_sarahramadan's review
3.0
I didn't really know what to expect from this book, maybe a collection of stories that really captured the atmosphere of one of my favourite cities. What I found was different, and to be honest I didn't really 'get' a few of these stories, and I found some boring, but some of them were intriguing.
The story which tells the story of how various members of a typical Cairo traffic jam end up there was good; I love stories where different people's lives come together. I was gripped by the story of the sexually frustrated guy smoking weed in his apartment, the descriptions and language explicit in a way I didn't really expect from an Arab writer - he actually ended up in jail for writing so sexually in one of his other books.
The satirical piece on a policeman trying to find The Truth was another that stood out to me, for displaying police brutality and torture methods yet insisting sardonically that policemen who do this are still normal people, because they still fast and read and pace in their apartments.
So I suppose this book really did look into the heart of many issues at the heart of Cairene life that its citizens face and of course when works are translated they do not carry the same essence as they do in their original language so I must take that into account. However I think I was just not really able to sink my teeth into a fair few of these stories, and although I enjoyed reading something different for a change, I ended up being a little underwhelmed.
The story which tells the story of how various members of a typical Cairo traffic jam end up there was good; I love stories where different people's lives come together. I was gripped by the story of the sexually frustrated guy smoking weed in his apartment, the descriptions and language explicit in a way I didn't really expect from an Arab writer - he actually ended up in jail for writing so sexually in one of his other books.
The satirical piece on a policeman trying to find The Truth was another that stood out to me, for displaying police brutality and torture methods yet insisting sardonically that policemen who do this are still normal people, because they still fast and read and pace in their apartments.
So I suppose this book really did look into the heart of many issues at the heart of Cairene life that its citizens face and of course when works are translated they do not carry the same essence as they do in their original language so I must take that into account. However I think I was just not really able to sink my teeth into a fair few of these stories, and although I enjoyed reading something different for a change, I ended up being a little underwhelmed.
booksbythewindow's review against another edition
informative
For Full Review: The Book of Cairo – Books by the Window (wordpress.com)
Summary: There are ten short stories included in this anthology, each exploring differing experiences of characters living in Cairo. The anthology opens with Mohamed Salah al-Azab’s ‘Gridlock’, translated by Adam Talib, which recounts the morning of a number of characters whose paths cross in one specific traffic jam, clearly evoking the noises of a city centre at rush hour. From there, several stories follow individual characters struggling with the direction of their lives.
Overall Thoughts: For me, the opening six stories were the highlight of the anthology, each bringing to life diverse characters and aspects of Cairo. Although none of them stood out to me in particular, all six as a whole served to do exactly what I as a reader was hoping for from the anthology: allowing me an insight into the day to day life of the city. After the opening six stories, I was taken by surprise at the change of pace in the final four, with the middle two in particular being a struggle to get through. This was a good introduction to some of the literature of Egypt and I will certainly be keeping an eye out for some of these writers in the future.
Summary: There are ten short stories included in this anthology, each exploring differing experiences of characters living in Cairo. The anthology opens with Mohamed Salah al-Azab’s ‘Gridlock’, translated by Adam Talib, which recounts the morning of a number of characters whose paths cross in one specific traffic jam, clearly evoking the noises of a city centre at rush hour. From there, several stories follow individual characters struggling with the direction of their lives.
Overall Thoughts: For me, the opening six stories were the highlight of the anthology, each bringing to life diverse characters and aspects of Cairo. Although none of them stood out to me in particular, all six as a whole served to do exactly what I as a reader was hoping for from the anthology: allowing me an insight into the day to day life of the city. After the opening six stories, I was taken by surprise at the change of pace in the final four, with the middle two in particular being a struggle to get through. This was a good introduction to some of the literature of Egypt and I will certainly be keeping an eye out for some of these writers in the future.
thebobsphere's review against another edition
4.0
As I have said many times, I am a big fan of indie publishers, mainly because they always come up with interesting ideas. At the moment, I’m liking Comma Press’ ‘Reading the City’ series. It’s a simple idea, ten short stories about a city written by authors who live there. This time the focus is on Cairo.
We all know that in the last few years Cairo has undergone changes, many of them problematic but I will admit that these ten stories portray Cairo from a different angle. For starters, more than half these stories are genuinely funny; there’s Hatem Hafiz’s Whine (trans by Raphael Cohen) which concerns a government employee, who goes through an existential crises, or the professional rumormonger of Mohammed Kheir’s Talk (trans by Kareem James Abu-Zeid). The sex obsessed marjuana maker in Ahmed Naji’s (trans by Elisabeth Jaquette) brilliant Siniora. Even the opening story Gridlock offers a humorous view of Cairo’s citizens during a busy morning.
Out of the more serious one’s there’s the heartfelt closer An Alternative Guide to Getting Lost, which is about a woman who desperately wants to escape Cairo by plane but cannot and then there’ the centrepiece of the whole collection, Hassan Abdel Mawgoud’s (Trans by Thoraya El-Rayyes) Into the Emptiness, which I think provides a full picture of both the beautiful and frustrating aspect of Cairo life.
Then there’s the downright weird Soul at Rest is about a judgemental person who writes obituaries for a newspaper and Two Sisters, a offbeat romance featuring a masked video store clerk.
The Book of Cairo has something for everyone and is quite a varied collection. It’s quite rare that you’ll laugh, cry and smile within the space of a 100 pages but this volume manages to do that perfectly. Each story is a winner and a must read in it’s own right.
We all know that in the last few years Cairo has undergone changes, many of them problematic but I will admit that these ten stories portray Cairo from a different angle. For starters, more than half these stories are genuinely funny; there’s Hatem Hafiz’s Whine (trans by Raphael Cohen) which concerns a government employee, who goes through an existential crises, or the professional rumormonger of Mohammed Kheir’s Talk (trans by Kareem James Abu-Zeid). The sex obsessed marjuana maker in Ahmed Naji’s (trans by Elisabeth Jaquette) brilliant Siniora. Even the opening story Gridlock offers a humorous view of Cairo’s citizens during a busy morning.
Out of the more serious one’s there’s the heartfelt closer An Alternative Guide to Getting Lost, which is about a woman who desperately wants to escape Cairo by plane but cannot and then there’ the centrepiece of the whole collection, Hassan Abdel Mawgoud’s (Trans by Thoraya El-Rayyes) Into the Emptiness, which I think provides a full picture of both the beautiful and frustrating aspect of Cairo life.
Then there’s the downright weird Soul at Rest is about a judgemental person who writes obituaries for a newspaper and Two Sisters, a offbeat romance featuring a masked video store clerk.
The Book of Cairo has something for everyone and is quite a varied collection. It’s quite rare that you’ll laugh, cry and smile within the space of a 100 pages but this volume manages to do that perfectly. Each story is a winner and a must read in it’s own right.
caropi's review
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Strong character development? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
3.5
joannakarenina's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
shapedbystories's review against another edition
3.0
I didn't really know what to expect from this book, maybe a collection of stories that really captured the atmosphere of one of my favourite cities. What I found was different, and to be honest I didn't really 'get' a few of these stories, and I found some boring, but some of them were intriguing.
The story which tells the story of how various members of a typical Cairo traffic jam end up there was good; I love stories where different people's lives come together. I was gripped by the story of the sexually frustrated guy smoking weed in his apartment, the descriptions and language explicit in a way I didn't really expect from an Arab writer - he actually ended up in jail for writing so sexually in one of his other books.
The satirical piece on a policeman trying to find The Truth was another that stood out to me, for displaying police brutality and torture methods yet insisting sardonically that policemen who do this are still normal people, because they still fast and read and pace in their apartments.
So I suppose this book really did look into the heart of many issues at the heart of Cairene life that its citizens face and of course when works are translated they do not carry the same essence as they do in their original language so I must take that into account. However I think I was just not really able to sink my teeth into a fair few of these stories, and although I enjoyed reading something different for a change, I ended up being a little underwhelmed.
The story which tells the story of how various members of a typical Cairo traffic jam end up there was good; I love stories where different people's lives come together. I was gripped by the story of the sexually frustrated guy smoking weed in his apartment, the descriptions and language explicit in a way I didn't really expect from an Arab writer - he actually ended up in jail for writing so sexually in one of his other books.
The satirical piece on a policeman trying to find The Truth was another that stood out to me, for displaying police brutality and torture methods yet insisting sardonically that policemen who do this are still normal people, because they still fast and read and pace in their apartments.
So I suppose this book really did look into the heart of many issues at the heart of Cairene life that its citizens face and of course when works are translated they do not carry the same essence as they do in their original language so I must take that into account. However I think I was just not really able to sink my teeth into a fair few of these stories, and although I enjoyed reading something different for a change, I ended up being a little underwhelmed.
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