PALACE WALK (Hardcover)

One of the more intriguing characters in the novel is Yasin, eldest son of Al-Sayyid Ahmad, and most likely to follow in his father's footsteps. Passion for music, wine, and women runs unchecked in his blood and, like his father, would rather spend the night in the company of mistresses and friends than with his family.

Fahmy is the intellectual heart of the family and has a devotion to his country's fight for independence that surpasses family ties and respect for his father's wishes. His undercover behavior and quest for martyrdom helps explain modern Muslim fundamentalism.

The sisters Aisha and Khadija are in a race for marriage, complicated by the extreme beauty of the younger sister and the disfiguring nose of the eldest.

Kamal lends a child's perspective to the novel, questioning the norms of Egyptian society and forging a shaky bond with occupying English soldiers. He's the fly on the wall that we'd all like to be, as readers, curious and questioning.

Overall, this is a profoundly intriguing novel that fully penetrates the minds of every character in "Palace Walk", and in doing so provides the reader with a significant portrayal of an Egyptian society steeped in culture and ruled by religion.

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Just recently, a friend recommended I read the Cairo trilogy. I began with Palace Walk, and haven't yet read the others. This book is SUPERB. Westerners have trouble understanding how Middle Easterners THINK. This book is so wonderful because it takes you inside the mind of each of the characters, in turn, chapter-by-chapter, showing you how each one of them thinks, and allowing you to see their motivations for their behavior. One person commmented in their book review that the majority of the book concentrated on the male characters. There is a reason for this. Egyptian society is mostly about men, not about women. Even as the society modernizes, the THINKING stays the same. Mahfuz has done a masterful character study of each character in the book, as they go therough their daily lives. Without yet having read the two subsequent books, I expect that I will get more in depth into the women's lives in Sugar Street, because this is the house to which the two female daughters have moved upon their marriages to two brothers.

In the past, I have tried to read some other books by this author, and just couldn't get into them. These books are different. They really do merit the Nobel Prize. Reading them now, after being immersed in the Arab culture for 12 years, I see so many more things than I would have noticed had I read the books first. But living in this culture, I can see how accurate they are, and how the men really DO behave and think like the characters in these books! Aside from the all this, the story line is wonderful, too. I had trouble putting the book down after having read the first few pages. I recommend these books to anyone who would really like to understand the Middle Eastern culture.

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It should be noted that "less difficult" is not that same as "easy" or "easier". This marks an important distinction, one underscored by these books. Arabic language, society and sensibilities are colored much more by nuances and multiple permutations on a few basic themes than is true in Western society.

Naguib Mahfouz is a Nobel Prize-winning Egyptian novelist who adeptly and adroitly captures these nuances and evokes a genuine feel for-if not true understanding of-their intrinsic roots within the Arabic weltanschauung.

Clearly, based on the reviews to date for this book, there are many who have difficulty with this dynamic. These are the folks who probably are unable to split hairs and see the distinction between "less difficult" and "easier". If you are that sort of person I have to say quite honestly that you are going to be both frustrated and bored by this book or any of the series.

If you are the sort who relishes a challenge, truly wants to try to get a feel for and understand Arabic social and political views and don't mind putting a bit of effort into that undertaking, you will find reading any or all of these books a rewarding experience indeed.

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