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Khan al-Khalili Kindle Edition

by Naguib Mahfouz (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 27 ratings
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Khan al-Khalili, by Egyptian Nobel Laureate Naguib Mahfouz, portrays the clash of old and new in an historic Cairo neighborhood as German bombs fall on the city.
   The time is 1942, World War II is at its height, and the Africa Campaign is raging along the northern coast of Egypt. Against this backdrop, Mahfouz’s novel tells the story of the Akifs, a middle-class family that has taken refuge in Cairo’s colorful and bustling Khan al-Khalili neighborhood. Believing that the German forces will never bomb such a famously religious part of the city, they leave their more elegant neighborhood and seek safety among the crowded alleyways, busy cafés, and ancient mosques of the Khan. Through the eyes of Ahmad, the eldest Akif son, Mahfouz presents a richly textured vision of the Khan, and of a crisis that pits history against modernity and faith against secularism. Fans of Midaq Alley and The Cairo Trilogy will not want to miss this engaging and sensitive portrayal of a family at the crossroads of the old world and the new.

Translated from the Arabic by Roger Allen
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  1. Print length
    402 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Anchor
  5. Publication date
    September 20, 2011
  6. File size
    3385 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

 “Mahfouz is a storyteller of the first order in any idiom.” —Vanity Fair

About the Author

Naguib Mahfouz (1911–2006) was born in the crowded Cairo district of Gamaliya. He wrote nearly 40 novel-length works, plus hundreds of short stories and numerous screenplays. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1988.



ROGER ALLEN is professor of Arabic language and literature at the University of Pennsylvania. Among his translations are Naguib Mahfouz’s Mirrors (AUC Press, 1999) and Bensalem Himmich’s The Polymath (AUC Press, 2000).

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0054TTTLS
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Anchor (September 20, 2011)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 20, 2011
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3385 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 402 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 27 ratings

About the author

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Naguib Mahfouz

Naguib Mahfouz

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Naguib Mahfouz was born in Cairo in 1911 and began writing when he was seventeen. A student of philosophy and an avid reader, he has been influenced by many Western writers, including Flaubert, Balzac, Zola, Camus, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and, above all, Proust. He has more than thirty novels to his credit, ranging from his earliest historical romances to his most recent experimental novels. In 1988, Mr Mahfouz was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. He lives in the Cairo suburb of Agouza with his wife and two daughters.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
27 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

amateco
5.0 out of 5 stars The visit to a Egyptian family
Reviewed in the United States on January 19, 2013
Verified Purchase
This book holds our hand and transports us to a quarter in Egypt where the WWII is at their door.The war arouses in the characters - mainly men at the cafe, what they feel about British, French and Germans in view of the historical/ politcal side of the book. On other hand are the conflicts of love - of different kind of love , brother' s love filial's love and erotic love.These are the mainly problems that humanity faces,a man who aspired to be an intelectual and only finds pain and frustration. However, depending on which culture we are standing is the point of view we have, in this book is a Middle East writer so that the conflict is viewed by religion and the different degrees of faith that each chatacter performs.
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nona39
5.0 out of 5 stars Really great book, I read it before a trip to ...
Reviewed in the United States on January 16, 2018
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Really great book, I read it before a trip to Egypt. Loved how it showed that, regardless of cultural differences, people are the same and want the same things in life.
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Isaac Cohen
5.0 out of 5 stars Mahfouz excels in depicting Egyptians way of life. This ...
Reviewed in the United States on May 27, 2016
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Mahfouz excels in depicting Egyptians way of life. This is my first Mahfouz book and for sure not the last.
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Mohsen Ebrahim
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read
Reviewed in the United States on September 24, 2018
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Great read
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Top reviews from other countries

Kenneth Grant
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
Reviewed in the Netherlands on December 16, 2023
Verified Purchase
A great novel by Naguib Mahfouz. If you like his other works of his realist period such as the Cairo Trilogy, you will absolutely love this novel as well. A must-read for anyone interested in Arabic literature or modern Middle Eastern history.
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