A review by jmiae
Cairo Modern by Naguib Mahfouz
5.0
From the perspective of the pleasure-seeking fiction reader, this book was wonderful. The prose was delightful - lots of lovely phrases, plenty of gorgeous sensory detail, and just enough drama to make your heart race a little. You know how they say reading makes you more empathetic? This was a textbook example. I knew that Mahgub was a horrible person and yet I felt for him and when things were going badly for him I couldn't help but hope that he would be okay. So although not all of the characters were as well-developed as Mahgub, the ensemble as a whole had a strong effect. The story itself is compelling with enough twists and turns to make it hard to put this down. Also, I really must actually read Goethe's Faust because even though I can understand why so many Western critics (rather annoyingly) called this Faustian and Dostoevskian, I have not actually read Faust and as such have only a rather abstracted notion of what they might be referring to. But enough about comparing non-Western works to Western classics, as if that's the only way 'serious' praise can be conferred upon literature.
But from a more critical perspective, it is fascinating how reading can simultaneously teach you so much and demonstrate how little you know. Reading about the Middle East, as written by an Egyptian author in the 1940s, is such a completely different experience from reading more recent literature that has been produced by MENA writers. The influence of the West and the remnants of colonialism is of course still palpable, but the world depicted by Mahfouz is otherwise so incredibly different from the one that has been the focus of politics and international news for the past few decades.
It also struck me that my knowledge of modern Egyptian history is astoundingly bad. That's one of the challenges/benefits of reading translated literature. In this case, Mahfouz is writing in Arabic, for a readership that he assumes has prerequisite knowledge about the social, cultural, historical and political background of Egypt circa 1945. It is up to the translator, then, to decide how much additional information to provide to the audience in order for them to fully appreciate the implications of some of the references that come up (i.e. the Egyptian Revolution of 1919, the 1923 constitution, the differences between the 1923 and the 1930 constitution, etc.). This can be done with footnotes, endnotes, a glossary, etc. And if the translator decided not to include that information, then the reader must take responsibility for their own education. Hutchins provided a very short glossary, but not all the cultural/historical terms that were unfamiliar to me were included.
So, reading Cairo Modern has given me two new ambitions: 1) read more of Naguib Mahfouz and 2) learn more about modern Egyptian history from non-fiction resources.
I first learned about Naguib Mahfouz from a well-read coworker, and on my last trip to the local library this was the only novel of his on the shelf so I picked it up. One of these days, I really must try and focus on short stories. Perhaps something to consider for 2019's reading goals.
But from a more critical perspective, it is fascinating how reading can simultaneously teach you so much and demonstrate how little you know. Reading about the Middle East, as written by an Egyptian author in the 1940s, is such a completely different experience from reading more recent literature that has been produced by MENA writers. The influence of the West and the remnants of colonialism is of course still palpable, but the world depicted by Mahfouz is otherwise so incredibly different from the one that has been the focus of politics and international news for the past few decades.
It also struck me that my knowledge of modern Egyptian history is astoundingly bad. That's one of the challenges/benefits of reading translated literature. In this case, Mahfouz is writing in Arabic, for a readership that he assumes has prerequisite knowledge about the social, cultural, historical and political background of Egypt circa 1945. It is up to the translator, then, to decide how much additional information to provide to the audience in order for them to fully appreciate the implications of some of the references that come up (i.e. the Egyptian Revolution of 1919, the 1923 constitution, the differences between the 1923 and the 1930 constitution, etc.). This can be done with footnotes, endnotes, a glossary, etc. And if the translator decided not to include that information, then the reader must take responsibility for their own education. Hutchins provided a very short glossary, but not all the cultural/historical terms that were unfamiliar to me were included.
So, reading Cairo Modern has given me two new ambitions: 1) read more of Naguib Mahfouz and 2) learn more about modern Egyptian history from non-fiction resources.
I first learned about Naguib Mahfouz from a well-read coworker, and on my last trip to the local library this was the only novel of his on the shelf so I picked it up. One of these days, I really must try and focus on short stories. Perhaps something to consider for 2019's reading goals.