In this, the second novel of the Cairo Trilogy (although I hesitate to call it that, since I now see the "trilogy" more as a novel in its entirety, which is what Mahfouz apparently preferred it to be), the movement of the narrative is more toward introspection, as we enter the mind of the youngest member of the family, Kamal. Kamal is a philosophically and romantically minded young man, an idealist who wants to be a teacher in spite of his father's strong opposition and the fact that the profession he seeks to enter gets little respect from his friends and the society in which he lives. His openness to the new ideas (such as evolution) stands in direct opposition to his father's staunch defense of the old ways and the old religious beliefs.

While sometimes I found the narrative a bit slow (too much of Kamal's ruminations on the nature of love, for example), I still enjoyed this section of the saga. I got a feel for Mahfouz' world view and a further education on the Middle Eastern mind. Egypt continues in a turmoil which parallels that of the young Kamal. Europe beckons, taking his best friend from him. The Western Influence is a source of pain and curiosity at the same time. More and more the reader comes to see why the Middle East views the West with scepticism and scorn.

Kamal's father begins to slide into infirmity, losing physical strength but not inner passion, and the family will soon no doubt have to deal with the problems related to the possible loss of its patriarch.

As always, well written, compelling narrative, for the most part. I will continue to complete the trilogy by reading "Sugar Street." This family saga is one I want to complete.

As a college teacher trying to help American students to understand why we are not universally popular in the Middle East, I have found that fiction works better than any number of cogent analyses of Shariah or Militant Fundatmentalism. What is required--and this is really no surprise--is an honest effort to enter the minds and hearts of a culture not our own. The novels of Mahfouz are absolutely invaluable, and particularly this centerpiece of the trilogy, in which modernization (i.e., the encroachment of Western values, the reaction against them, the struggle for a Western-style nation state: all these are illuminated on these pages.

The family saga continues in book 2 of the Cairo trilogy, this time with Kamal as a main focus, his earlier childhood devotion to religion has been rejected and he has become a "seeker after truth" searching for meaning in life. It appears Kamal has been modeled after Mahfouz himself, and it is often through Kamal's eyes that we view the other characters in this story.

If you enjoyed the "Palace Walk" then "Palace of Desire" is a must read. As the title implies this book is about love & desire, albeit Islamic style. There are some hilarious scenes such as when the father discovers his mistress is cheating on him with his son or when the brothers meet in a brothel. The sisters are not forgotten in this continuing story, you find out how their married lives have gone.

For me, this whole trilogy is a really human look into another culture so different than our own here in North America. People are people with similar urges and feelings, and will find ways to express or control desires through whatever outlets happen to be available.

This is the last installment of the Cairo trilogy, a saga spanning several generations of a family in Egypt during the first decades of the 20th century. Of the three books "Sugar Street" is the most political with the pace moving very quickly, there are time periods of about a year and more between most chapters.

After an intimate look into a Cairo family's life in Book 1 and Kamal's total stagnation in Book 2, caught between feeling and tradition versus rational thought and science, here there is much action in the outer world and larger political life. The three grandsons grow to maturity in a time when Egypt is breaking free of colonialism. One is a member of Muslim radical fundamentalist brotherhood, another a communist and the other, well...he too has followed his own path away from family tradition.

The Cairo trilogy and especially Book 3, Sugar Street can offer a great deal of insight into how attitudes in the Mid-East have been shaped.

This is the last book of the Cairo Tilogy,which should stand along side of Galsworthy's Forsyte Saga.
As with any work that is squarely founded upon an extensive exposure and understanding of the human nature that is found throughout the world, the reader will find an Egyptian writer who sympathetically and deftly presents a family from the middle east, faced with the same problems that plagued English families throughout the victorian era and later.
Throw in the problems of occupation by the British to further complicate a father's problems with educating and marrying his sons, and insurinng the happiness of his daughters through marriage to fiscally sound and loving men from backgrounds similar to his family's, and the reader will realize we're all the same the world over. I was sorry to reach the end of the last book, and I'm jealous of anyone who is about to read the Cairo Trilogy for the first time.

I do consulting in the refining and petrochemical industries and have, as a result, struck up several friendships with Arabs and Arab-Americans working in those facilities. Once I asked several acquaintances if there were are well-regarded Arab writers with good English translations available that could help me as an American better understand the modern Arab experience and worldview. Several recommended The Cairo trilogy (Palace Walk, Palace of Desire, Sugar Street) by Naguib Mahfouz. It covers a time period that would provide an excellent overview into 20th century Arab experience both politically and socially, especially vis-à-vis Arab/Western interaction. It is a family saga and therefore provides a good view of modern Arab family life and the affects modernization has had on it. It's urban setting and action would be more familiar to Americans than a more rural tale. The books are written from a genuinely Arabic sensibility language-wise-a sensibility not overly degraded by translation. And, finally, it would be a "less difficult" introduction to Arabic culture than other possibilities.

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.

After "The Beginning and the End" Mahfouz presented his trilogy, one of the best novels of the 20th century Egypt. Then he started writing this strange novel. It is nothing like any of his old novels. It is, in fact, the beginning of a new direction in his writing.

There were many directions in Mahfouz's writing. He started first with short stories, then moved to historical novels, and then settled with usual romances. And here, in the beginning of this new direction, he starts writing pointless stories. I do not mean in the bad sence, what I really mean is a story beginning in a certain setting, with rich characters, but with the strangest ending. It might not be the worst of his writing but I just do not like open or not consistent endings. And by no means, does that mean that the novel is bad

I, as a matter of fact, liked it. I even enjoyed, it is the style that I could not comprehend completely. 3 stars with Mahfouz mean 5 stars with other. When I give it 3 stars I mean it was very good, but I cannot give it 5 stars because in this case I would say it was as good as "The Trilogy," which is not the case.

In this story we see a prisoner getting out of jail full of revenge ideas. His wife betrays him, his daughter no longer recognizes him, and he has only three refuges are: a corrupted friend of his who is working as a journalist, a religious old man his father used to visit frequently, and a wretched girl he used to know before his imprisonment.

Then Mahfouz continues developing this character, with all the feelings and mishaps.

The story was, I cannot emphasize enough, interesting and enlightening, yet not my type. You might want to give it a try, but I recommend "The Trilogy" for starters.

In The Thief and the Dogs; Naguib Mahfouz explores some of the disappointments in the failure of the revolution to bring real change. His characters live in a world rich in emotional and political colour. Anyone can identify with their dilemmas, their passions and their frustrations. The Thief and the Dogs deals with the experience of Said Mahran, a burglar and smalltime political activist who goes to jail before the revolution in 1952 and emerges four years later to find the world he used to know has completely changed. Both in personal and political terms Said feels betrayed: his wife has married his old sidekick Ilish, and his former political mentor Ra'uf has given up his student radicalism for a comfortable job with a newspaper.

This is the story of a man who had stolen for the Revolution. Released from jail in post-revolutionary times, he continues to blame society for his ills, reverting to his old, thieving habits, and brings himself to self destruction. A fascinating, but not a very likeable, character.

I thought that this book was a realy slow pase. I liked how they tied the beginning to the end and how everyone thought he was crazy. It is sad about the death that goes on durring the storie. The one thing that bugged me about this book was that you never finf out the boys name who is the one telling about the book. It is hard to write about someone when you don't know his name. oh well, it was an ok book, my class thought that it was slow too.

Somehow my previous review of this book has been dropped. This was my introduction to Mahfouz; I understand why he is a Nobel Prize winner. The books uses a number of short vignettes to describe the neighbor over the lifetime of the narrator. Through these vignettes one sees the changing world of the neighbor - from governed by a thug-king to something resembling faith in Egytian government passing through the overthrow of the British rule. The changing world is also reflected in schooling, in women working, in the partial overthrow of superstition, etc. Each vignette is so perfect and the total effect of them makes this a book you should not miss.

When I was a freshman at the University of Richmond, Naguib Mahfouz's Fountain and Tomb was one of the books all first year English classes were required to read. I must confess, as a typical student, I had little desire to read the aforementioned text; however, from the moment I read the first paragraph, I was hooked. Rarely have I ever discovered such pure joy in prose. Each word, each sentence created so detailed a picture of a world which delighted me and, by the conclusion of the piece, I longed for more. Mahfouz has painted with words a beautiful, mystical portrait in the Fountain and Tomb and I highly recomend this book to anyone who has even the slightest passing interest in Egypt.

In the Autumn Quail Mahfouz traces the relationship of the past and present within the Egyptian Revolution and the possibilities of co-operation and coexistence in the future. Autumn Quail provides the reader with the sentiments and insights on the Revolution put into play by the language of the characters which are from different social background and varying political affiliations. It plays on several themes of alienation; downfall; morality and responsibility.

A high placed officer looses his job after the Nasser revolution of 1952 in Egypt, because during his office he received some 'presents', as nearly everybody in some places did.
His lover leaves him. He cuts all ties with his acquaintances, becomes an alcoholic, fathers a child with a prostitute but doesn't recognize it. Will he, after all, escape out of the prison of his previous life and make the jump to a new one?
Read this beautiful story about " ... quail ... swooping in to land exhausted at the end of their long, predestined, illusory heroic flight."
A reflection on the impact of a national revolution on the life of a citizen.

Set in Cairo in the early 1950s, this novel portrays the psychological torment of Omar, an ardent revolutionary in his youth who in middle age has been left behind by Nasser's 1952 Revolution. His conscience has died. As he struggles for psychological renewal, he gives up his work and his family to a series of love affairs, which simply increase his alienation from himself and from the rest of the world.

In The Beggar, the lawyer Omar seems confined in his uneventful life. The doctors are helpless; as he seems in good health, but he is being eaten away by anxiety and a feeling of futility. As a way of escape, he sets out to experience everything that goes against norms of respectable married life, he in hope of discovering his illness; looses himself in himself in licentiousness and sexual pleasure . However, his nightly adventures themselves disappear in the morning light, and he remains absent to the world. He wishes to be in the heart of a lover -- he seems to have become a dead man among the living. Even when he meets his old friend the militant leftist Osman Khalil as the latter leaves prison, he cannot find himself again. He admires the energy of his friend, whose militant ardour years in prison have done nothing to cool, but he, Omar El-Hamzaoui, is undermined from within, like a body that has neither natural impulses nor desire. A dead beggar among the living, he now calls upon death to give him a taste for living again and the feeling that he belongs in the world.

The value of The Beggar does not lie in the dialogue it contains about the superiority of science over art in the technological age, which is a theme that is in any case exhausted. Instead, it lies in the fact that this novel introduced the Arab reader to the opposition between nihilism, or a life without horizons, and the belief that the world and society are open to change. In this novel, the latter belief is no longer tenable, being neither as full nor as positive as reforming discourse would have it be. Instead, the 1960s citizen has discovered his insignificance in the face of the nationalist State's repressive machinery. Not even free to be himself, he is forced into evasion, silence and the silencing of his conscience.

As it always occurs with Mahfouz, he has brilliantly built the feelings and reasons of a common man to let himself leave off his everyday and "normal" life, in the pursue of something that, at the beginning, not even he himself knows. Boredom and insatisfaction is all he got from his surroundings, work, family. The search for "feeling alive" became an interior struggle which ends with the birth of a "beggar". The climax of the story is admirably led by Mahfouz, who, once more, had gifted us with a very human and touching tale. I recommend this title as one that no one can miss, especially if one is a fan of Nobel Prize's Mahfouz. I give it 4 stars only, because I have read better books of his from the same period, but this do not diminishes the value of this one.

The underlying theme in the Trilogy details with courage and delicacy the crisis of identity and conscience suffered by the Egyptian intellectuals during the period of malice and dissatisfaction. It is a nice read for anyone wanting to understand the fame of mind of Egyptian society at that time.

First of all the price is really very cheap for this 3 books but .. i really dont think it is a good idea to put this three titles in one book , simply because the 3 books have no relation to each other , or actually each of them may get more relation to other books by the same author , more than the other two that the publisher added to it , well o guess they did so just for " size purposes :) " for example : the beggar ; u could consider it a part of another Trilogy for mahfouz i consider this second triology : " awlad haretna " , "altareek ", and "the beggar" or " alshahat " it is the triology of searching for the Father "GOD" in awlad haretna he looked for him in history , in prophets and even in the newest prophet : science in "altareek " or " the way" ; he tried to find a way to look for the lost father deep inside people in the "beggar" ; he got away from symbolism and start to be more surrealist and beg God ! soooooooooooooooooooo... it might be better if the publisher added 3 different titles that got relation to each other in this book :) but again : it really worth buying AHHH , by the way : mahfouz is my favourite egyptian writer

Despite its title, this is definitely not an autobiography of Mahfouz. Four things prove this: the narrator has three sons (Mahfouz had two daughters); he is sent to prison (Mahfouz never was); he works for a period outside Cairo (Mahfouz never did); he joins a Sufi order (Mahfouz assured me most emphatically that he never did). This was the last book that Mahfouz wrote. In fact he did not write it; it was put together out of pieces that he had dictated, and it is not clear how far it represents the complete work that he had in mind. I believe it should be regarded as a work of fiction, though it may be a fantasy of a life he would like to have lived. It is nevertheless a moving work, and it helps to enlarge our understanding of the author.

The way he wrote the autobiography is very unique. There is no pretention or any clear chronological order. It is the same way we remember our old days.

The wordings required a deep thought and expanding imagination to really enjoy the books. Sometimes funny, sometimes it is sour.

The only thing that makes the book four stars is due to all echoes at the quarter of the last pages are based on his admired Sheik. Had he ever have his own opinions at the last days of his life?

The Children of Gebelawi is a must read for anyone who dares to look at religion beyond traditional interpretations. Maohfauouz takes all of the major world religions and retells the stories of the prophets in a modern day context set in India. The retelling of the prophets allows one to examine the actual stories of the religions in a way that encourages critique and in some cases acceptance. It is a fabulous read - especially for those who enjoy challenging and clarifying their own beliefs.

This is the third book that I've read by Mahfouz. I believe it will be the last. I started reading him because he is, after all, a Nobel Prize-winning author. I couldn't figure out why after reading "Respected Sir" or "The Search" and I'm still not sure after "Adrift on the Nile". However, this last book was the best of the three and you might want to read it and judge for yourself. It's short and won't take long to read. I found it surprizing to read about such a decadent group of individuals partaking of their illegal substances in the middle of Cairo. The basic plot, as I understood it, has to do with examining the reactions of artistic intelligentia with cold hard reality. How do people who search for "Truth" handle the truth? We'll at least he didn't drag it out. I'm not sure why Mahfouz won the Nobel Prize but I'm through trying to find out.

Intellectuals gather every evening on a boat for drug and sex parties. One of them writes a play with the members of the group as main characters. Their common attitude: flight for reality, nihilism and defeatism. The fervour after the Nasser revolution is gone: "Revolutions are planned by cunning foxes, fought by the brave and won by the cowards."
But ultimately they are confronted with reality when one of them kills a person in a car accident and flees. Will the name of the culprit be revealed to the police? The group falls apart.

Mahfouz punches Samuel Beckett and his 'theatre of the absurd' K.O. when he cleverly remarks that Beckett filed a complaint against an editor who failed to fulfil his contract. His plays may be absurd, but not the royalties. It was all just a pose.

Indeed, more a book for Egyptian readers, but also with a universal theme: don't shun your responsibilities.

Winning the Nobel Prize for literature (in 1988) certainly didn't hurt him any, and
now Naguib Mahfouz has become a house-hold name (for the literati, at least). When
one reads a Prize-winner, one expects substance and style, and Mahfouz, if his
translators are honest, certainly seems worthy of the Swedish honor. In "Adrift on the
Nile," nihilism is the word, as a group of like minded intellectuals gather nightly on a
houseboat moored on the famous river where they question anything that can be
questioned--"but no answers," they claim. "There are never any answers," as they call
into account any topic brought up. It is a "din in iniquity," for sure, as good Egyptian
kif (and a well-stoked pipe) help to bring out their curiousity cum intellect. That is,
until, toward the end of this short novel, the group takes a ride out into the desert
where a disaster happens. It's Jay Gatsby, final chapter, of course.
Mahfouz is compared to Proust, Camus, Salinger, and an introspective Hemingway,
and justifiably so. Hailed as the "widest-read Arab writer currently published in the
U.S.," Mahfouz has certainly wielded his own influence among international readers
since the '88 Prize; alas, it seems it took the impact of this award for his books to
achieve their circulation, but that doesn't diminish his themes, his philosophies, his
impact on both socially significant issues and modern literature.
"Adrift on the Nile" reads fast and it is short; yet it packs a punch that seems to score
to the very soul. The houseboat literally becomes a ship of fools, adrift on the
Sargasso Sea, headed into the Bermuda triangle. Existentialists will love this one.
(Billyjhobbs@tyler.net)