A review by siria
The Yacoubian Building by Alaa Al Aswany

2.0

I'm of two minds about The Yacoubian Building. Al Aswany has created a rich and vibrant community of characters, who inhabit a world full of conflicting social and political forces. And yet... either the original prose needed some more editing, or the translation was not very good. Tenses shifted randomly and disorientingly in the middle of paragraphs, and some of the dialogue seemed stilted. The plot was quite predictable, and the ending rather anti-climactic. All of these elements would have made for a read that was merely unsatisfying, but Al Aswany's unsubtle and shallow characterisations (particularly of his female characters) and frankly offensive characterisation of homosexuals and the 'cause' of their sexuality really disquieted me. Over-rated.