot, but it remains interesting throughout all three novels; there are periods of sadness and periods of happiness as occurs in families everywhere in the world. You do not have to be from Egypt to enjoy this book, it is a universal piece of work and I believe it should be more widely read. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did...
The three novels in the book are:
Palace Walk
Palace of Desire
Sugar Street
The story is that of three generations of a family living in Egypt;It begins with al-Sayyid Ahmad Abd al-Jawad, the household's 'paterfamilias'. He is a controlling and tyrannical man, who keeps his wife (Amina) on a short leash and dictates to his 5 children as to how they should live and comport themselves. However, once he leaves the house and meets his friends he indulges in all kinds of debauchery and breaks many of his own rules! The children, 3 boys and 2 girls have each got distinct characters and are easy to associate with and tell apart. One of the main characters is Kamal (one of the boys) and the three novels can be seen to represent the three phases of his life from childhood to youth to adulthood. I don't want to give away any of the plot, but it remains interesting throughout all three novels; there are periods of sadness and periods of happiness as occurs in families everywhere in the world. You do not have to be from Egypt to enjoy this book, it is a universal piece of work and I believe it should be more widely read. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did...
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This was loaned to me and it sat by the front door waiting to be returned, because I couldn't bear the thought of ploughing through such a thick tome. But like other readers, when I realised it was actually three books in one and when I'd run out of anything to read, I had to give it a go. And I am so pleased I did. Fantastic. I have to admit I found the first novel the most enjoyable, but even though I read this a year ago, scenes still come to mind. It was an education, again I knew nothing of the history, but still, it was a story of a family, and what a family.
Uplifting, depressing, all in one go - Egypt's answer to the Forsythe Saga I suppose! If you like to be carried along with tales of family lives in foreign locations, I thoroughly recommend this - maybe not a holiday read, you might have to forgo half the contents of your suitcase, but do read. I'm glad I stuck it out and read to the end, actually I don't think you could do otherwise. Brilliant!
Uplifting, depressing, all in one go - Egypt's answer to the Forsythe Saga I suppose! If you like to be carried along with tales of family lives in foreign locations, I thoroughly recommend this - maybe not a holiday read, you might have to forgo half the contents of your suitcase, but do read. I'm glad I stuck it out and read to the end, actually I don't think you could do otherwise. Brilliant!
Format:Hardcover
An excellent read about the trials and tribulations of an Egyptian family as it struggles with the modernisation of Egypt in the 1900-1950's.
The first Novel is the best, and the author slowly tapers off. The last book successfully finishes the different stories, but it is otherwise unforfilling, and not the page turner that the two previous books are.
The first Novel is the best, and the author slowly tapers off. The last book successfully finishes the different stories, but it is otherwise unforfilling, and not the page turner that the two previous books are.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
big read
Big book as all 3 books in one. 1300 pages so a good if heavy read - hardback and 1300 pages it weighs quite a bit! Read more
Published 15 months ago by CDW
majestic
conveys a sense of of the place and the time in a language that captivates. Absorbing reading
Published on 3 Aug 2009 by Jeffrey SINCLAIR
A wonderful insight into a time goneby
I read this wonderful trilogy about a dozen years ago and it still resonates though the details of the plot have long since passed me by. Read more
Published on 25 Jun 2009 by Aquinas
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