Is it a bad sign when half the bookclub doesn’t even show up to discuss the book, and only two of us had finished reading it? I thought so.
Naguib Mahfouz won the Nobel Prize for Literature for his trilogy of books set in Cairo around 1919. The central figure of the book Palace Walk (Cairo Trilogy) is al-Sayyid Ahmad, a merchant who does whatever he wants while forbidding his religious wife (and his children) anything that might be deemed even slightly immoral. The book opens with his wife getting up at midnight to prepare for his return from the bars and current mistress. This theme is continued throughout the book; when the husband goes away on business the wife lets her male children talk her into visiting a shrine. On the way home she is hit by a car, so there is no chance of hiding the fact that she left the house. As soon as she is well, the husband throws her out of the house and not until almost the entire neighbourhood petitions him on her behalf does he take her back again.
The book evokes dusty streets and images of passive Egyptians waiting for the storm of English and Australian occupation to pass while trying to carry on their lives. The novelist uses the members of the family to show the differences in reactions to the soldiers: the middle son is involved in demonstrations (without the father’s knowledge, and certainly against his will) while the eldest cares only for women and wine and money.
I found it a hard book to grasp. With many books you find yourself sympathizing with one or more of the characters. Here I either felt annoyed (e.g., with the father/husband, despite the obvious attempts by the novelist towards the end of the book to make him more sympathetic) or sorry for them (the mother/wife and the eldest daughter). In the end I found I was reading as a neutral observer, rather than almost a participant, and so the book was not as enveloping as I expected. Perhaps some of this was due to the translation; it seemed rather uneven in patches and at times I caught myself wondering if some phrase had been translated correctly.
One thing that is interesting in the light of the current Middle Eastern politics and religious discussions is the tone of passivity. There is little of the jihad tone that we hear about today, although the middle son does take part in demonstrations. The family in general tries to avoid danger and all the religious leaders counsel its avoidance as well. From that point of view, the book is interesting as a snapshot of an age and a way of life that probably doesn’t exist any more, but that has an effect on present-day attitudes towards women and foreigners.
In summary, I think the book is worth reading for the picture it paints of a different world. I may even read the rest of the trilogy.