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Children of the Alley (Doubleday Us)
 
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Children of the Alley (Doubleday Us) (Paperback)

by Naguib Mahfouz (Author)
3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
RRP: £14.95
Price: £9.50 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
You Save: £5.45 (36%)
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Children of the Alley (Doubleday Us) + Midaq Alley + Karnak Cafe: A Modern Arabic Novel
Price For All Three: £38.11

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Product details

  • Paperback: 464 pages
  • Publisher: Anchor (Australia); 1st Anchor Books Ed edition (1 Nov 1997)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0385264739
  • ISBN-13: 978-0385264730
  • Product Dimensions: 24.4 x 13.2 x 2.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 265,607 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #17 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > M > Mahfouz, Naguib
    #37 in  Books > Fiction > World > Arabic

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Product Description

Synopsis
The story of an Egyptian family mirrors the spiritual history of humankind as a feudal lord disowns one son for diabolical pride and puts another son to the ultimate test.

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Customer Reviews

6 Reviews
5 star:
 (1)
4 star:
 (3)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.3 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A disturbing approach to the history of mankind, 12 Jun 1999
By A Customer
"Children of the Alley" (AKA "Children of Gabalawi") is both a realistic and an allegorical novel that consists of two stories simultaneously. On the year the book began to be published as a serial in Al-Ahram, it was banned for ten years, after which it was published for the first time in book format in Beirut. The story, as I mentioned, has two faces. The first is that of an enormous family and its descendants. And the second is the religious history of mankind, with the prophets, the legends, and in the end, the scientific revolution. The background is the "Gabalawi Alley", which has a unique role, just like the "Midaq Alley", or the alley in "The Harafish". I can say without a doubt that Mahfouz is "Proust of the Arabs".
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A powerful allegory of human suffering, 9 Mar 2007
By Philippe Horak (Zug, Switzerland) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This is the story of the Gabalawi family. Gabalawi disowns his son Idris in favour of Adam and then puts the latter to the test. The children of the alley are all the people living in the Gabalawi Alley where Gabalawi is the ancestor who owns everything and everybody in the desert around it.
We meet Adham, Gabal, Rifan, Quassem and Arafa who each in their own way fight the injustice and the gangsters in the alley in order to free their fellow citizens from bondage and tyranny. But after each individual victory it inevitably turns out that the children of the alley fall back again into greed, corruption, crime and poverty while just a few enjoy wealth and power.
In this sense this is a powerful and daring narrative which teaches us a lot about the spiritual history of humankind. A powerful fable and a richly told story which embraces in its plot not only the world of the Middle East but the world itself.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars The Bible transposed into Egypt, 17 Aug 1997
By A Customer
Good and Evil in Egypt. God as the stern character of the old testament. Jesus the saviour. Moses the deliverer. God wins, but nearly destoys humanity to achieve his goal. Somewhat overdone and repetitive. But from a great storyteller.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars An allegorical tale
This novel about a community in some desert village is written with the simplicity of language that one associates with old myths, and underlying the story are indeed echoes,... Read more
Published on 28 Nov 2006 by Ralph Blumenau

4.0 out of 5 stars Biblical Alagory in the Words of a Fine Story Teller
Quite Simply, The Ultimate book for the theologian who needs a change of pace. A change of setting and some interesting plot elements not found in the Bible
Published on 17 Jul 1998

1.0 out of 5 stars This book is not only a waste of your time but it's harmful
An auther who writes such a book and describes God (AllAH) the greatest and his wonderful prophets with these very bad descriptions in a symbolic way, which are used only to... Read more
Published on 29 Jun 1998

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