Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A tapestry of immigrant life, 23 Aug 2008
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
Alaa al Aswany is an authentic Islamic voice: he lives in Egypt, writes in Arabic, and enjoys a large Muslim readership. All this makes him one of the most important authors in the world today. It also makes it pretty surprising that his intriguing new novel, follow-up to The Yacoubian Building, should be a tale of campus life at the University of Chicago.
On the face of it, the only Egyptian connection is that most of the ten or so main characters are Egyptian emigrants. Delve a little deeper, however, and you'll find some interesting analysis of Egyptian culture. Islam and politics (and the intersection of the two) come under heavy scrutiny through the actions and dialogue of the characters. Who is to blame for repression in Egypt: the state, or Islam -- or neither? Does Islam inhibit true love? Does it sanction domestic abuse? There are no simple answers, but I applaud Aswany for tackling the questions.
Chicago has the feel of a short story anthology hastily rewritten as a novel. There are a frightening number of protagonists: as the focus shifts with each short chapter, you're asked to follow ten disparate subplots at once, and there's no uniting story arc. I've given no summary in this review, because the book defies any quick summary beyond these three words: it's a hodgepodge. The setting is a second weakness. To Western eyes, a patchwork of University of Chicago life is inevitably less enticing than the patchwork of Cairo life presented in The Yacoubian Building.
Most disappointingly, the translation by Farouk Abdel Wahab is workmanlike at best, riddled with clunky sentences and stilted dialogue. Yes, English and Arabic could hardly be more different; but, to a great translator, language is no barrier: Maureen Freely's translations of Orhan Pamuk are the proof.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
In the hands of a natural storyteller...., 13 Aug 2008
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
Chicago takes us into the world of the University of Illinois Medical Centre where we meet a range of staff, students and their partners. Many of the students are Egyptians as are two of the professors.
The characters quickly come to life: Rafat Thabit claims he has shaken off his Arab past and is now a fully fledged flag-waving US citizen. Muhammad Salah is a generous, kindly man who has never got over leaving his first love behind in Egypt. John Graham is a professor with a left-wing political past who still claims to hold liberal credentials. Shaymaa tries to be a good student and a devout Muslim but wants a loving relationship. Tariq is handsome and hard-working but very egocentric. Ahmed Danana is greedy, corrupt and manipulative. Into this mix comes a new student Nagi who is idealistic and strongly opposes the Egyptian regime.
The characters collide and interact and the narrative moves towards a climax of a visit by the Egyptian president. This is supported by some people, opposed by others.
But nothing in Chicago is quite what it seems. There are no heroes - all the main characters are flawed. The two "baddies" Danana and security officer Safwat Shakir are unremittingly corrupt, cruel and unpleasant - almost like cartoon characters. Unfortunately, they were both all too believable!
And throughout the book is the pervading presence of modern Egypt from which none of the characters is able to escape. Although there is much affection for the country Al Aswany doesn't flinch from describing the torture, the corruption and the stultifying religious attitudes.
A great read. You know you are in the hands of a natural storyteller.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not Different Enough, 27 Nov 2008
This is a very well written book which I enjoyed a lot. Unlike some of the other reviewers I did not have a particular problem with the translation into English.
The book is essentially a series of discreet, albeit contemporary short stories, that are conjoined around a common theme and setting. The theme is that of the political state and social progress of current Egypt seen through the eyes of the book's characters. It is based in the Histology Department of the University of Illinois Medical School such that most of the characters are young postgraduate, visiting Egyptians whilst others are long-term Egyptian professors. The political prognosis is bleak and seems unlikely to change.
I had a few issues with the book. Essentially, I thought it began to run out of steam towards the end, almost grasping for a way out. An incident in a sex shop and then a black girlfriend's foray into lingerie modelling, I found gratuitous, unlikely and distracting.
The main problem with the book is that it is too much like the author's first novel, 'The Yacoubian Building'. This book 'Chicago' moves on little from the political theme in the former and in that sense offers us no more and somewhat disappoints.
A third novel needs to be very different!
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