Naguib Mahfuz was born in Gamaliyyah, an area of El Cairo, in 1911. Graduated in philosophy. He has published more than thirty books, including novels and stories. He is considered the "father " of contemporary Arabic prose. In 1988 he won the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Some years ago I read Café
Karnak, and some weeks ago I found the book “Le Voyageur à la mallette suivi de Le vieux quartier". This book
includes a preface, the speech reception of the Nobel Prize in Literature, and
eight nice short stories.
In spite of this title, Le Voyageur à la mallette… Naguib Mahfuz
was a man who didn’t like to travel so much, even he didn’t go to pick up the
Nobel Prize in Stockholm, but he travelled through the time and his mind. I
mean, he describes very well in these stories how some neighborhoods of El
Cairo have changed with the passage of time.
I specially like the story
of “Le Retour”, it’s about one
prisoner of life imprisonment who at the end, he comes back at home, but he can’t
recognize his neighborhood and he can’t find his people, he wants again to
fight for his ideas and to be a leader. Thanks God, the guard of la zaouïa de
Sidi Al-Sabbân, recognizes him and he can offers him a job as a cleaner of
shoes. The man very sad answers to the Cheikh : -Si j’avais prévu ce sort qui m’attendait,
j’aurais commis un crime en prison-pour y rester jusqu’à mon dernier jour.
These short stories are
ideal to read now in October, inside the
house or in the garden (we have a very good time in Catalunya), at tea time, on the weekend or as a break in your daily activities.
Another story which I
specially like it is ·”Les Scarabées”,
it seems that an invasion of beetles invaded some neighborhoods of El Cairo. Naguib Mahfuz describes the
different kinds of reactions and solutions to solve the problem, in this case
and in other stories, the writer travels through his mind, he asks questions to
himself about some established ideas.
I think he was also a brilliant philosopher and writer who provided important innovations to the Arabic literature. He was until his death a humble and tolerant man.
I think he was also a brilliant philosopher and writer who provided important innovations to the Arabic literature. He was until his death a humble and tolerant man.
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