Friendly Fire
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'Alaa Al Aswany is a world writer, making Egyptian concerns into human ones and beautifully illuminating our always extraordinary and sometimes sad and baffling world.' The Times 'Alaa Al Aswany is among the best writers in the Middle East today, a suitable heir to the mantle worn by Naquib Mahfouz, his great predecessor, whose influence is felt on every page. Yet Al Aswany has his own magic.' Guardian 'A wonderful storyteller and a cynically astute observer of human folly and frailty.' Spectator
Product Description
The new book from Alaa Al Aswany, author of the international bestsellers The Yacoubian Building and Chicago Friendly Fire is a novella and collection of short stories from Alaa Al Aswany, author of the bestselling The Yacoubian Building. As in that novel, Al Aswany dissects modern Egyptian society and reveals with skill and detachment the hypocrisy, violence and abuse of power characteristic of a world in moral crisis. Here, though, the focus has shifted from the broad historical canvas to the minute stitches of pain that hold together an individual, a family, a school classroom, or the relationship between a man and a woman. Can a man so alienated from his society that he regards all its members as no better than microbes wriggling under a microscope survive within it? Can cynical religiosity triumph over human decency? Can a man put the thought of a delicious dish of beans behind him long enough to mourn his father's death? Alongside these wry questions, other, less mordant perspectives also have their place: an ageing cabaret dancer bestows the blessing of a vanished world on her lover's son; a crippled boy wins subjective victory from objective disaster. In Friendly Fire, readers will find again the vivid, passionate characters of today's Cairo, clamouring to be heard. Friendly Fire also features an introduction by Alaa Al Aswany giving the history of the novella, 'The Isam Abd el-Ati Papers', which was banned in Egypt for a decade.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Well written, Perceptive,,
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This review is from: Friendly Fire (Paperback)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
This is actually my first reading of Al Aswany's work and am happy to have been exposed to it. I completed the book quickly and I found the work to be engaging and to flow well.
One of the issues one finds with some short story works is that the author can sometime skip over character or plot development but in this case the stories were well developed, with a good pace and flowed to a close naturally without the notion of being forced. As other reviews have mentioned, all of the stories concern real life issues and perhaps illustrate that human needs/want/desires and particularly challenges move along the same lines albeit with different intensities. A great introduction to a strong writer and a book worth owning.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent introduction,
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This review is from: Friendly Fire (Paperback)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
An excellent introduction to the masters work whihc touches on themes familiar from his earlier works and presents hi style and favourite subjects in an easily digestible format
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interestingly different,
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This review is from: Friendly Fire (Paperback)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Programme (What's this?)
I am a fan of Alaa Al Aswany's novels and was interested to come across these stories. Less assured than the novels, they still stand out. His writing is as assured as ever, but the novella 'He who drew close and saw' which is the main part of this book though clever and with a good twist I found just a little cold, and less original than his other writing. That said, a good collection and well worth seeking out.
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